The match finished at 11:15 p.m. when Mauli'a LaBarre and Pedro Azenha collaborated to reject Lewis opposite hitter Fabiano Barreto's shot, trigging a wild celebration on the court.

The Warriors finished the three-night round robin with a 2-1 record, tying Manitoba, which defeated Penn State in the night's opening match. Because the Warriors won the Friday night's meeting against Manitoba, it was awarded the tie-breaker.

"Enjoy this puppy!" UH coach Mike Wilton yelled as his team gathered for the postgame awards ceremony.

It was the Warriors' fourth Outrigger title in the tournament's 10-year history and first since 1999.

The Warriors did it by denying the defending national champions. Roll the credits for:

• Azenha, who overcame early struggles to slam a match-high 33 kills.

• Middle blocker Joshua Stanhiser, who produced 15 kills, four block assists and three improbable digs.

• Arri Jaschke, who replaced struggling Jose Delgado and came through with eight kills, five digs and dependable defense.

"This was such an unbelievable win," LaBarre said. "They were the national champs and they played like the national champs. They gave it everything they had, and we gave it everything we had."

The Flyers played without two of their starters — outside hitter Gustavo Meyer, who is awaiting an NCAA decision on his eligibility, and setter Jose Martins, who was suffering from a severe head cold.

What's more, setter Brandon Sisk played despite a sprained left thumb that required ice treatments during every timeout. Outside hitter Jeff Soler, who had a team-high 20 kills, wore a mummified waist wrap for his sore back.

The Warriors were not whole, at least at the end. Azenha played the final points with a badly sprained left ankle, a result of Lewis player using his foot as a welcome mat. Azenha, who was named the tournament's most valuable player, hobbled to the awards table with his left ankle wrapped in ice.

"It hurts," Azenha said, "but I feel so good."

Indeed, Azenha helped the Warriors rally from a disappointing first game. They also failed to close out the Flyers in Game 4, forcing the first-to-15 final game.

UH trailed 5-2 in that game, but thanks to Azenha and Jaschke, the Warriors rallied for an 8-5 lead. Early in the match, the Flyers assigned a deep defender to cover Azenha's angle shots. But midway through the second game, he began hit line shots, forcing the Flyers to shift their coverage. After that, Azenha was able to open the offense for his teammates.

The team that came in from the cold — it was below zero in Manitoba last week — heated up to defeat Penn State, 30-26, 30-24, 31-33, 30-28, in last night's first match.

The Bisons committed 33 hitting errors in the final two games, but used a spread defense to frustrate the Nittany Lions.

Because of Penn State's quick sets to the outside, the Bisons had difficulty constructing double blocks. Instead, they aligned wide, hoping to cover the Nittany Lions' outside hitters with single blockers. For the most part, the strategy worked, as the Bisons amassed 11 solo blocks.

The Nittany Lions "set outside really fast, the fastest I've seen in the tournament," Manitoba coach Garth Pischke said. "We couldn't afford to help out. We had to send a guy out there real fast. It's a good thing we've got some fundamental one-on-one blockers."