Box Score Box Score

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The No. 2 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (34-1) defeated the No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers (31-2) 30-25, 25-30, 30-27 and 30-21 in front of a crowd of 4,357 in the NCAA Regional Finals at the NU Coliseum Saturday, advancing to their seventh NCAA Championships in school history.

Kim Willloughby and Lily Kahumoku led the way for UH with 25 kills apiece while posting 13 and 16 digs, respectively. Lauren Duggins added 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks while hitting .429, as Melissa Villaroman and Hedder Ilustre came up big in the back court, racking up 19 and 18 digs, respectively. Margaret Vakasausau added a double-double with 32 assists and 10 digs, while Jennifer Carey had 28 assists and four blocks.

Nohealani Tano took the opening point with a kill in the middle. After the Huskers scored three straight points, Tano answered with two big kills to tie the game at 3. The two teams kept it close as a Kahumoku kill gave the Rainbow Wahine a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. The teams traded points before consecutive kills by Willoughby put UH up 20-16. Nebraska got back within two at 20-18 but Hawai`i kept rolling, pushing their lead to 23-18 to force Nebraska coach John Cook to call his second and final timeout of the game. UH would get their lead up to 28-21 and hold three match points before taking the first game 30-25, taking the first game off NU at home this season.

The Cornhuskers jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead in game two before a Nebraska hitting error capped a 4-1 UH run to tie the game at 6-6. NU would build up a 21-16 lead on a kill by Amber Holmquist, forcing UH head coach Dave Shoji to take his second timeout of the game. The Huskers would keep a five point lead for the rest of the way, taking the second game 30-25.

Nebraska jumped out to early leads of 4-1 and 8-4 before Shoji was forced to take a timeout. The Cornhuskers were able to keep their four-point advantage at 11-7 before a 6-2 UH run tied the game at 13-13, forcing a timeout by Cook. Hawai`i would rattle off two more points before Nebraska went on a 4-0 run to go up 17-15. The Cornhuskers were up 19-17 but the Rainbow Wahine went on a 5-1 run on the strength of Duggins' serve to take a 22-20 lead and force NU to take their final timeout of the game. Hawai`i was issued a yellow card for taking too long to come out of the timeout. That ignited the crowd and the Huskers as they then went on a 4-1 run of their own to go up 24-23. After a Shoji timeout, the Rainbows responded with a 5-0 run sparked by three straight kills by Kahumoku to go up 28-24. The Cornhuskers would hold off two game points but Kahumoku, who ended up scoring the last five UH points, put down her 21st kill to end game three 30-27.

Ilustre started off the 'Bows in game four, serving them to a 2-0 lead. UH kept their lead at 5-2 before a Nebraska run put them up 9-7, forcing another UH timeout. The Rainbow Wahine roared out of the timeout, scoring three straight points to go up 10-9. NU tied the game at 10 before a lay out dig by Ilustre and a big kill by Kahumoku capped a 5-0 run that gave UH a 15-10 lead. The deficit would stay around five before a big 5-0 run gave UH the fourth game at 30-21.

The team will head over to New Orleans for the NCAA Championships tomorrow and will get a rematch with the Stanford Cardinal in the semifinal on Dec. 19. Southern California will face off with Florida in the other semifinal.

All Central Regional Team

Greichaly Ceparo, Nebraska
Lauren Duggins, Hawai`i
Amber Holmquist, Nebraska
Lily Kahumoku, Hawai`iLaura Pilakowski, Nebraska
Kim Willoughby, Hawai`i (MVP)

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