Box Score Box Score

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The No. 13 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (10-3, 4-0 WAC) fought off six match points to win a thriller over the No. 25 New Mexico State Aggies (11-3, 3-1) 30-26, 28-30, 30-27, 28-30 and 23-21 in front of a crowd of 4,361 at the Pan American Center Saturday.

Jamie Houston led UH with 29 kills and four blocks. Juliana Sanders added 18 kills, five blocks and a .342 hitting percentage while Aneli Cubi-Otineru had 16 kills and 23 digs. Amber Kaufman hit .632 with 13 kills while Tara Hittle had nine kills, 22 digs and three blocks. Elizabeth Ka`aihue had a team-high 28 digs while Stephanie Brandt had 68 assists and 10 digs.

Sanders got UH off to a quick start in the first game, putting away the first kill, opening a 7-3 Rainbow Wahine lead. NMSU never led in game one, although they were able to cut the deficit to one point on a couple occasions. With a slight 22-21 edge, Cubi-Otineru caught fire, putting away three-straight kills to extend the lead to 25-21. Hawai`i kept that advantage the rest of the way, as Sanders and Cubi-Otineru got a block to end the first game 30-26. Sanders led the UH attack in game one, hitting .727 with eight kills in the game.

The Aggies came out firing to start game two, using an 8-1 run to go ahead 9-4. UH used a three-point run to cut it back to 10-8, before NMSU ran off 12 of the next 16 points, making it 22-12. Freshman setter Dani Mafua came in and set the Rainbow Wahine on a big comeback. Hawai`i went on a run of 11-3, cutting it back to 25-23. NMSU got to game point at 29-26, only to see a Cubi-Otineru kill and an error by the Aggies cut it back to 29-28. But a questionable overset by NMSU's Alyssa Gintant, who was in the backrow at the time, ended the second game 30-28.

The Rainbow Wahine went ahead 6-3 to start game three, only to see a big 12-5 run by NMSU put the Aggies ahead 15-11. A three-point Hawai`i run cut it back to 15-14 before back-to-back kills by Cubi-Otineru tied it at 18-18. NMSU was able to take a 27-25 edge before UH responded with a 5-0 run, ending game three 30-27.

New Mexico State jumped ahead 7-3 to start game four, only to see a 6-1 run by the Rainbow Wahine put them ahead 9-8. NMSU responded with a 8-2 run to go ahead 16-11, then were able to extend it to 22-15. Hawai`i fought back with a four-point run to cut it back to 22-19. UH cut it back to a one-point on three occasions before NMSU took the fourth game 30-28.

Game five proved to be a classic. UH scored the first two points on kills by Kaufman and Houston, then extended it to 5-2 on a couple Aggie errors. NMSU scored three points to tie it at 5-5, before a block by Kaufman and Houston pushed UH's lead back to 9-7. The Aggies used a 3-0 run to go ahead 10-9, before it really got exciting. The teams traded five sideouts before an error by NMSU gave Hawai`i the first match point at 14-13. The Aggies got a kill from Krista Altermatt to tie it before an untimely double hit call gave NMSU their first match point at 15-14.

Kills by Hittle and Kaufman stopped two more NMSU match points, with a double hit call on the Aggies putting UH ahead 17-16. NMSU's Lindsey Yon had back-to-back kills to get the Aggies another match point at 18-17. Hawai`i tied it on a NMSU hitting error, then held off two more match points on kills by Sanders. Altermatt had another kill to get the Aggies their sixth match point at 21-20. But NMSU had back-to-back hitting errors before Hittle and Kari Gregory blocked the final attempt, giving UH the 23-21 game five victory.

Hawai`i concludes their road trip with a match at San Jose State at 7 p.m. (4 p.m. HST) on Monday, Sept. 24.

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