The Warriors improved to 15-6 overall and 11-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Tritons, a Division II program that does not offer men's volleyball scholarships, dropped to 1-19 and 0-16.

"San Diego played much better (than in Wednesday night's three-game loss), and we made a lot of unforced turnovers," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "We missed 13 serves — 10 in the first two games."

But the Warriors were productive — they hit .364 compared to the Tritons' .250 — despite playing without their second-best attacker, outside hitter Matt Bender. Bender is recovering from flu-like symptoms.

In Game 3, opposite hitter José José Delgado suffered an apparent rib injury when he ran into the Rimac Arena bleachers.

"He hurt himself," Wilton said. "I have no idea how badly."

Wilton said Delgado's status will not be known until today or Monday.

Delgado had replaced Matt Carere, who won the starting job in Thursday's practice then ceded it with erratic passing and serving in Game 1. Carere's performance was "not so good," Wilton said. "That's what got him taken out."

UH again went with a revised system. In most offenses, the opposite hitter — who is three rotation spots from the setter — is the most prolific attacker. Wilton tinkered with the scheme, moving opposite hitter Pedro Azenha to one of the left-side positions and using the opposite hitter — Carere or Delgado — as a primary passer.

Hitting three times from the front left, Azenha hammered a match-high 18 kills and hit .469. "He's doing just fine," Wilton said.

If Bender, who has lost 15 pounds, is healthy for next week's matches, he will play the second left-side position and Lauri Hakala will move to opposite hitter. "It all remains to be seen," Wilton said.