Box Score

HONOLULU – The No. 12 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team swept through the Ohio Bobcats 25-19, 25-12 and 25-12 in front of a crowd of 5,824 in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.

 

Hawai`i outblocked the Bobcats 14.5-4.0, while hitting a blistering .456 on the match. Aneli Cubi-Otineru led the UH attack, hitting .571 with nine kills. Amber Kaufman added eight kills, three blocks and three aces while hitting .538 with Kanani Herring posting six kills, six digs and five blocks. Nickie Thomas played her first match in almost two years, hitting .714 with five kills and four blocks in just two games while Jamie Houston added five kills and two digs. Dani Mafua set the UH offense, posting 29 assists, four digs, three blocks and two kills while Tara Hittle had nine digs out of the libero position.

 

Ohio took an early 11-10 edge in the first set, only to see a 5-1 run give Hawai`i the lead at 15-12 at the media timeout. The Bobcats scored three straight to tie it at 15-15. But UH kept pushing the issue, scoring six of the next seven points before closing out the set, 25-19.

 

An early 6-2 run put the Rainbow Wahine ahead 9-5 to start the second set. Ohio scored the next two to cut it back to 9-7 before UH reeled off seven of the next eight points to go ahead 15-8. Hawai`i continued to roll throughout the set, running away with it at 25-12.

 

Hawai`i kept playing well to start the third set, going ahead 6-1. The Bobcats pulled it back to 7-5 before the Rainbow Wahine turned it back on. UH got it up to 16-8 and 21-9 before eventually closing it out 25-12. In the game, Stephanie Ferrell (three kills, two blocks, 1.000 hitting) and Catherine Fowler (five blocks) came off the bench to lead the UH attack.

 

UH closes out the Wahine Classic tomorrow, facing No. 6 UCLA at approximately 5 p.m. That match will be preceded by top-ranked Penn State and Ohio at 3 p.m.