Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU -- The No. 4 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (6-0) defeated the Washington Huskie (5-1) 26-30, 30-22, 30-27 and 30-28 in the championship match of the Aston Imua Wahine Volleyball Challenge Saturday. The match was seen by a crowd of 7,365 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

All-American Kim Willoughby broke her own school record for kills in a four-game match with 38. She added 18 digs, three blocks and three aces while hitting .321. Lily Kahumoku also had a double-double with 16 kills and 17 digs. Margaret Vakasausau dug up 10 balls to go along with her 43 assists, while Melissa Villaroman and Hedder Ilustre played well defensively with 18 and 14 digs, respectively. As a team, UH ended up with 93 digs, the highest total ever put together in the "rally scoring era."

Hawai`i fell behind early in game one, as the Huskies jumped out to a 20-16 lead. UH then used a 5-1 run to tie the game at 21 before a 6-2 run by UW gave Washington a 28-23 lead. Willoughby did all that she could scoring each of Hawai`i's next three points, but it wasn't enough as a Paige Benjamin kill gave the Huskies a 30-26 win in game one.

The Rainbow Wahine came out firing in the second game as Willoughby served seven straight points put Hawai`i up 13-4. The junior ended the game with 12 kills, leading UH to the 30-22 game two victory.

Washington came back strong in game three, holding the lead for most of the first half of the game. But Hawai`i went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 16-14. The teams then traded points for a while with the lead going back and forth before two straight blocks by Willoughby and Lauren Duggins and a UW ball handling error put the Rainbow Wahine up 27-24. Hawai`i just had to trade sideouts from there as a Susie Boogaard kill ended the game 30-27.

Game four was another "barn burner" as the teams traded points all the way to the end. But in a fitting end, Willoughby picked up her 38th kill to give Hawai`i the final point of the 30-28 win.

Benjamin had a huge night for the Huskies with 20 kills and 10 digs. Sanja Tomasevic added 15 kills and 21 digs while Kaitlin Leck had 13 kill and seven blocks. Setter Gretchen Maurer also played outstanding, adding 51 assists and 10 digs.

Hawai`i will next face Cal Poly on Sept. 13 and 14 in the Stan Sheriff Center with both matches starting at 7 p.m.