HONOLULU — Louis Sakanoko did not hesitate.

Yes, he said, the lofty goals for the No. 2 Hawaii men’s volleyball team remain the same after a 25-15, 19-25, 27-25, 25-17 victory over No. 18 Cal State Northridge on Friday night.

The high-flying freshman from France got the starting nod from coach Charlie Wade for the first time in a match that was not an assured victory, and supplied 10 kills, seven digs, three blocks and three aces in front of a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,516 (6,858 tickets issued).

As an heir apparent to the “OH1” rotation spot vacated by the injured Spyros Chakas he was, as Wade described it Friday, sometimes “spectacular” and sometimes “cringey.” He hit .208 with five attack errors and four service errors.

UH (18-3, 1-2 Big West) picked up what felt like its first victory since Chakas went down, even though it went on to win in five over UC Irvine for the Outrigger Invitational title right after the Greek star got knocked out for the rest of his college career. National title aspirations were immediately thrown into question.

The ‘Bows got swept in their first Chakas-less match at now-No. 1 Long Beach State last week, but then were competitive in a five-set rematch on Saturday, with Sakanoko unleashed off the bench in that game. Friday’s start was a logical follow-up for a manageable but still dangerous foe in CSUN.

The Matadors (9-11, 0-3) threatened to take a 2-1 overall lead before Sakanoko put away the frame with an ace rip on UH’s third set point opportunity. Kyle Hobus commanded respect as he led CSUN with a match-high 21 kills on .395 hitting.

“I think without Spyros we can (still) be the best team in this country,” Sakanoko said. “We have showed up (last Saturday) against Long Beach, we lose 3-2, but that was a pretty tight game. So yeah, the objective is the same one. No one wants to change that.”

Wade acknowledged in the postgame that he never intended for Sakanoko to see this much court time as a freshman. The Frenchman joined the team just before the new year – basically a week out from the 2024 opener.

“He’s a young player who’s extremely talented and we’re seeing him kind of get better day by day,” Wade said. “You see him not only do the really impressive, explosive things athletically that he can do, but you’re seeing him kind of modulate a little, where he recognizes situations and kind of gear down a little bit, whether it’s attacking or serving. And have him be effective.”

Opposite Alaka‘i Todd led UH with 13 kills while Voss had 10 kills and seven block assists. Hitter Chaz Galloway had eight kills, 10 digs and six blocks and libero ‘Eleu Choy popped up 10 balls.

UH outblocked CSUN 14.0 to 7.5.

Voss, UH’s mainstay middle from its 2021 and 2022 title teams, said he has taken it upon himself to lay the line for the outside hitters – particularly Sakanoko – in team practices.

“Absolutely, with the outside right now being the position that’s most uncertain, I’m more … than anyone else being really hard on them and asking a lot of them, honestly,” the Brazilian said. “They make a mistake, I’m on them in practice. Because that’s what we need right now, is the best player to be on the court.”

UH rode Sakanoko’s service turn to five straight points early in Set 4 and was not threatened from there in taking a 24-14 lead. But things weren't totally clean from there as CSUN fought off four match points with the Rainbow Warriors faithful on their feet and doing the Viking clap.

Sakanoko reminded media members in the post-game that he has been in Hawaii for all of three months.

“Everything is pretty quick for me,” Sakanoko said. “Just figure it out, every day, make new things. It’s good, I like it. I figure it out every day.”

The teams rematch at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.