Box Score Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. -- In an exciting five-game match, the No. 9 University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (27-4) defeated the No. 13 Utah Utes (22-6) 24-30, 30-19, 27-30, 30-23, 15-7 in the first round of the Bankers Classic at the Spanos Center.

Kim Willoughby led the Wahine with 30 kills, 10 digs and five blocks. She added her name to the record book breaking the school record for kills in a season (717, breaking Teee Williams' record of 688 from 1988) and reached the career 1,000 kill mark in the first game. She is only the 12th member of the 1,000-kill club in the school's rich volleyball history.

Nohea Tano recorded eight kills, nine digs, two aces and seven blocks while hitting .353. Margaret Vakasausau added a double-double with 54 assists and 15 digs, while Lauren Duggins had seven kills, three aces, 14 digs and five blocks. Hedder Ilustre also added 11 digs.

The Utes started out firing, taking a 9-4 lead. The Wahine fought back with a 8-2 run to take their first lead at 12-11. After trading points with Utah, Hawaii went on a 3-0 run to take their lead to 16-13 and force Utah coach Beth Launiere to take a timeout. Her team responded with their own 3-0 run out of the timeout to tie the match at 16. The teams continued to trade points before a 4-0 Utah run put the Utes up 25-21 to make Hawaii coach Dave Shoji take a timeout. But Utah continued to roll, taking the game 30-24. The game one loss broke the Wahine's 33 game winning streak, dating back to Oct. 27.

Hawaii started out better in the second game, taking a quick 5-1 lead. After giving up a couple of points, Willoughby took over, scoring four of the five Wahine points to put them up 10-3. But a 6-1 run by the Utes cut the lead to 11-9. The two teams traded several small runs before a 6-0 Wahine run took their lead to 25-17 to force Launiere to take a timeout. UH continued to roll on, taking game 2 30-19.

Hawaii started out strong in the second game before a 5-0 run put the Utes up 7-5. The team again traded small runs to get the game tied at seven, nine and 10 before a 4-0 run but the Wahine up by three. The teams again traded small runs until a couple of 3-0 runs put the Wahine lead to 23-16. Utah answered with a 5-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 23-21, before running off to take game point at 29-25. Hawaii was able to get a couple of points before the Utes ended the third game 30-27.

Facing a 2-1 deficit for the first time since the Aug. 31 match against Kansas State, Hawaii started out the fourth game on a 4-1 run. Both teams continued to fight as Utah tied the game at 14 before the Wahine took a 4-0 run to lead 18-14. The teams kept trading small runs as Hawaii held the lead at 23-21 before taking the game at 30-23 on a Tano ace.

In their third game 5 this season, the Wahine jumped out to 4-2 lead on two Willoughby kills. Hawaii extended their lead to 9-4 and 10-5 before a couple of Utah points cut the lead to 10-7. But the Wahine wouldn't be denied, as they ended the game and the match with a 5-0 run to win game 5 15-7.

The Wahine will now face the winner of the Pacific/Fairfield match in the Bankers Championship Match at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday, Nov. 24. Hawaii will then learn their NCAA tournament destiny when the selection show is aired at 10 a.m. HST on Monday, Nov. 26.