Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 2 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (34-1) moved on to the NCAA Regionals with a sweep of the Brigham Young Cougars (24-9) 30-19, 30-23, 30-22 in front of 7,081 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Friday.

Kim Willoughby led the way with 16 kills and three aces. Karin Lundqvist came up big in relief of Maja Gustin, who missed the match after spraining her ankle, putting away 12 kills and two blocks while hitting .556. Lauren Duggins also came up big in the middle with 11 kills, three blocks and a .476 hitting percentage while Melissa Villaroman led the way in the back row with 12 digs.

Willoughby came out on fire, connecting on her first three swings to help UH start the match up 5-1, forcing an early BYU timeout. Hawai`i continued to dominate on Kanoe Kamana`o's serve, as she reeled off nine straight points in all, to put the Rainbow Wahine up 10-1. UH's lead got as high as 11 points before Lindsey Kearl served BYU a 4-0 run, including two aces, cutting it to 17-10. But the Rainbow Wahine just had a bit too much as Willoughby put away her ninth kill to give UH the 30-19 win in game one.

Brigham Young came out with a lot of intensity in the second game, holding a slight 11-10 lead early. But Willoughby again took over, this time behind the service line, reeling off eight-straight points including three aces on her serve to put UH up 18-11. The Rainbow Wahine got it up to 28-19 before BYU ran off four-straight points, which got the Hawai`i faithful a little anxious. But a big block by Duggins and Tano put away game two, 30-23.

Lundqvist really started to turn it on in the third game as she put away three-straight kills to cap a four-point rally that put UH up 13-6. BYU's Kimberly Wilson led a late charge, putting away three-straight kills, followed by a kill by Lauren Richards to get the Cougars back within four at 19-15, forcing a timeout by Hawai`i coach Dave Shoji. Duggins then started to throw in her part, putting away two quick kills before teaming up with Lily Kahumoku to get a block for the match's final point, as the Rainbow Wahine took game three, 30-22.

UH will next host the NCAA Regionals next week at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Wahine will play the winner of the Illinois-Louisville match tomorrow in Illinois. Georgia Tech clinched a spot in the Honolulu Regional with a win over Florida A&M tonight. They will face the winner of the California-Michigan match, which takes place tomorrow as well, in Berkeley, Calif.

Match Statistics

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