Hawaii's men's volleyball fans finally have something to cheer about. Their Rainbow Warriors snapped Pepperdine's 17-match win streak with a 29-31, 31-29, 30-21, 30-24 victory for their first men's volleyball championship and Hawaii's first national championship in any men's sport. A sellout crowd of 5,357 fans filled Penn State's Rec Hall to witness the championship showdown May 4.

Hawaii had been close before, finishing second in 1996 and losing in the semifinals in 1995. Hawaii also had hosted the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship twice before, but found the Pennsylvania mountains -- 4,831 miles from Honolulu -- an even friendlier environment for its first crown.

Hard-hitting all-American Costas Theocharidis led the potent Hawaii offense against the Waves with a match-high 19 kills. Teammate Tony Ching's 17 kills supported that effort as the Warriors posted a .462 kill efficiency. Much of the credit goes to setter Kimo Tuyay, who dished out 59 assists on the night.

Pepperdine's national player of the year Brad Keenan posted 14 kills and seven blocks, while teammate Sean Rooney pounded out a team-high 18 kills. Beau Daniels set up 63 assists for the Wave attackers.

The first game saw the Waves edge out the Warriors, 31-29. Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said, "In game one we were a little concerned because we had gotten in trouble and Pepperdine had only one option to go to and they made the play just about every time. I was concerned that was wearing on us."

On entering game two, Ching said, "It was important to just take it one point at a time. We couldn't get ahead of ourselves."

Point for point, the two squads battled. The game featured nine ties and only two lead changes. Hawaii produced seven team blocks, while the Waves committed 10 hitting errors.

In the last two games, the Warriors were able to increase their dig totals and keep their hitting and serving errors in check. The Waves were unable to do the same.

"I think we're usually a little bit better than we were tonight," Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy said. "I thought they dug some balls out and I think one of the strengths of their team is the ability to receive serves. If I had my choice, we probably would have made fewer errors. But overall tonight, Hawaii was the best team and their outside hitters played real well."

To get to the championship match, Pepperdine downed Midwest representative Ball State, 30-32, 30-19, 30-20, 33-31. Penn State suffered its first home-court loss all season to Hawaii, 30-26, 27-30, 35-33, 30-27.

Theocharidis was named the tournament's most outstanding player. Joining him on the all-tournament team were teammate Ching, Pepperdine's Keenan and Lance Walker, Penn State's Carlos Guerra and Ball State's Paul Fasshauer.

Championship