Box Score Box Score

HONOLULU - The No. 16 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (6-3, 3-0 WBM) defeated the No. 19 Santa Clara Broncos (6-3, 1-2 WBM) 28-30, 30-20, 30-28 and 30-27 in front of a crowd of 6,272 in the final match of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge at the Stan Sheriff Center Satruday.

Jamie Houston hit .388 with 26 kills, 10 digs and four blocks to lead Hawai`i. Aneli Otineru added 16 kills and 16 digs while Amber Kaufman had 10 kills, five blocks and two aces. Tara Hittle had nine kills, 10 digs and four blocks while Juliana Sanders posted seven kills and seven blocks. Stephanie Brandt ended up with 61 assists and 15 digs while Elizabeth Ka`aihue posted 20 digs.

Santa Clara opened the first game with a 7-3 advantage. The Broncos got their lead to 13-8, before Hawai`i fought back to tie it at 15-15. UH got back the lead at 20-19, only to see a 7-1 run by the Broncos put SCU ahead 26-21. Santa Clara got to game point at 29-25 before three-straight kills by Houston cut it back to 29-28. Hawai`i had a swing to tie the score but SCU blocked the Cubi-Otineru attempt just inside the line, giving the Broncos the 30-28 game one victory.

Hawai`i scored the first two points of game two and kept that slight edge for the first half of the game. Jayme Lee subbed in to serve the Rainbow Wahine on a six-point run that broke it open at 19-11. UH got it to 29-18 before eventually taking the second game 30-20.

Game three was a close battle that saw seven ties. Hawai`i made it a three-point advantage at 19-16. SCU and UH traded four more three-point runs, giving the Rainbow Wahine a 25-22 edge. Hawai`i pushed that lead to 28-23, only to see the Broncos fight back to within a point at 29-28. But Cubi-Otineru put away a kill to end game three 30-28.

Game four was another tight one, as neither team held a lead of more than two points with Santa Clara holding a 15-14 edge at the media timeout. Hawai`i went on a few runs to take slight two-point leads, but the Broncos kept coming back. SCU tied the score for the 16th time in the game at 27-27 on a kill by Nina Sevastopoulos. But that was the last time chance the Broncos would have, as Hawai`i reeled off the final three points to take the match with a 30-27 game four win.

Houston earned Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors while Cubi-Otineru and Ka`aihue were also named to the all-tournament team.

The Rainbow Wahine will now head into Western Athletic Conference play, facing Idaho on Friday, Sept. 14, and Boise State on Saturday, Sept. 15. Both matches are at the Stan Sheriff Center at 7 p.m.

-UH-