Box Score Box Score

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The No. 11 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (23-5) swept through the Nevada Wolf Pack (16-11) 30-27, 30-28 and 30-21 in the Western Athletic Conference tournament match Friday, advancing to the WAC Championship match for the 10th-straight tournament.

Jamie Houston went off, hitting .404 with 27 kills, seven digs and three block solos. Aneli Cubi-Otineru added 13 kills, 13 digs, three blocks and a .387 hitting percentage while Stephanie Brandt finished with 45 assists and eight digs. Tara Hittle and Elizabeth Ka`aihue played well in the back row, posting 13 and 11 digs, respectively.

Houston opened the first game with three-straight kills before a Amber Kaufman block put Hawai`i ahead 4-0. UH kept the pressure on, taking a 15-8 lead at the media timeout. A 4-0 run by the Wolf Pack cut it back to 17-14. Nevada stayed within that three-point margin at 20-17 and 23-20 before Kaufman served the Rainbow Wahine on a four-point run to get it to 27-20. The Pack responded with a 4-0 run of their own, cutting it to 27-24. But it was too little-too late as UH finished off game one 30-27.

Consecutive aces by Lauren Kelly gave UN their first lead of the match at 4-2 to start game two. Hawai`i battled to take back the lead at 11-10. A 5-1 UH run got it to 22-17. Nevada ran off five-straight points to pull within one at 25-24. They would also tie it at 27-27 and 28-28 before Cubi-Otineru put away a kill and combined with Kari Gregory for a block to end game two 30-28.

The Rainbow Wahine came out rolling in game three, taking leads of 4-0 and 12-5 early. UH continued to dominate the game, pushing to a 22-11 advantage before closing out the Wolf Pack 30-21.

Hawai`i will face host New Mexico State in the WAC Championship match tomorrow at 7 p.m. UH has won the last seven WAC Tournaments and have now reached the championship match in all 10 of the WAC Tournaments they have played in.

-UH-