Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 16 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (3-3) swept through the Eastern Washington Eagles (1-5) 31-29, 30-15 and 30-20 in front of a crowd of 5,630 at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge at the Stan Sheriff Center Thursday.

Juliana Sanders played well for UH, hitting .417 with seven kills and seven blocks in just two games. Tara Hittle added seven kills and seven digs while hitting .500 while Kari Gregory hit .444 with four kills and four blocks in two games. Aneli Cubi-Otineru had a team-high 11 ills, six digs and two aces while Jamie Houston posted 10 kills, 13 digs and two aces. Stephanie Brandt set UH's offense with 39 assists, seven digs and three aces.

Hawai`i got off to a great start in the first game, taking a 7-3 edge. The Rainbow Wahine extended their lead to 18-12 before the Eagles started to mount a comeback. EWU scored six points in a row to tie it at 18-18, before taking their first lead of the game at 23-22. UH would find themselves down 25-22 and facing a game point at 29-27 before they turned it around. Sanders and Cubi-Otineru posted kills to tie it at 29-29. The duo then combined with Hittle for a triple block to give Hawai`i a game point, with Sanders putting away her fourth kill of the game to end it 31-29.

The Rainbow Wahine took control early in the second game, going ahead 11-4. EWU was able to cut the deficit to five at 13-8 before Brandt took the serve and ran with it. Brandt served an 8-0 run, pushing the UH lead to 21-8. The Rainbow Wahine eventually got their lead to 24-9 and kept that 15-point cushion throughout, winning 30-15.

UH Head Coach Dave Shoji subbed in Amanda Simmons and Amber Kaufman in the middle, and Jayme Lee at libero for the third game. Simmons made an immediate impact, posting five kills on five swings in the game. Kaufman posted three kills on three attempts in the game while Lee ended the match with two rare kills from the libero position.

After falling behind early in game three, UH used small runs to pull ahead at 14-10, before blowing it open with the 30-20 game three victory.

The Rainbow Wahine will face Wichita State tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the second night of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge. The Shockers defeated Santa Clara in the early match of the day. That match will be preceeded by Eastern Washington and Santa Clara at 5 p.m.

-UH-