Box Score Box Score

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The No. 11 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (9-6, 3-0 WAC) came back after losing the first two games to beat the New Mexico State Aggies (7-4, 1-3) 28-30, 26-30, 30-21, 30-22 and 15-10 in front of a NMSU record crowd of 7,115 at the Pan American Center Saturday. The win preserved UH's 94-match WAC winning streak and gave the Rainbow Wahine their first first five-game victory this season.

Sarah Mason led the way with 19 kills, four blocks and a .378 hitting percentage. Juliana Sanders hit .360 with 12 kills and six blocks while Victoria Prince had a double-double with 13 kills and 10 blocks. Susie Boogaard (12 kills, 10 digs, six blocks) and Tara Hittle (11 kills, 11 digs) added double-doubles while Ashley Watanabe ended up with 14 digs and three aces.

The Aggies showed early on that the match would be a battle. Early in the first game, NMSU strung together a quick 4-1 run to go up 10-8. A block by Sanders put UH back ahead at 14-13 before a rampid 9-3 run by the Aggies gave them a 22-17 advantage. Hawai`i responded right away, scoring the next four points to cut the deficit to 22-21. NMSU pushed their way to hold a 28-24 lead, only to see UH get back within one at 28-27 on a block by Prince and Mason. A kill by Aggie Kim Oguh got NMSU to game point before they took it 30-28 on a serve by Mason that went just long.

Game two was also tight early as neither team held a lead of more than two points going into the media timeout at 15-13 UH. Hawai`i got it up to 18-15 before NMSU again got their run. The Aggies put up a big 7-1 run to take a 22-19 lead, only to see the Rainbow Wahine respond with four of the next five points, tying it at 23. But that would prove to be Hawai`i's last stand in the second game as NMSU scored seven of the final 10 points to win it 30-26 and hold a two games to none lead going into the break.

New Mexico State went up early in the third game, taking leads of 5-2 and 11-7. But that was when Hawai`i finally began to take over the match, taking an 8-3 run to take the lead at 15-14. With the score at 18-18, UH turned it up another notch, scoring 12 of the last 15 points, including a 5-0 run on the score of Watanabe, giving them the game 30-21. The Rainbow Wahine hit a blistering .433 in the game while holding the Aggies to a .115 hitting percentage.

Hawai`i kept it rolling in game four, taking a 9-5 lead on a kill by Hittle, forcing an early NMSU timeout. They continued their push, getting their advantage up to 23-14, before the Aggies showed a little life with a three-point run that got it down to 23-17. But the Rainbow Wahine wouldn't be denied, getting to game point at 29-19 before eventually taking the 30-22 win on a kill by Sanders.

UH fell behind 4-3 early in the fifth game, but then scored seven of the next nine points to go up 10-6. The Aggies had one last push, cutting it to 11-8, before Mason took over, putting away two of UH's final four points to take it 15-10.

Match Statistics

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