Hawaii and UC Irvine left off their series in dramatic fashion, a five-set match in the de facto Outrigger Volleyball Invitational championship that could’ve gone either way on March 10.

There was a key element missing in the teams’ meeting at Bren Events Center on Friday, however, as the No. 5 Anteaters dispatched the No. 4 Rainbow Warriors in straight sets, 25-20, 25-19, 25-21.

UH (20-5, 3-4 Big West) got swept for the second time this season, both since All-America hitter Spyros Chakas went out for the year with a knee injury.

UCI (17-7, 6-1) was simply too efficient, an effort led by French star Hilir Henno, who put down 20 kills against just one error for a .679 hitting night. Former UH setter Brett Sheward was all-around effective for his new team with 34 assists, five block assists, four digs and a kill.

The ‘Bows had few answers at the pins as they were outblocked 10-3, resulting in a .204 hitting game to UCI’s .425.

For the match, the Anteaters had just eight attack errors.

"We played pretty clean,” said UCI coach David Kniffin, per UCI Athletics. “We came in the night wanting to focus on each individual touch. In the words of (Associate Athletic Director) John Abdou as he was talking to our team, 'Let's focus on performance and not winning and let winning be the by product and put ourselves in the best position to win.’”

It snapped a 15-game UH winning streak in the series; UCI hadn’t beaten UH at home since 2015, a span of nine ‘Bows road wins.

The ‘Bows remained in third in the Big West heading into Saturday’s 3 p.m. Hawaii time rematch at the Bren. UH would have to win its next three matches, and hope UCI loses out for a chance at a tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Big West championships in Honolulu in two weeks.

UH was led by opposite Alaka‘i Todd, who had 12 kills on .333 hitting. Keoni Thiim put down 10 kills on 24 swings in getting the start over Chaz Galloway. French freshman Louis Sakanoko had just five kills against six errors.

Freshman setter Tread Rosenthal had 30 assists and five digs for UH.

The ‘Bows did not commit an attack error in Set 1 in hitting .452 – but the ‘Eaters were better still at .588, with 22 kills against two errors in the frame.

UH hit in the negative in Set 2, with 10 kills against 12 errors.

Things improved in Set 3, but UCI was operating at close to its best with 14 kills against one error in the frame. UH got to within 21-19 on back-to-back aces by Thiim, but UCI responded with three kills from Henno to put the match away.

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