Box Score

HONOLULU – Playing against former Associate Head Coach Charlie Wade, the No. 10 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (6-2, 2-0 Chevron) swept the Pacific Tigers (0-7, 0-2) 25-21, 25-22 and 25-23 in front of a crowd of 6,184 in the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.

 

Jamie Houston led the charge, posting 16 kills and six blocks. Kanani Herring narrowly missed another double-double, hitting .304 with nine kills, 12 digs and three blocks, while Nickie Thomas hit .385 with seven kills and six blocks. Stephanie Ferrell again played good off the bench, hitting .625 with five kills in two sets. Amber Kaufman added five kills and three blocks while Dani Mafua had 40 assists, seven digs and two kills. Tara Hittle chimed in eight digs in the back row.

 

After giving up the first point of the match, the Rainbow Wahine ran off five-straight points, capped by an ace by Mafua, to go ahead 5-1. UH got its lead to 10-4 and 17-11 before a 6-1 Pacific run pulled them within a point at 19-18. Kaufman and Aneli Cubi-Otineru put away back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 22-19 and then UH was able to just side out their way to victory, taking the first set 25-21.

 

Set two was a back-and-forth battle, with 12 total ties and eight total lead changes. Neither team held a lead of more than three points the entire set, an ace by Cubi-Otineru put Hawai`i ahead 15-12 at the media timeout. UH kept its slight lead until a timely four-point run by the Tigers put UOP ahead 21-20. Houston answered the call, putting away a kill that started a 3-0 Hawai`i run, pushing them ahead 23-21. Houston put away another kill to get it to set point at 24-22 before a block by Houston and Thomas ended it 25-22.

 

The third set was even tighter with ties at 19 of the 25 points. With UH up 11-9, Pacific went on a small 3-0 run to go ahead 12-11. A little 4-1 spurt by the Rainbow Wahine again put them ahead 17-15. But Hawai`i couldn't pull away. A kill by Alexa Anderson put UOP ahead 20-19, although that would be the Tigers' last lead of the night. UH pulled ahead 22-20, with Pacific coming back to tie it at 22-22. Tied at 23-23, the Rainbow Wahine stepped up to end the match, posting kills by Kaufman and Ferrell to end the third set 25-23.

 

Hawai`i will next face No. 9 Washington in the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational championship match tomorrow at approximately 7 p.m. Pacific and St. Mary's will close out their invitationals in the 5 p.m. match at Stan Sheriff Center.