Perhaps it was St. Patrick's Day luck for the team in green.

Perhaps it was the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team finally coming together.

Whatever it was, this much is certain — the No. 14 Warriors played their best with their backs against the wall last night in a 30-27, 31-29, 30-26 victory over Cal State Northridge.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,644 saw Hawai'i rally from a 26-23 deficit in Game 1 and a 29-27 deficit in Game 2 to sweep No. 8 Cal State Northridge for the second night in a row.

"It shows we have a lot of heart," Hawai'i outside hitter Matt Vanzant said. "I'm really glad we were down and we were able to fight back. It shows we won't give up and we all stuck together. I'm just proud of everyone. It was awesome."

Lauri Hakala finished with 15 kills, but his biggest contribution came late in Game 1 when he served five in a row to give Hawai'i the lead for good.

The Warriors trailed by seven early in Game 1, but rallied to tie it at 19. The teams traded points until 23-all and the Matadors appeared to seize control by scoring three in a row on two Warrior hitting errors and a kill by Kamehameha Schools alum Isaac Kneubuhl.

Hakala then stepped behind the service line and unleashed his powerful jump serve. By the time he was finished Hawai'i (5-14, 5-11) had scored five in a row to take a 29-26 lead. Hakala had two kills and the Warriors had two blocks during the surge.

"I didn't get any aces tonight, but I feel like I served pretty good," Hakala said.

After a service error, the Warriors ended the game with a role reversal — middle blocker Dio Dante setting setter Brian Beckwith for a kill.

The second game was tied 15 times and there were seven lead changes.

Cal State Northridge (13-11, 7-8) took a 29-27 lead on a kill by Dan Rhodes. The Warriors then got a couple of breaks.

The Matadors' James Lischer had a freebie in the middle after an overpass, but his shot landed wide right. On the next play, Hakala hit out from the right side, but Northridge was called for a net violation. A couple of Matadors protested to no avail.

"We'll take them. During the course of the season we for sure have had a number of breaks go against us," Hawai'i coach Mike Wilton said.

Northridge coach Jeff Campbell said: "Being up like that, our guys pressed and did things they don't normally do."

In the third game, Dante served five in a row as Hawai'i took a 19-12 lead.

"I was just going with the flow," he said. "I wasn't trying to serve too hard. I was trying to place it. That's when good things happen."

UH won the battle at the net, outblocking Northridge 17.5 to 4. Middle blocker Matt Rawson was in on eight and Beckwith seven.

The Matadors tried to mix things up last night, and had limited success. Kneubuhl moved from libero to outside hitter and had nine kills. He also was praised by both coaches for his accurate passing. Travis Bluemling replaced Sean Pedersen at setter after the first game.

It was the first time Hawai'i won consecutive matches since beating visiting Pacific on Jan. 18 and 19 — the Warriors' first home conference matches.

"Their record going into the match isn't indicative of how good they are playing," Campbell said of the Warriors.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.