In a sloppy yet action-packed battle, the Hawaii men's volleyball team went toe-to-toe with EIVA conference champion Penn State and pulled out a five-set victory in the second NCAA tournament play-in match on Tuesday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Rainbow Warriors' 23-25, 27-25, 17-25, 25-14, 15-4 win avenged a previous play-in loss to the Nittany Lions in 2015 and saw Hawaii, an at-large bid from the MPSF, advance to the semifinals against defending champion and top-seeded Ohio State at 8 PM ET on Thursday.

Early on, Penn State's Calvin Mende was in his groove--as was Luke Braswell and the rest of the Penn State team as they squeaked out a 25-23 victory in the first set, hitting .333 to Hawaii's .222.

In the second set, the 'Bows quickly jumped ahead to a 5-1 lead, but the Nittany Lions, led by 6-foot-11 opposite Mende, kept it close, even earning a 23-20 lead late in the game.

Hawaii was not discouraged, however. Senior All-American setter Jennings Franciskovic started mixing it up offensively, opening the net up for everyone wearing a Rainbow Warriors jersey. In addition, freshman middle blocker Patrick Gasman started getting key touches and blocks on Penn State attackers. The awakening of the 'Bows offense and defense allowed them to take the extended set 27-25 and tie the match.

PSU hit an impressive .474 clip in the third set, amassing 12 kills with only three errors. A sputtering Hawaii offense, which clocked an uncharacteristic eight attack errors, helped hand the set to the Nittany Lions, who took back a 2-1 lead heading into set four.

Rainbow Warriors head coach Charlie Wade inserted outside hitter Austin Matautia into the starting lineup in the fourth set. The freshman, Gasman, and Franciskovic provided a much-needed offensive surge that matched PSU's attack percentage clip in the third set--.474 off 11 kills and only two errors on 19 attempts. Additionally, the Hawaii block came to life as Stijn van Tilburg, Matautia, Gasman, and Franciskovic all tallied points at the net to grab the fourth set by more than 10 points.

With momentum now on the Rainbow Warriors' side, Hawaii jumped out of the gate in the fifth as four of the first seven points for the 'Bows came from Penn State hitting errors. Pavlik was forced to burn both of his timeouts early, as his team went down 1-6. Hawaii's confidence came back stronger than ever as the Flying Dutchman van Tilburg and Brett Rosenmeier heated up offensively (seven kills, zero errors, hitting .583) to lead the Rainbow Warriors to a 14-4 lead. Fittingly, Gasman and Rosenmeier would team up on the double-stuff of Penn State outside Aidan Albrecht for match point.

MATCH NOTABLES

HAWAII

Stijn van Tilburg -- 20 K, 7 digs, 1 BS, 6 BA
Brett Rosenmeier -- 14 K, .409, 9 digs, 6 BA
Jennings Franciskovic -- 5 K, 0 errors, .714, 49 asst, 1 ace, 7 digs, 2 BS, 2 BA

PENN STATE

Calvin Mende -- 18K, 6 digs
Kevin Gear -- 10K, .333, 1 BS, 5 BA
Luke Braswell -- 43 asst

Hawaii outhit Penn State .276 to .143 and outblocked Penn State 17 1/2 to 11.
Penn State had 35 attack errors to Hawaii's 24.