Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 2 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (4-1) outlasted the No. 11 UCLA Bruins (2-1) 25-30, 30-18, 30-24, 29-31 and 15-13 to win the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic championship at the Stan Sheriff Center Monday in front of a crowd of 7,407.

Kim Willoughby led the way for UH, hitting .443 with 34 kills, three aces and 17 digs, despite missing the first half of the first game for disciplinary reasons. Lauren Duggins added a solid match, falling two blocks shy of a triple-double (10 kills, 11 digs, eight blocks and a .429 hitting percentage. Lily Kahumoku added 20 kills, six blocks and 15 digs while Maja Gustin had 11 kills and five blocks. Freshmen Kanoe Kamana`o and Alicia Arnott also played solid, as Kamana`o had 73 assists and 13 digs while Arnott added three kills and four aces in her first career start.

The Bruins took advantage early on with Willoughby out of the starting lineup, holding a 11-6 lead. Hawai`i cut the lead before a Brynn Murphy kill gave UCLA a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. Even with the return of Willoughby to the lineup, UCLA kept pushing, extending their lead to 23-16 before a Cira Wright kill gave the Bruins game one 30-25.

The Rainbow Wahine came out fired up in game two, jumping out to a 12-6 lead early on. Hawai`i would keep pounding away, as they blazed to a 9-2 run to end the game 30-18.

UCLA would make the Rainbow Wahine work harder in the third game as the deficit stayed within three points for most of the game. But a late UH 6-2 run that included three kills and one ace by Willoughby gave Hawai`i the 30-24 game three win.

UH would again jump out in the fourth game, taking an early lead at 17-10, looking to close out the match. But UCLA would reel off eight straight points on the serve of Haley Jorgensborg, putting the Bruins up 18-17. The game would go back-and-forth from then on as UCLA held game point at 29-28. Willoughby would put away her 30th kill to tie the game at 29 before kills by Colby Lyman and Murphy gave the Bruins game four, 31-29, setting up a fifth and decisive game.

UCLA would jump out to a 5-2 lead to start the fifth game, before Nohealani Tano ignited the Rainbow Wahine, getting a kill that started a 5-0 run for UH. The Bruins would keep clawing back, tying the game at 13-13. But Willoughby proved too much for UCLA, putting away her 34th kill after a Bruin service error, giving Hawai`i the exciting 15-13 game five victory.

UCLA got a solid team performance as four players were in double-digits in kills and three players had double-digit digs (led by Chrissie Zartman's 22).

UH will next take a couple days off before hosting the Aston Imua Wahine Volleyball Challenge from Sept. 4-6. The challenge will open with Pacific and Baylor at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5, followed by the Rainbow Wahine hosting Wichita State immediately after.

All Tournament Team
Paula Gentil, Minnesota
Lena Ustymenko, Louisville
Cira Wright, UCLA
Brynn Murphy, UCLA
Kanoe Kamana`o, Hawai`i
Lily Kahumoku, Hawai`i
Kim Willoughby, Hawai`i (MOP)

-uh-