Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 2 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (8-1) defeated Utah State (5-3) 30-25, 30-25 and 30-24 in front of a crowd of 6,619 in the first night of the Sprint Hawaii Invitational Friday night.

Lily Kahumoku led the way for Hawai`i with 15 kills and 10 digs while hitting .333. Kim Willoughby hit .458 with 14 kills in just two games. She sat out game three to rest her right ankle, which she sprained in practice earlier in the week. Kanoe Kamana`o had another solid match with 36 assists, 10 digs, while fellow freshman Alicia Arnott had three kills, three aces and three blocks. Karin Lundqvist provided the biggest impact blocking, putting away five blocks to go with two digs and a kill in two games.

Utah State jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the first game before kills by Willoughby and Kamana`o tied the game at five. The Aggies would keep it tight as the UH lead at the media timeout was 15-14. Hawai`i then started to pull away, pushing their lead to 19-15 to force a Utah State timeout. The Aggies would keep it tight but UH just had a little too much, taking game one 30-25.

Hawai`i again couldn't run away with it in game two, as Utah State kept the game within five points the whole way. But keeping it close was all that the Aggies would do as a Willoughby ace gave the Rainbow Wahine the win in the second game 30-25.

The Rainbow Wahine would finally start to run in game three, opening with a 6-1 lead on the serves of Kamana`o and Kahumoku. UH would keep pushing, getting their lead up to 16-4 on six straight serves, including three aces, by Arnott. Hawai`i would have a few lapses before they took the third game, 30-24.

UH will now face No. 4 Stanford in the Sprint Hawaii Invitational championship match, scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow night. The Cardinal defeated Weber State in four games earlier on Friday night. Weber State will play Utah State in the consolation match of the invitational at 5 p.m.

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