CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team dropped a three-set match to No. 4 Hawai'i on Friday night inside Curry Arena. The Royals battled, but were ultimately overpowered by the Rainbow Warriors' attack.

SET ONE
Hawaii came out strong, opening the match with a 4-0 run behind a kill from Adrien Roure and a service ace by Tread Rosenthal. Queens responded with a block from Matthew Pilch and Nathan Vaupel, cutting the deficit to 4-3. However, Hawaii's offense remained steady, as a pair of kills from Kristian Titriyski and Louis Sakanoko helped extend their lead to 10-7. The Rainbow Warriors eventually secured the first set, 25-19.

SET TWO
Queens found early momentum as Carson Strawbridge opened the set with a kill, but Hawaii quickly gained control. Rosenthal's service aces fueled a 7-1 run for the visitors. The Royals fought back, with Chance Shampine and Strawbridge leading the charge to trim the deficit to 19-15. A late push, including a Hawaii service error and a kill by Strawbridge, brought Queens within three at 24-21. However, a service error from the Royals handed Hawaii the set, 25-21.

SET THREE
The third set saw five early ties as Queens kept pace with Hawaii. A Strawbridge kill gave Queens a 1-0 lead, but Hawaii responded swiftly. With the score at 10-8 , the Rainbow Warriors pulled away with another Roure kill and a trio of Queens miscues. A service ace from Kainoa Wade and another kill from Rosenthal extended the lead to 20-13. The Royals fought off one match point before Hawaii clinched the sweep at 25-16 with a kill from Louis Sakanoko.

ROYAL RUNDOWN

• Carson Strawbridge led the Royals with 13 kills on a .550 hitting percentage.
• Chance Shampine added 10 kills and a team-high eight digs.
• Cayden Marin dished out 26 assists while contributing three blocks.
• The Rainbow Warriors recorded six service aces and five total blocks.

POSTMATCH COMMENTS
"I'm actually disappointed with how we executed. I I thought our energy was fine for the most part, I thought we showed some resilience, but we just didn't make some very basic plays and I wasn't happy with how we we passed in serve-receive. We've got to be way more consistent passing to be able to threaten them," Head Coach Jeremy Price said. "I thought Carson Strawbridge was solid on attacking and Chance Shampine played well. He struggled on the first set, but really came alive at the end of the second and third set.

UP NEXT
Queens will return to action tomorrow, Feb. 22 when they host Hawai'i for the rematch inside Curry Arena. First serve is set for 6:00 PM ET. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+. 

SOCIAL MEDIA
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