Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU – After falling behind 0-2, the No. 5 University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine came back to beat the No. 19 Kansas State Wildcats 19-30, 26-30, 30-24, 30-25, 15-8. The Wahine's home opener was played before 6,723 at the Stan Sheriff Center on the first night of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic.

Hawai'i reaped the benefits of career-high kill matches from both Kim Willoughby (24 kills and 14 digs) and Tanja Nikolic (17 kills, .324 hitting percentage). Also helping the Wahine were setter Margaret Vakasausau (39 assists), defensive specialist Hedder Ilustre (10 digs) and middle hitter Melody Eckmier (10 blocks).

The Wahine started out slowly as Kansas State jumped out to a quick 11-7 lead. The Wildcats extended the lead to 21-14 forcing coach Dave Shoji to take a timeout. K-State continued to dominate, eventually taking the first game 30-19.

Hawai'i opened game 2 well, jumping out to a 4-0 lead off three big blocks. The teams went back and forth as the Wahine took a 15-12 lead into the media timeout. The Wildcats came out of the break on a 5-1 run to take their first lead of the game at 17-16. The teams stayed tight, until K-State broke out to take the game 30-26.

The Wahine weren't ready to lose their first home opener since 1976 just yet. UH came out on a 7-3 run, forcing Wildcat head coach Suzie Fritz to take an early timeout. Hawai'i stayed in control, extending their lead to 20-11 to force Fritz to take another timeout. Kansas State made a small comeback to close the Wahine lead to 23-16 and force Shoji to take a timeout. Hawai'i then rolled out of the break, taking game 3, 30-24.

The fourth game was nip and tuck throughout, as the lead never got above two points until the Wahine broke out on a 6-1 run to take a 12-9 lead. Hawai'i then extended their lead to 18-13 on Willoughby's 19th kill of the night. K-State was able to cut the lead to 21-19 before the Wahine were able to take game 5, 30-25.

In the deciding game five, the Wahine started strong, taking a quick 6-1 advantage. Despite a break in the action, Hawai'i kept the momentum, taking their lead to 10-1 before letting the Wildcats back into the game at 11-6. But the Wahine would not be denied, as they took the game 15-8.

The Wahine will now face the University of Michigan tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. The Wolverines fell to the UCLA Bruins 30-25, 30-17, 30-21 in the first match of the Wahine Classic. UCLA will play Kansas State in tomorrow's first match, which will start at 5:00 p.m.