Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 12 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (6-4) came back from down 0-2 to defeat the No. 23 Cal Poly Mustangs (7-4) 29-31, 27-30, 30-23, 30-28 and 15-12 in front of a crowd of 6,665 at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.

Kanoe Kamana`o set a great match for UH, posting 69 assists, 13 digs, five blocks and five kills while hitting .667. Jamie Houston tied her career-high with 28 kills and 17 digs. Kari Gregory added 10 kills and 10 blocks while Juliana Sanders hit .367 with 13 kills. Sarah Mason had a great all-around match with 14 kills, 12 digs, five blocks and three aces. Jayme Lee led all players with 23 digs and three aces while Raeceen Woolford had a career-high 16 digs.

Hawai`i scored the first four points of game one, only to see Cal Poly put up five-straight to go ahead 5-4. A 6-1 run later in the game put the Rainbow Wahine up 14-11. The game stayed close as their were 14 total ties and six lead changes. Down 24-21, the Mustangs ran off five of the next six points to take the lead at 26-25. It would go back-and-forth with a block by Mason and Gregory giving UH game point at 29-28. But Cal Poly stepped up, scoring the next three points to take the first game 31-29.

The Rainbow Wahine opened a 8-5 lead in game two, but Poly pushed a 10-4 run to hold a 15-12 edge at the media timeout. Hawai`i stayed close, but the Mustangs would never relinquish the lead again, taking game two 30-27.

UH was determined to turn the tides in game three, going ahead 8-3 and 11-4 early on. Cal Poly made a run to get within four points at 23-19. But Hawai`i wasn't going to be denied, taking the game three victory 30-23.

The Mustangs were primed to end the night early in the fourth game, as a 8-2 spurt put them ahead 17-11. The deficit got as high as 19-12 before UH mounted a huge comeback. Elise Duggins served seven points of UH's 8-0 run, putting them ahead 20-19. Hawai`i never gave up the lead again, although Poly forced five ties before Kamana`o and Gregory combined for a huge block ending a long rally to end game four 30-28.

Duggins again came up big behind the service line for UH to start game five, serving a 3-0 start. Hawai`i got it to 5-1 on a Houston kill, forcing a timeout by Cal Poly. The Mustangs were able to get within two points on three occasions before another run on the serve of Duggins (4-0) put UH at match point on 14-8. Cal Poly looked to one-up their late heroics of a night before, scoring four-straight to get it back to 14-12. But Houston put it away, dropping her 28th kill to end the night at 15-12.

UH will now move on to conference play, as they host Fresno State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23. Prior to the match will be the alumnae match, starting at 5 p.m.

-UH-