Box Score Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. - The No. 4 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine fell to the top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers 23-30, 26-30 and 21-30 in front of a crowd of 10,028 in the first round of the AVCA/NACWAA Volleyball Showcase in the Qwest Center. Hawai`i will now face No. 5 Penn State in the showcase's consolation match at 5 p.m. Central (noon HST) tomorrow.
Victoria Prince played well in the loss, hitting .421 with eight kills and three blocks, but only saw 19 sets. Kanoe Kamana`o had a double-double with 32 assists and 12 digs while Alicia Arnott led UH with nine kills. Kari Gregory came off the bench to put away four kills and four blocks while hitting .375.
Junior Sarah Mason went down with an injury to her right ankle during the second game of the match. She will be x-rayed when the team returns to Hawai`i on Sunday.
Nebraska bolted to a 5-1 lead in the opening game as Houghtelling, Pavan and Elmer all recorded kills. Hawai`i scored four of the next five points as Arnott slammed two kills in the run to put the Rainbow Wahine within one at 6-5. Nebraska picked up a three-point advantage, 10-7, only to Hawai`i come back to tie it at 12-all. Saleaumua gave the Huskers back-to-back kills to give Nebraska a 14-12 margin. Nebraska inched its lead to 17-14 following a Hawai?i ball-handling error, but the Rainbow Wahine came back to within one at 17-16 following a kill from Sanders and a block from Prince and Mason. The Huskers recaptured their three-point advantage, 20-17, after Elmer and Pavan hammered kills on successive rallies. The pair of Elmer and Pavan combined for another block followed by a Larson kill to lift the Huskers to a 22-17 lead on a 4-0 spurt. Hawai`i temporarily stopped the bleeding with a kill from Prince, but Elmer stuffed a Rainbow Wahine attack and Pavan spiked a deep cross court point to move the score to 25-18 in favor of the Huskers. Nebraska eventually built an eight-point margin at 26-18, and Hawai`i could not overcome the deep hole as the Huskers won game one 30-23. Nebraska hit .457 in the first game as Saleaumua chipped in five kills on seven errorless swings. Arnott paced Hawai`i in the first game with five kills.
Nebraska zoomed to a 6-2 lead in the second game as Larson pounded out two early kills. The Rainbow Wahine closed to within one at 8-7, but Houghtelling scored three kills around a Pavan kill to bring the Husker advantage back to five at 12-7. Nebraska continued the run of six unanswered points on two more Hawai`i miscues for a 14-7 lead. The Rainbow Wahine pulled to within three at 16-13 as Prince recorded a kill followed by a combined block from Kamana?o and Gregory. Nebraska responded with a 3-0 run of its own as Elmer, Saleaumua and Pavan charted kills for a 19-13 lead. After two Gregory kills cutting the deficit to 19-15, Nebraska canned four of the next five points for a 23-16 score. The Rainbow Wahine pulled together yet another charge with four of the next five points. However, it cost Hawai`i the services of Mason with an apparent leg injury following a joust at the net at 24-20. The Rainbow Wahine, after a Houghtelling kill, scored three straight points on two kills from Prince around a Thurlby ace to whittle the deficit to 25-23. Hawai`i came within one at 25-24 following a Husker ball handling error, but Larson and Elmer triggered a momentum switch with kills to give the top-ranked team a 27-24 lead. However, the Rainbow Wahine stayed within range following an Arnott kill and Husker attack error to move the score to 27-26. Nebraska recomposed itself as Elmer combined with Pavan for a block, followed by a block solo from Elmer and game-ending kill from Saleaumua at 30-26. Houghtelling and Larson chipped in six kills for the Huskers in game two. Nebraska hit .158 in the second game, but held Hawai`i to a .043 mark. Prince led the Rainbow Wahine in the second game with five kills on nine errorless swings, while Ashley Watanabe handled six digs.
After a nip-and-tuck start to game three, Nebraska came back from a 6-5 deficit to score five straight points to take a 10-6 advantage forcing the first Rainbow Wahine timeout. During the stretch, Houghtelling and Elmer combined for two blocks, while Houghtelling added a kill of her own. Out of the timeout, Pavan stretched the unanswered streak to seven points with a kill followed by a opposition error to give the Huskers a 12-6 lead. Hawai`i closed to within 21-16 after a Prince block solo and Husker ball handling error. Nebraska made its final rush with a 3-0 run as Saleaumua provided a kill, followed by a tandem block from Houghtelling and Amanda Gates. The Huskers concluded the match with a Pavan kill at 30-21. Nebraska hit .406 in the third game as Elmer charted five kills and three blocks. Saleaumua added four kills on five swings in the final game. Hawai`i was held to a .097 attack percentage in the third game as Arnott contributed nine kills.
Match Statistics
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