When the volleyball match was on the line, the Hawai'i player nicknamed "Sky" showed there were no limits to his offensive skills.

Left-side hitter Joshua Walker slammed six of his match-high 22 kills in the fifth set to power the Warriors to a 30-26, 32-30, 26-30, 20-30, 15-11 victory over UC Irvine last night in front of 2,881 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

By claiming the rematch, the Warriors won their fourth in a row to improve to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The defending national champions fell to 5-6 and 1-5.

"They out-hit us (.356 to .236) and out-blocked us (15.5 to 12) and out-dug us (55 to 50), and we win," UH head coach Charlie Wade said. "But that's the league. Every match is tough. There are a lot of good players and a lot of good coaches."

The first four sets could be reduced to the serve-and-pass phase: The Warriors were superior in the first two sets, the Anteaters better in the next two.

And as the Warriors walked off the court to regroup before the first-to-15 final set, Walker made a rare request.

"I wanted more sets," said Walker, who had 16 kills in 37 swings in the first four sets. "I definitely wanted the ball. I knew I would be able to finish. I love these situations, when we can control our own destiny. And that's what it was. I'm confident to know I can perform in those situations."

Wade set the fifth-set rotation in which Walker opened in the back row. Walker is at his best attacking quick sets to the middle of the back row — "bics" — that allow him to use his jumping ability (he touches 11 feet 7 1/2) and powerful right arm (spikes clocking 65 mph).

He staked the Warriors to a 2-0 lead with slams off bic sets.

Later, the Anteaters collapsed the middle. Still, Walker blasted a shot past the double block.

"I figured if I jump high and swing hard, good things are going to happen," Walker said. "I'm confident my teammates are going to cover for me. All I have to do is swing as hard as I can."

On one play, setter Nejc Zemljak made a diving dig. Libero Ric Cervantes, in the back left, then flicked the ball to Walker, who crushed it for the kill.

"Josh made the play," Cervantes said. "It was all Josh."

In the fifth set, Walker had six kills and no errors in 10 swings.

"Was he putting it away?" Zemljak said. "He was hot, so why not feed him? He does everything well. He jumps high and he hits well."

Walker credited the primary passers — Cervantes and left-side hitter Steven Hunt — Zemljak and opposite attacker Jonas Umlauft, who pulls the block away from Walker.

Umlauft, who had 21 kills, also benefitted from Walker's presence.

"It makes a difference to have a really good hitter on the other side," said Umlauft, who hits on the right side in five of six rotations. "You know the block can focus on you so good."

Walker said: "The whole night we had them spread (defensively). The bic was open."

To be sure, the Anteaters showed their firepower. Opposite attacker Carson Clark and left-side hitter Jordan DuFault each had 21 kills.

But down 13-10, Clark hit wide right over a single block. It was only his third attack error in 43 swings.

Clark scored the next point, but then Umlauft slammed aloha ball.

In both matches against the Anteaters, the Warriors squandered 2-0 leads only to claim the fifth sets.

"It shows that we're mentally tough," said Cervantes, who was playing despite a sore shoulder and sprained Achilles. "It shows we want to win. It's great. I love it. This team is full of great players who want to win."

Visit Tsai's blog at http://warriorbeat.honadvblogs.com.