Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - Despite playing without three-time All-American Kanoe Kamana`o and all-WAC left-side hitter Tara Hittle, the No. 9 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (4-2) swept through Fairfield (3-4) 30-19, 33-31 and 30-18 in front of a crowd of 6,311 in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge at the Stan Sheriff Center Thursday.

Sarah Mason broke the UH single-match record for service aces in a match with nine. The old record was six, held by nine previous players. Mason also added 15 kills, 11 digs and a .333 hitting percentage, just missing a triple-double in her first start of the season. Cayley Thurlby posted 48 assists and five digs in her first start at setter at UH, while Jamie Houston added 17 kills and seven digs. Kari Gregory continued her solid play with nine kills, four blocks and a .500 hitting percentage in just two games.

Kamana`o and Hittle were not cleared to participate in the match. The match marked the first time that Kamana`o had missed a match in her entire four-year career at Hawai`i.

Hawai`i jumped out early in the first game as two blocks by Gregory and Jessica Keefe sparked a 5-1 edge. The Stags got as close as 16-13 before Mason went behind the service line and served a 7-0 run that featured three aces to push UH to a 23-13 lead. Raeceen Woolford would serve the Rainbow Wahine on a 5-0 run late, with a kill by Houston ending the game at 30-19.

Fairfield went ahead at the start of the second game 6-4, only to see two Mason aces lead to a 5-0 run that put UH up 9-6. The Stags kept fighting keeping within three points the entire game. After a kill by Keefe put the Rainbow Wahine at a 29-27 game point, Fairfield fought back, tying the game at 29-29. UH would get two more game points, five in all, before a kill by Houston finally ended game two 33-31.

The Stags again stayed close at the start of the third game, tying the score at 13-13. But that was when Mason took over. After putting away a kill, Mason served a eight-point UH run that featured four more aces to go up 21-13. Hawai`i kept the pressure on throughout with an ace by Jayme Lee end the game at 30-18.

The Stags will face No. 8 Stanford in the 4:30 match tomorrow while the Rainbow Wahine face Northwestern at 7:00 p.m. Stanford swept the Wildcats earlier in the day.

-UH-