Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 2 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (10-1) defeated the No. 25 Loyola Marymount Lions (11-2) 30-27, 30-11 and 30-22 in front of a crowd of 6,347 Friday night.

Kim Willoughby led the way for Hawai`i with 23 kills and 16 digs, while hitting .553. Lily Kahumoku added 19 kills and a .400 hitting percentage, while Maja Gustin had seven kills with a .500 hitting percentage. Melissa Villaroman had 15 digs in the back row.

Molokai native Kealani Kimball led the way for LMU, putting away 17 kills, 13 digs and three blocks.

Loyola Marymount came out fired up, taking a 7-3 lead early to force a timeout by Hawai`i. UH would then march back, going on a 5-1 run to tie the game at eight. The teams then started to trade points before a couple of small four-point runs late in the game led to a 30-27 Rainbow Wahine victory.

The Rainbow Wahine kept rolling in game two, taking a 10-4 lead before LMU would take a timeout. Hawai`i kept the pressure on all game, pushing their lead to 18-6 before posting a 7-0 run to take the second game 30-11.

The two teams would keep it tight in the third game as it took three straight points for UH to take a 15-10 lead into the media timeout. From there, the Rainbow Wahine started to pound away as Kahumoku added three quick kills to help extend the lead to 20-12. Loyola Marymount would mount a comeback, going on a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 24-21. But Hawai`i would then turn it up, going on a 6-1 run to end the game, taking game three 30-22.

Hawai`i will next play UNLV tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rebels are coached by former UH All-American Deitre Collins.

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