Box Score Box Score

MOSCOW, Idaho - The No. 13 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (23-5, 15-1 WAC) defeated the Idaho Vandals (10-17, 9-6) 30-21, 26-30, 30-20 and 30-25 at Memorial Gym Friday, closing out UH's regular season with their 12th-straight conference regular season title.

Kari Gregory hit .500 with 15 kills, seven digs and two aces. Jamie Houston (19 kills, 12 digs) and Sarah Mason (17 kills, 13 digs) both added double-doubles while Juliana Sanders had 10 kills and eight blocks. Kanoe Kamana`o posted 52 assists with 11 digs and three aces while Elise Duggins led the team with 15 digs.

Hawai`i came out with a 5-1 lead early in game one, using a 4-1 run later in the game to get it to 12-7. After allowing the Vandals to cut it back to 13-10, UH ran off six of the next seven points to give them a 19-11 lead on an ace by Kamana`o. The senior's ace was the 89th in her career, tying her for 10th on the UH career aces list. The Rainbow Wahine kept rolling, taking a 23-13 lead before a 7-2 UI run cut it back to 25-20, forcing a Dave Shoji timeout. But Hawai`i wouldn't allow them any closer, scoring four-straight points to get to game point at 29-20, before taking the first game 30-21.

Game two started out tight until a 4-0 run by the Rainbow Wahine gave UH a 9-6 edge. But Idaho came right back with a five-point run of their own, taking the lead back at 12-10. The Vandals got their advantage to five points at 22-17 and 25-20 before a big 6-1 run by the Hawai`i tied it up at 26-26. Idaho responded, scoring the last four points of the game to take it 30-26.

The Rainbow Wahine opened game three up 4-1 and 6-3, only to see three-straight points by Idaho tie it at 6-6. After a couple of UH points, the Vandals ran off five in a row to take an 11-8 edge, forcing a Shoji timeout. Out of the break, Hawai`i caught fire, scoring seven-straight points on Gregory's serve, capped with three blocks in a row by Sanders, giving UH a 15-11 advantage. After a couple of Vandal blocks cut it back to 18-15, Houston took over, posting four kills to start a 6-1 run, pushing the Rainbow Wahine's lead to 24-16. Hawai`i got it to 28-18 before winning the game 30-20 on a block by Sanders and Kamana`o.

After game four started with a 5-5 tie, UH used a 8-2 run to go ahead 13-7. Idaho responded, scoring seven of the next eight points to tie it up at 14-14. The two teams traded three-point runs with UI pushing to a 22-21 edge after a quick 4-1 run. Hawai`i then turned it up late, scoring nine of the last 12 points to take the game 30-25.

Hawai`i will now head to the WAC Tournament in Reno, Nev., as the top seed in the conference. UH will face the winner of the Fresno State-Louisiana Tech match at 7:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. HST) on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

-UH-