Box Score

HONOLULU – The No. 11 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (4-2, 3-0 Challenge) swept through the Cincinnati Bearcats (4-2, 1-2) 25-11, 25-17 and 25-23 in front of a crowd of 5,565 in The Honolulu Advertiser Volleyball Challenge at the Stan Sheriff Center Sunday, giving UH the challenge title.

 

Kanani Herring continued to lead the Rainbow Wahine, hitting .571 with 13 kills, nine digs and two aces. Jamie Houston hit .367 with 12 kills and two blocks while Aneli Cubi-Otineru had seven kills and five digs. Dani Mafua added 34 assists, six digs and three kills while Tara Hittle posted eight digs. Amber Kaufman also came up with five kills, three blocks and two aces.

 

After dropping the first two points of the night, the Rainbow Wahine ran off seven of the next nine points to go ahead 7-4. Hawai`i later used a five-point and eight-point run in the set, en route to a 25-11 win in the first set.

 

UH scored the first four points of the second set, only to watch a 3-1 Cincinnati run pull the Bearcats back within two points at 5-3. The Bearcats stayed within striking distance until a quick three-point run, capped by two Houston kills, put Hawai`i ahead 16-10. From there, UC never got its deficit lower than four points, falling 25-17.

 

Cincinnati came into the third set fired up, using a 5-1 run to take a 10-7 edge early on. The Bearcats got their lead as high as 16-10 before the Rainbow Wahine started to make its comeback. A 8-2 run by UH tied the score at 18-18, only to see three-straight Bearcat points give Cincinnati at 21-18 edge. But Herring had the answer. After stopping UC's run with a kill, the freshman served Hawai`i on a timely 5-0 run to put them ahead 23-21. From there, it was just a matter of siding out as Cubi-Otineru slammed the match-winner down the line to end the set, and the match, 25-23.

Herring earned Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors with Cubi-Otineru and Hittle also being named to the all-tournament team. Minnesota's Lauren Gibbemeyer and Brook Dieter, Cincinnati's Stephanie Niemer and Wyoming's Jenna Arneson rounded out the all-tournament team.

 

Hawai`i will next host its pre-conference tournament from Thursday, Sept. 11, to Saturday, Sept. 13, in the Chevron Volleyball Invitational.