Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 10 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (21-5, 15-1 WAC) fell to the Utah State Aggies (17-12, 11-5) 28-30, 29-31 and 27-30 in front of a crowd of 6,708 at the Stan Sheriff Center Sunday, giving UH their first home WAC loss since joining the conference in 1996. It also snapped the Rainbow Wahine's 108-match conference home winning streak, dating back to UH's time in the Big West Conference.

Aneli Cubi-Otineru led UH in the loss, posting 16 kills and seven digs. Jamie Houston added 10 kills while Juliana Sanders hit .312 with seven kills and four blocks. Amber Kaufman also posted eight kills with Tara Hittle chiming in 14 digs.

Hawai`i used an early 6-1 run to go ahead 11-6 in the first game. The Rainbow Wahine later increased their lead to 20-12 before the Aggies started to make a run. Utah State scored 12 of the next 14 points, taking a 24-22 edge. UH battled back to force ties at 24-24 and 28-28, but a Cubi-Otineru hitting error and a kill by Amanda Nielson gave USU the 30-28 game one victory.

Hawai`i stormed out to a 7-2 advantage to start game two, only to see a 5-2 Aggie run cut it back to 9-7. UH got their lead back to 14-10, but USU had the answer again, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to hold a 20-16 edge. Hawai`i came right back with a 7-1 run giving UH a 23-21 edge and start a tight battle for the rest of the game. The Rainbow Wahine got the first game point at 29-28 on a kill by Cubi-Otineru. But the Aggies got two big kills from Nielson that sandwiched a UH error, giving USU the big 31-29 game two win.

USU jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start game three. They got their lead to 14-8 before Cubi-Otineru got hot, leading Hawai`i on a 6-1 run, cutting the deficit to 15-14. The Rainbow Wahine would keep the pressure on, taking a 26-23 lead late. But, just as in the previous two games, UH couldn't hold on. The Aggies posted three blocks in a 7-1 run that closed out the third game, and the match, 30-27.

The Rainbow Wahine now head to the WAC Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M., as the No. 1 seeded team, and will play the winner of the Boise State-Louisiana Tech match at 2:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. HST) on Thursday, Nov. 15.

-UH-