Box Score Box Score

STATE COLLEGE, Penn. - The No. 6 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (27-7) fell to the No. 8 Missouri Tigers (25-4) 26-30, 30-26, 27-30 and 22-30 in the NCAA Regional Semifinals at Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University Friday.

Tara Hittle stepped up for UH, hitting .265 with 19 kills and 16 digs. Ashley Watanabe had 26 digs in the back row while Kanoe Kamana`o finished with 59 assists, 20 digs and two blocks. Jamie Houston added 19 kills while Victoria Prince and Juliana Sanders had 11 kills apiece.

Hawai`i came out flat to start the first game, as they didn't score a point off their serve until halfway through, cutting it back to 14-10. A four-point run by the Rainbow Wahine cut it back to 16-15. But Mizzou came right back with a 3-0 run, capped by an ace by Shen Danru, getting it back to 19-15. Down 27-22, UH made their final push, as Prince put together two kills and a block, getting it back to 27-25. But the Tigers had too much as Jessica Vander Kooi put away the final kill, giving Missouri the 30-26 game one victory.

The Rainbow Wahine had a much better start to the second game, going on a 5-1 run to make it 7-4, forcing an early Mizzou timeout. The Tigers got kept it around a three-point deficit until Houston took over, putting away three-straight kills to push the Rainbow Wahine edge to 23-17. UH led by at least three the rest of the way, taking game two 30-26 on a dump by Kamana`o.

Hawai`i used an early 3-0 run to take an 11-8 edge in game three, only to see the Tigers respond with a big 6-0 run, giving them a 14-11 advantage. But UH came right back with a four-point run to take the lead back at 15-14, and it was a battle from then on. Neither team was able to get a lead of more than one point until a late 5-1 run by Missouri made it 28-25. Hawai`i was able to sideout twice before the Tigers ended it 30-27 on a kill by Shen Danru.

Mizzou carried their momentum into the fourth game as three-straight aces by Lindsey Hunter made it 5-0. The Tigers got it to 12-3 before the Rainbow Wahine finally showed some life. A 4-1 run by UH cut it back 16-10 with a 5-1 run getting them within four points at 25-21. But it was too much to make up as Missouri scored five of the last six points to take it 30-22.

The loss ended Hawai`i's season at 27-7, giving the 'Bows seven losses for the first time since 1997.

Match Statistics

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