In an effort that was more gritty than pretty, the Hawai'i volleyball team found the answers in a 33-31, 30-26, 30-27 victory over UC Irvine last night in the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 1,815 watched the Warriors avenge Friday's four-game loss to the Anteaters while improving to 9-10 overall and 6-8 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The Warriors are back in eighth place, the minimum requirement for the MPSF playoffs. They have eight matches remaining, with six on the road.

"I think everyone realized if we don't win now, we're out," UH libero Ric Cervantes said. "It was a huge gut check."

Once again, the Warriors shuffled the lineup, with Joshua Walker and Jim Clar starting on the left side. Both are prolific attackers — Clar had a match-high 13 kills and Walker added 12 — but sometimes inconsistent passers. Last night, both were effective defenders. Walker, who has a 37-inch vertical jump, made nine digs, many on high spikes. Clar successfully passed 23 of 24 serves.

In a surprise, UH opposite attacker Jacob Schkud received 10 serves without an error and came up with a match-high 15 digs — three more than Cervantes.

"I out-dug our libero," Schkud said, smiling. "Who knows. Maybe I'll play libero next week."

Setter Sean Carney, who was the recipient of Schkud's passes, said: "I have no clue how Jake digs balls. I think he closes his eyes and puts his hands out. Good for him."

Schkud, who was a standout middle blocker in high school, is admittedly a marginal passer. His main responsibility is to provide offense from the right side.

"He wasn't having the best night offensively," Carney said. "He told us in the middle of Game 2, 'Yes, I got my first kill.' He knew he had to make up for it in a different way. He made some huge momentum blocks for us. He dug well. That's why he's our captain. When he's not having a good night in one area, he works hard and finds other ways to help. And I was going to keep (setting) to him. He's earned my confidence, and he's earned my friendship. I'm glad he stuck it out and played a well-rounded match."

In Friday's match, the Warriors struggled in the transition game, failing to parlay digs into powerful kills. After that match, UH coach Mike Wilton scolded his players for having too many two-handed push shots.

"He said he would have a heart attack if we did it again," Schkud said. "I kind of did it to test if he was lying to us. I think I had three. I think we capitalized on two of them."

For the most part, Walker and Clar unloaded high-decibel spikes. Middle blockers Matt Rawson and Steven Grgas each had seven kills.

The Anteaters had difficulty mounting a counter attack. Friday, opposite attacker Jon Steller slammed 29 kills and middle blocker Aaron Harrell served seven aces. But that was a mirage, according to Irvine coach John Speraw.

"I was concerned because we set so poorly," Speraw said. "The reason we were able to win was because of some great individual efforts. But our setting had to get better. You can't expect Steller to go in there and get 29 kills every night, and you can't expect Harrell to get seven aces every night. It happened once in the history of our program."

History, indeed, did not repeat last night. "Our offense had to get better," Speraw said, "and it flat-out didn't. It was just as bad."

Setter Ryan Ammerman was replaced after Game 1. Then in Game 2, Steller was sent to the sideline.

"He's had knee issues," Speraw said. "He hasn't come back on the second night very well."

Steller was summoned for the final rotation of Game 3. He was the server when the Anteaters scored four consecutive points to close to 27-25.

Later, the left-handed Steller had back-to-back kills from the right side behind the 3-meter line, cutting the deficit to 28-27.

"What impressed me was Steller came off the bench and played well," Speraw said. "Sheesh. I should have put him (back) in earlier. Live and learn, I guess. It's interesting to see how it works out."

The Warriors then sided out, with Clar tooling the blocking. At match point, Rawson and Clar collaborated to block Steller's angle shot.

"I was up there late," Rawson said. "I didn't think he thought I'd be up there blocking. He saw the hole, and I came in and dropped in on him."

Rawson has a torn right labrum. Clar has a sore right shoulder. After the match, both were met by the team physician, Dr. Andrew Nichols.

"Everything will be all right," Clar said.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.