Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 9 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (5-2, 2-0 WBM) held to to win a thrilling four-game match over Northwestern (2-3, 0-2) 29-31, 30-27, 32-30 and 32-30 on the second day of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge Friday, setting up a championship match with No. 8 Stanford tomorrow.

The Rainbow Wahine were again forced to play without Kanoe Kamana`o and Tara Hittle, who were not cleared to participate. In Kamana`o's place, Cayley Thurlby posted a career-high 63 assists with 12 digs and two blocks. Jamie Houston led UH with 23 kills and 10 digs while Sarah Mason had 19 kills and 15 digs. Nickie Thomas came off the bench to post 12 kills and five aces with a .417 hitting percentage. Jayme Lee put up a career-high 26 digs while Raeceen Woolford also posted a career-high with 12 digs.

Hawai`i came out to a 7-4 edge to start game one, only to see a five-point Northwestern run put the Wildcats ahead 9-4. It stayed tight throughout the game as neither team held a lead of more than three points the rest of the way. Down 26-23, the Rainbow Wahine mounted a comeback with three points on the serve of Thurlby, tying it at 26-26. Northwestern got to game point first at 29-28 before a kill by Mason tied it up. Then Lindsay Anderson put down a kill with Stephanie Jurivich and Chelsey Hyser doubling up for a block that ended game one 31-29.

The second game was another closely contended game with a four-point run putting the Wildcats up 19-15. But UH battled back with a 4-0 spurt of their own to tie it at 19, forcing a Wildcat timeout. From that point there were four lead changes and six ties before a big 3-1 run propelled Hawai`i to a 27-25 advantage. The Rainbow Wahine just sided out from then on, taking game two 30-27.

Northwestern made a 5-0 run in the middle of game three to take a 15-11 lead into the media timeout. The Wildcats continued to lead late, taking a 27-22 edge before Thomas and Woolford took control. Woolford served a five-point run that featured three kills and a block by Thomas to tie it at 27-27. NU got to game point at 29-28 before a kill by Houston tied it up. Then a block by Juliana Sanders and Thurlby gave UH game point at 30-29. But a service error tied it again at 30-30. Houston assured the Rainbow Wahine weren't going to be denied, putting away the final two kills of the game to give UH a 32-30 game three win.

Game four turned out to be the tightest game of all, featuring 18 ties and 11 lead changes. Down 26-25, Northwestern made a big 3-0 run to go ahead 28-26. They got to game point at 29-27 before an error and a kill by Houston tied it at 29. UH got to game point at 30-29 on a Mason kill, but Courtnie Paulus returned the favor to tie it at 30-30. After a Wildcat service error, Mason ended the night, dropping her 19th kill to end the game and the match, 32-30.

In all, the close match featured 59 ties and 24 lead changes. Northwestern will look to rebound against Fairfield in the third-place match at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow while the Rainbow Wahine face Stanford for the challenge title at 7 p.m.

-UH-