Las Cruces, N.M. – The No. 7 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (11-2, 4-0 WAC) swept through the New Mexico State Aggies (8-7, 3-1) 26-24, 25-20 and 25-23, seizing control of the lead in the WAC standings, at the Pan American Center Saturday.

 

Jamie Houston led the way, posting 16 kills to lead all players. Aneli Cubi-Otineru had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs while Nickie Thomas and Amber Kaufman both hit .438 with eight kills out of the middle. Stephanie Ferrell came up with nine kills and two blocks while Dani Mafua had 41 assists and nine digs. Tara Hittle played well in the back row, recording a career-high four aces with six digs.

 

Hawai`i jumped out quickly, scoring the first three points of match. The Aggies kept the deficit between one and three points until a 4-1 UH run got the Rainbow Wahine lead to 15-11. NMSU responded with a three-point to cut it back to 16-15. Another 4-1 Hawai`i run pushed UH's lead to 21-17. But the Aggies weren't done fighting back, coming back all the way to earn their first tie at 24-24. The Rainbow Wahine responded by scoring the next two points, the last a solo block by Cubi-Otineru to finish it off 26-24.

 

New Mexico State took its first lead of the match early in the second set, going ahead 7-4. But Hawai`i rallied back, scoring the next five points to take a 9-7 edge. NMSU kept it close but would not be able to tie it again as UH took the second set, 25-20.

 

The Aggies jumped ahead 11-6 on the strength of a big five-point run in the third. The two teams traded small rallies with NMSU taking their lead to 18-13. A four-point run by UH got them back into the set at 18-17, setting up a back-and-forth battle for much of the rest of the set. After forcing ties at 19-19 and 20-20, the Rainbow Wahine went on a run, scoring three points in a row to take a 22-19 edge. From there, UH was able to side out their way to victory, taking the third set 25-23.

 

The Rainbow Wahine will conclude the road trip when they face San Jose State on Monday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. (4 p.m. HT).