SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Facing the nation's top team at Rob Gym for the third day in a row, the No. 3 UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team was defeated by No. 1 Hawaii 25-22, 25-19, 26-24.

Following their only non-conference match of the week, the Gauchos now own a record of 4-3. The Rainbow Warriors improve to an unscathed 7-0 mark.

Two Gauchos finished with double-digit kills compared to one for Hawaii. UCSB seniors Randy DeWeese and Roy McFarland finished with 12 and 10, respectively.

Hawaii senior Rado Parapunov led all players with 20 kills on a .438 hitting percentage. As a team, the Rainbow Warriors outhit the Gauchos .416 to .330.

After the first two games were controlled by the visitors, the third set hung in the balance until the final moments. The teams found themselves tied a total of 12 times in the decisive set, including at the 22, 23 and 24-point marks.

An unassisted DeWeese kill set the Gauchos up with their first set point of the day at 24-23. However, UH then reeled off three unanswered, including the match clincher by Jakob Thelle to claim the 26-24 win.

Making their first starts of the season for UCSB were a pair of freshmen in middle blocker Donovan Todorov and libero Dayne Chalmers. Todorov tallied three kills and a pair of blocks. Chalmers notched a pair of assists to go along with a match-high 11 digs.

DeWeese was excellent from the service line once again for a (season-high?) three aces. He also added a solo block and two block assists. Setter Casey McGarry paced the home side with 37 assists.

Despite Saturday's loss, the Gauchos remain just one of two teams to win a set against Hawaii so far this season.

UCSB will now look to the Long Beach State series, hosting The Beach on Saturday before taking its first road trip of the season on Sunday.