Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. – The third-ranked University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team ended its memorable season with a 25-23, 18-25, 15-25, 18-25 loss against No. 1 Penn State in the NCAA Championship semifinal Thursday night at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.

 

The Rainbow Wahine end the season with a 32-3 record, making it to their ninth NCAA Championship appearance. UH head coach Dave Shoji was also honored with the National Coach of the Year award earlier in the day.

 

UH's season was also filled with several honors, including Kanani Danielson being named an AVCA First Team All-American and Aneli Cubi-Otineru being named an AVCA Third-Team All-American.

 

Thursday night, Danielson led the way with 14 kills and 11 digs and Cubi-Otineru had 10 kills and 11 digs.

 

Stephanie Ferrell had 13 kills, Amber Kaufman had nine kills and hit .316 and Dani Mafua had 44 assists and 17 digs. As a team UH had a season-high 75 digs.

 

In the first set, the Rainbow Wahine went back-and-forth with the Nittany Lions, taking their first lead of the set 13-12. UH took its biggest lead of the match 22-19 and went on to win 25-23. Ferrell led the way with six kills and hit .333 in the set. Kaufman, Danielson and Cubi-Otineru each had three kills as Mafua set the offense with 14 assists and UH hit .289 overall.

 

UH fell behind early in the second set, but made a late rally to cut the lead to 22-17 after scoring six straight points. The Nittany Lions went on to win the set 25-18. Hewitt had four kills and Ferrell added three in the set. Danielson, Kaufman and Cubi-Otineru each had two sets and Mafua had 10 assists.

 

In the third set, UH once again fought hard and made a late rally, but Penn State pulled away and won 25-15. Danielson and Cubi-Otineru each had four kills in the set, while Ferrell added two kills.

 

The Rainbow Wahine took an early lead in the fourth set, but the Nittany Lions made a rally to take the 25-18 victory. Danielson had five kills and Kaufman had four kills in the fourth set.