Box Score Box Score
HONOLULU - The No. 6 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (9-0) swept the Pepperdine Waves (2-6) 30-28, 30-28 and 30-27 in front of a crowd of 6,849 at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.
Susie Boogaard had great match for the Rainbow Wahine, putting away 12 kills, 10 digs and five blocks while hitting a season-high .429. Tara Hittle added a .348 hitting percentage and 11 kills while Alicia Arnott had 11 kills and 10 digs. Ashley Watanabe led the way for UH in the backrow with 16 digs, while Kanoe Kamana`o had another great all-around match with 48 assists and 10 digs. Victoria Prince put up seven kills and six blocks in the middle while Juliana Sanders had four kills, three blocks and a .571 hitting percentage in one and a half games.
Pepperdine came out firing, scoring the first three points of game one. The Waves kept pushing their lead, getting it up to 9-4 before a quick four-point run on the serve of Watanabe cut it back to 9-8. Pepperdine got their advantage to 19-13 to force a timeout by UH Head Coach Dave Shoji. But the Rainbow Wahine weren't out of it just yet, as they fought back to take a 25-24 lead. The two teams then traded side-outs until a Wave hitting error ended the first game 30-28. Pepperdine hitter ended the first game with 10 kills and a .714 hitting percentage.
The Rainbow Wahine opened the second game big, taking an 8-4 lead to force a Pepperdine timeout. Out of the break, the Waves went on a big four-point run put Pepperdine up 16-15. The deficit would get up to 18-16 until a quick 4-0 UH run put Hawai`i up 20-18. But Pepperdine wouldn't go away, taking back the lead at 24-23 and 25-24. The Rainbow Wahine had another big run to get to game point at 29-26 before a quick-set kill by Prince put the second game away 30-28.
Hawai`i took control early in the third game and never gave up the lead, although the Waves made it interesting at the end, fighting back from a 27-22, getting it to 29-27 before a Boogaard kill put it away 30-27.
The two teams will play again tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center in what will be Dave Shoji's 1,000th match coached at UH. The match will be preceded by the alumnae match at 5 p.m.
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