Box Score Box Score

RENO, Nev. - The No. 6 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (12-0, 2-0 WAC) survived a huge scare by the Nevada Wolf Pack (8-6, 2-2 WAC) 30-27, 28-30, 28-30, 32-30, 15-13 in front of a crowd of 941 at Virginia Street Gym on the Nevada campus, extending their WAC winning streak to 80 matches.

Victoria Prince came up huge for the Rainbow Wahine, hitting .419 with 15 kills and a school rally-scoring record 13 blocks. Tara Hittle stayed on her amazing pace, butting away 19 kills while hitting .545. Kanoe Kamana`o also played well, finishing with 58 assists, eight digs, six blocks and three kills. Juliana Sanders added 10 kills while Teisa Fotu came up with 12 digs in the back row.

The Wolf Pack opened a big 8-5 lead to start the first game, but Hawai`i came right back, as an eight-point run on the serve of Susanne Boogaard put UH up 14-9. The Rainbow Wahine used another 3-0 run to get it up to 17-10 before a 5-1 run on the strength of three big blocks by the Pack cut it back to 18-15. Hawai`i was able to get their lead to 21-15, but a huge 6-0 run by Nevada tied the game at 21. UH then responded with a crucial three-point run to go up 24-21 before working their way to a 30-27 victory in game one.

Hawai`i jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead before a big 10-3 Nevada run made it 10-7 in favor of the Pack. Two kills by Sanders cut the deficit to one point at 11-10, but a quick 4-0 run, on the strength of two UN service aces, pushed the edge to 15-11 at the media timeout. UH was able to come back and tie it at 16, but another big four-point run by the Pack made it 20-16. They were able to hold that four-point advantage at 21-17 before the Rainbow Wahine went on a big 8-3 run, capped by two huge kills by Hittle, giving UH their first lead since early on at 25-24. But Nevada came right back, as Salaia Salavea willed them to a 4-1 run with a kill and three blocks, beating the Rainbow Wahine 30-28 in game two.

Nevada continued to roll at the start of game three, going up 8-2 to force an early timeout by UH Head Coach Dave Shoji. The Rainbow Wahine whittled their way back into the game as three quick kills by Hittle cut it to 25-23. The two teams then traded points with Nevada getting to game point at 29-27. Boogaard was able to put away a kill to prolong the game with a kill, but Christine Harms put away a kill to give the Pack the third game 30-28.

With their backs against the wall, the Rainbow Wahine came out firing, jumping out to an 8-4 lead to force an early UN timeout. UH continued to hol the lead through most of the game, but the Pack fought their way back into it, tying the game at 24 on a kill by Harms. UH would make it to game point on four occasions, with Cayley Thurlby coming up clutch, coming off the bench to serve a crucial ace, giving the Rainbow Wahine the 32-30 game four victory.

Hawai`i took an early 3-1 lead before a three-point run by the Pack gave them the lead at 4-3. It would go back-and-forth with the teams tied at eight before Kari Gregory came off the bench to put away three kills, on her only three attempts of the night, in a 4-1 run, putting the Rainbow Wahine up 12-10. UN came back to tie it at 12 on a Harms kill and a block by Karen Adams and Salavea. Hittle then put away her 19th kill to put UH up 13-12, only to see another kill by Harms tie it back up at 13-13. Boogaard whacked a kill to put UH at match-point, before a big block by Kamana`o and Prince put the match away with a 15-13 game five victory.

The Rainbow Wahine will head back to the islands tomorrow to get ready for their two home matches vs. Boise State, on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m., and UTEP, on Oct. 10 at 4 p.m.

Match Statistics

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