Serving as left-handed complements to a multiple attack and scrappy defense, Paul Carroll and Matt McKee powered third-ranked Pepperdine to a 30-27, 30-22, 27-30, 30-26 volleyball victory over Hawai'i before 1,305 last night in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Carroll slammed 23 kills and McKee hammered 21 to give the Waves a sweep of the two-match series. They are 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

The Warriors, who squandered a 14-9 lead in the second set and could not keep pace after closing to 17-16 in the final set, fell to 1-4 and 0-2.

"It was a battle and we glitched out at the end," UH head coach Mike Wilton said. "It caused some separation."

Still, the Warriors did not come away with separation anxiety.

"I'm happy to be associated with this team," Wilton said. "They battled all the way. We're getting better. That's all that matters. We're trying to build this program back up again. There's no mystery about it, no secret there. Holding this team up to high expectations right now is a falsehood, I think."

The Warriors changed offensive schemes for the rematch. From fall training through Thursday's opening match, the Warriors ran a system that did not feature a true opposite attacker. Instead, left-side hitter Joshua Walker assumed the limited passing role that usually goes to the opposite, a position that hits mostly from the right side in front-row rotations.

But Walker has struggled with his accuracy, and did not start last night. Sophomore Brennan Dyer started at opposite, and freshmen Steven Hunt and Gus Tuaniga opened as left-side hitters. That provided three passers in the rotation to help libero Ric Cervantes.

"We switched it up," UH setter Sean Carney said. "The whole fall we ran with one thing, and then coach (Wilton) wanted to put another wrinkle in our offense to see if we could do it. It worked out not bad. We did different sets. We ran different plays. It was a spur-of-the-moment things, but our team adjusted well."

One of the changes was to emphasize a middle attack. Steven Grgas pounded 13 kills (with no errors) in 18 swings. He hit .722. Matt "Dragon" Rawson, despite suffering from a subluxed left (non-hitting) shoulder, had 10 kills.

"We're starting to get a middle attack, which is something we haven't had in a couple of years, actually," Wilton said.

In the first four matches, Grgas experimented with a step-out move. Last night, he stayed put. That kept the Pepperdine middle blockers from breaking early to double-team the pin hitters.

"It kept them guessing," Grgas said.

That also opened the way for Hunt to face one-on-one situations. Hunt buried a season-high 24 kills in an arm-numbing 49 swings.

"Steven Hunt was big-time," Wilton said.

But the Warriors had no answers for Carroll, a 6-foot-9 senior who was recently named as Australia's top volleyball player, and 6-5 McKee.

Both left-handers are skilled in hitting from the corners and blasting away from behind the 3-meter line. What's more, both know how to play the angles, either ricocheting spikes off the block or hitting cut shots over the block and between back-row defenders.

"We felt good," Carroll said. "There was a lot of energy."

Carroll has been suffering from discomfort in his hitting shoulder the past few months. He spends a significant amount of time stretching out the shoulder muscles before matches. Afterward, his left shoulder is blanketed with ice packs.

"That's what I have to do," Carroll said. "It's not a problem when I play."

The Waves received a boost from reserve outside hitter Brent Schirripa.

Schirripa played in all four sets, producing five kills in 11 swings. His jump serves, off a four-step approach, caused problems for the Warrior passers. The Waves scored on seven of Schirripa's 13 serves. He had two aces.

He also played solid back-row defense, aligning in the middle, with his heels touching the end line. Schirripa, at 6 feet 4, was able to field spikes that deflected high off the block. He passed 12 serves without an error, and came up with five digs.

By patrolling the middle, Schirripa enabled libero Sean Grubbs to handle the angle shots.

"Brent Schirripa came off the bench and provided a lot of energy and stable passing," Carroll said.

That stability was missing from the Warriors' game. There were prolonged lapses in which they struggled to accurately pass jump floats — knuckleball-like serves that often are received with the hands instead of the forearms — or to keep their own serves in bounds.

"We can't let teams go on runs like they did tonight," Hunt said. "There are some mental glitches we need to get rid of. We'll be a really good team after that."

Wilton said: "I wasn't disappointed. We have to keep playing at a high level for a long period of time, especially after 20. I'm happy with my team."

The Warriors play at Brigham Young on Thursday and Friday.

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