Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 16 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (2-2) defeated the No. 25 Kansas State Wildcats (4-1) 34-32, 30-26, 25-30 and 31-29 in the 20th Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic in front of a crowd of 6,172 at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.

Jamie Houston led the way for the Rainbow Wahine, posting 25 kills, 11 digs and four blocks. Aneli Cubi-Otineru added 13 kills, eight digs, four blocks and two aces with Tara Hittle adding 12 kills, 12 digs and six blocks. Kari Gregory and Juliana Sanders led the blocking effort with six apiece, while Elizabeth Ka`aihue led with 17 digs. Stephanie Brandt had a great all-around match, posting 48 assists, 15 digs and four aces.

Hawai`i came out firing in the first game, as Brandt served a 7-0 run that put UH ahead 8-2. The Rainbow Wahine were able to get their advantage to 12-3 and 21-13 before KSU started to make their run. The Wildcats scored 10 of the next 13 points, cutting their deficit to 24-23. The two teams then traded sideouts with KSU tying the score at 27-27. The Wildcats got to game point first at 29-28 on an ace by Kelsey Chipman. Cubi-Otineru put away a kill to hold it off. KSU got one more game point at 30-29, with a kill by Sanders tying it up again. Cubi-Otineru served an ace to give UH their first game point at 31-30. The Rainbow Wahine missed two opportunities with service errors before a kill by Houston and a block by Houston and Gregory put away the first game, 34-32.

Game two was tight early on as neither team held a lead of more than two points. KSU used a quick three-point run to break at 15-15 tie and put them ahead 18-15. But UH answered right back with a four-point run, giving Hawai`i the 19-18 edge. The game stayed close with Kansas State holding a slight 26-25 advantage late. But Gregory served a five-point run to end the game, capped by a kill by Hittle, giving UH the 30-25 win.

Kansas State opened game three with five-straight points. The Wildcats kept their advantage around five points, extending it to 24-16 on a late 4-1 run. Cubi-Otineru served the 'Bows on a 5-0 run to get it to 24-21. UH was able to pull within two points at 27-25, before KSU ran away with the final three points, taking game three 30-25.

Hawai`i took an early edge in the fourth game, going ahead 6-3. The Rainbow Wahine got it to 11-7 and 14-11 before a three-point KSU run tied it at 14-14. It stayed tight as UH held a slight 18-17 edge. But KSU responded with a 5-1 run to get it to 22-19. The Wildcats kept that three-point edge at 24-21 before a 3-0 UH run tied it at 24-24. The teams traded points with KSU holding a 28-27 lead before UH ran off four of the last five pionts on three kills by Houston and one, the match-winner, by Cubi-Otineru for the 31-29 win.

The Rainbow Wahine will take tomorrow off from the classic before hosting Louisville at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 2. That match will be preceeded by a 2:30 p.m. match between No. 5 UCLA and Kansas State. Kansas State will face Louisville in the only match of the classic at 2 p.m. tomorrow. UCLA swept the Cardinals in the early match of the day.

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