Led by opposite attacker Evan Patak and left-side hitter Bryan Berman, fourth-ranked UC Santa Barbara surged to a 30-26, 19-30, 30-19, 30-20 victory before 1,792 in the Stan Sheriff Center last night.

The Warriors were without left-side hitter Lauri Hakala, who is suffering from an abdominal strain. Hakala, who began experiening pain three weeks ago, played in Thursday's match between the teams. But he said he "strained it more" during that match, and notified the coaches yesterday morning he would not be available to play.

"I'm going to be sitting out for a while, I think," said Hakala, a captain and third-year senior. "If I keep straining it like this, it might lead to a tear, and then I'll be out for months, and that's not good. I'd rather take some time off and be back."

UH coach Mike Wilton said: "It's important we give him some time to heal."

Hakala's replacement, Mark Ribeiro, made his UH debut, hammering a team-high 16 kills. But even Ribeiro's contributions could not counter Patak's power play.

Patak, who is 6 feet 8 and 250 pounds, said his spikes can zip at more than 70 mph. In addition to 17 kills, Patak's blistering serves kept the Warriors on the heels of their Asics.