HONOLULU – The No. 12 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (1-2) fell to the No. 6 UCLA (2-1) 23-25, 25-23, 26-24 and 30-28 in front of a crowd of 6,552 in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center Sunday.

 

Jamie Houston led the way for UH with 18 kills, 15 digs and five blocks while Kanani Herring posted her first collegiate double-double with 14 kills and 18 digs. Nickie Thomas continued to impress in the middle, hitting .526 with 13 kills and two blocks while Aneli Cubi-Otineru had 12 kills and six digs. Defensively, Tara Hittle led with 16 digs while Amber Kaufman chipped in five blocks. Dani Mafua also added her first career double-double with 52 assists and 11 digs. Stephanie Ferrell also came off the bench to add four kills.

 

Hawai`i opened an early 4-2 lead on the strength of Houston's three kills on her first three attempts in the match. The two teams then traded points, as neither team held a lead of more than a point until a quick 5-1 run by the Rainbow Wahine got their lead to 15-12. UCLA battled back to tie it at 15-15. A late 6-2 run gave UH its biggest leads at 22-18 and 23-19. But the Bruins came right back, scoring the next four points to tie it at 23-23. The Rainbow Wahine responded as Cubi-Otineru put away a kill before a block by Houston and Thomas ended the first set at 25-23.

 

UCLA ran out to a quick 4-0 edge to start the second set and kept their lead around four points before UH got a four-point spurt of their own, tying the score at 12-12. Hawai`i took its first lead of the set at 17-15 on the strength of a three-point run. The Rainbow Wahine got their lead as high as 20-17, only to watch a 4-1 Bruin run tie it at 21-21. UH had a 23-22 edge, but a controversial touch call started a three-point UCLA run to give them a 25-23 victory in the second set.

 

The Rainbow Wahine jumped out to a 4-1 edge to start the third set. UH got it as high as 10-6, only to see a 5-1 UCLA run tie it at 11-11. After Hawai`i took a 17-15 lead, UCLA ran off five-straight points to go ahead 20-17. The Rainbow Wahine came back to tie it at 22, 23 and 24 before two consecutive points sealed it for UCLA, 26-24.

 

UH went ahead 4-3 to start the fourth set, only to see a five-point run by UCLA put the Bruins ahead 8-4. UCLA got its led to 12-7 and kept a comfortable lead for much of the rest of the set. UH pulled within two points at 22-20 before the Bruins sided out their way to a 24-21 match point. But the Rainbow Wahine kept battling. Herring had three-straight kills to keep UH in the set before Houston pounded a ball to give Hawai`i their own set point at 25-24. But UCLA also had some fight left, holding off four UH set points that included many long, hard-fought rallies. In the end, the Bruins scored three-straight on a kills by Dicey McGraw and Amanda Gil and a block by Gil and Nellie Spicer, giving UCLA the match with a 30-28 victory in the fourth set.

 

The Rainbow Wahine will next host the Honolulu Advertiser Volleyball Challenge from Thursday, Sept. 4, through Sunday, Sept. 7, with No. 16 Minnesota, Cincinnati and Wyoming coming to the Stan Sheriff Center.