HONOLULU – The No. 7 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (8-2, 1-0 WAC) outlasted the Idaho Vandals (7-5, 0-1) 27-29, 25-21, 25-16 and 25-14 in front of a crowd of 6,029 in their Western Athletic Conference opener at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.

Hawai`i put up huge offensive numbers as a team, finishing the four-set match with a 73-45 advantage in kills while outhitting Idaho .325-.230. UH also had 69 assists while outdigging the Vandals 66-48 and winning the ace battle, 8-2.

 

Kanani Herring led the Rainbow Wahine, posting 22 kills and 17 digs while hitting .409. Jamie Houston hit .317 with 20 kills and six digs while Amber Kaufman hit .600 with 10 kills, five blocks, three aces and three digs. Nickie Thomas added 10 kills and a .409 hitting percentage while Tara Hittle had 16 digs. Dani Mafua set the UH offense with 55 assists and eight digs while Aneli Cubi-Otineru had eight kills, six digs and two aces in three sets.

 

An early 5-1 run by Idaho put the Vandals ahead 7-4 in the first set. Hawai`i surged ahead with a 10-4 run to hold a 15-12 edge at the media timeout. UH kept that three-point advantage until UI used a 4-1 run to tie it up at 19-19. After the two teams traded 3-0 runs and a bunch of sideouts, Idaho scored a couple straight to get its first set point at 26-25. The Rainbow Wahine held off the Vandals twice before a UH hitting error and a kill by Ann McKinney put it away 29-27.

 

After going down 4-3 to start the second set, Herring pounded five kills in a 7-2 UH run that put them ahead 10-6. A 4-1 Idaho run pulled the Vandals within a point at 12-11. Hawai`i again got its lead to three points at 17-14, and kept it around there until a timely two-point swing got it back to 21-20. But that was as close as it would get with three Herring kills and a big block by Kaufman and Jessica Keefe closed it out 25-21.

 

Hawai`i jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the third set on the strength of some tough serving, including two consecutive aces, from Cubi-Otineru. UH kept rolling throughout the set, getting the lead to 13-7 and 22-13 before taking the third set 25-16.

 

UH broke an early stalemate with a big 6-0 run that put them ahead 12-7. Hawai`i later used a 6-1 run to push its lead to 20-12 before eventually closing out the Vandals with a 25-14 win in the fourth set.

 

The Rainbow Wahine continue WAC play tomorrow night at the Stan Sheriff Center, facing Boise State at 7 p.m., before heading out on their first road trip of the season.