Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 15 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (17-5, 9-1 WAC) defeated the San Jose State Spartans (14-10, 5-6) 31-33, 30-27, 30-18 and 30-24 in front of a crowd of 6,476 at the Stan Sheriff Center Sunday.

Jamie Houston posted 24 kills, 23 digs, four blocks and two aces, becoming the first Rainbow Wahine to have a 20-20 match since Susie Boogaard on Sept. 25, 2004, against Pepperdine. Sarah Mason added 19 kills, 13 digs, three aces and four solo blocks while Kanoe Kamana`o had 67 assists, 12 digs and three kills. Kari Gregory hit .440 with 12 kills and four blocks while Juliana Sanders posted 10 kills and four blocks. Jayme Lee also came up big with 25 digs and a rare libero kill.

Game one was a back-and-forth battle that saw 22 ties and five lead changes. SJSU was the first team to get some separation, using a five-point run to get a 24-20 lead. The Rainbow Wahine responded soon after, going on a 4-0 run of their own to tie the score at 25. Hawai`i got the first game point at 29-28 on a block by Kamana`o and Sanders. But the Spartans fought it off and fought off one more game point before getting their first game point at 31-30. A kill by Houston held it off before San Jose State was able to close out the first game, 33-31.

The Spartans used a four-point run to start off game two 5-3. But Hawai`i responded with a quick 6-1 run of their own, taking a 9-6 lead to force a SJSU timeout. The Rainbow Wahine got it to 14-9 and 26-20 before the Spartans again made a run. SJSU got it back to 26-23 and 29-27 before a kill by Houston ended game two, 30-27.

Hawai`i came out of the break between two and three on fire, taking leads of 9-3 and 16-6 early on. San Jose State used a 4-0 run to get it back to single digits at 26-18. But UH scored the final four points of the game, taking game three 30-18, on a block by Sanders and Houston.

After going down 3-1 at the start of game four, UH went on a big 13-3 run to take a 15-7 edge. A five-point run by the Spartans cut it back to 19-16. SJSU even got it down to 24-22. But the Rainbow Wahine again took control, using a 5-1 run, capped by two Amber Kaufman kills, to get to match point at 29-23. After a kill by Jennifer Senftleben held off one match point, UH put it away with a kill by Sanders, ending game four 30-23.

The Rainbow Wahine will now head on the road, playing at Nevada on Nov. 2 and at Utah State on Nov. 4.

-UH-