Box Score Box Score

BOISE, Idaho - After splitting the first two games and finding themselves down 29-24 in the third game, the No. 13 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (22-5, 14-1 WAC) came back to beat the Boise State Broncos (11-16, 4-10) 30-28, 30-32, 32-30 and 30-22 at Bronco Gym Wednesday. The win clinched at least a tie for the regular season conference title for Hawai`i, their 11th-straight WAC title.

Sarah Mason and Jamie Houston again carried the load for the Rainbow Wahine, putting away 25 kill apiece. Mason added 12 digs, four blocks, four aces and a .489 hitting percentage while Houston had eight digs and four blocks. Juliana Sanders led the UH block, posting a career-high 10 blocks with eight kills. Kanoe Kamana`o had 60 assists, seven blocks and seven digs, while Jayme Lee led the Rainbow Wahine defensively with 16 digs.

Hawai`i looked comfortable early on as Sanders had two blocks and a kill in an early 5-0 run to put UH ahead 5-1. But Boise State fired back, scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 8-6 lead. The Broncos got that lead to 15-10 before Mason served UH on a 6-0 run, pushing their lead to 16-15. But BSU did not give in one bit, scoring eight of the next nine, taking a big 23-17 edge. Boise State got their lead to 26-20 before UH again made a run, taking the next six points to force a 26-26 tie. After relinquishing the lead again at 27-26, UH would score four of the last five points to take game one 30-28.

Game two started off back-and-forth with neither team taking a lead of more than two points early. Hawai`i used a four-point run to reverse a two-point advantage at 18-16, only to see Boise State score five in a row, taking the biggest lead of the game at 21-18. UH recovered their two-point advantage at 25-23 after a 6-1 run. It went back-and-forth after that point, with BSU getting the first game point at 29-28. Mason put away kills to stop two game points before a Bronco kill and a UH ball-handling error ended game two 32-30.

Game three again started out tight until an 5-1 BSU run put them ahead 17-13. Hawai`i came back with a couple of Mason kills and a block by Kari Gregory and Kamana`o, getting them within one at 20-19. But Boise State kepet pushing, getting it to 27-22 before taking game point at 29-24. That was when the Rainbow Wahine turned it around. UH scored six-straight points on the served of Cayley Thurlby, including four kills by Mason. BSU fought off the first game point before Hawai`i put it away 32-30.

Boise State opened game four with a 6-1 edge and went up 12-6 before UH scored four in a row on the serve of Houston. Another 4-0 run got Hawai`i their first lead of the game at 16-15, then going ahead 20-17 to force a BSU timeout. After allowing a Bronco point, Kamana`o served the Rainbow Wahine on a big seven-point run to take a commanding 27-18 advantage. Boise State was able to score a few more points before a kill by Amber Kaufman ended it at 30-22.

The team will now head to Moscow, Idaho, for their Nov. 17 match against the Vandals to close out the regular season. The match will start at 7 p.m. Pacific time (5 p.m. HST).

-UH-