Box Score Box Score
HONOLULU – The fourth-ranked University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team swept No. 25 Pepperdine, 25-18, 25-20, 25-21, in the first match of a two-match series Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine improve to 8-2 on the season and have won four straight for the second time this year. Pepperdine fell to 7-4 with the loss. The two teams meet Saturday night for the second match of the series at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Offensively, the Rainbow Wahine were led by sophomore
Kanani Danielson, who had a match-high 11 kills and added seven digs and three blocks.
The defense for UH was led by freshman
Brittany Hewitt, who had nine blocks and added four kills. Elizabeth Ka'aihue had 17 digs and
Jayme Lee added seven digs.
Dani Mafua set the offense with 28 assists and added nine digs and
Stephanie Ferrell had four kills and two digs.
UH recorded 12 blocks as a team, which is its second highest block total of the season.
In the first set, UH jumped out to an early 12-3 lead, and carried the momentum into a 25-18 win. Danielson led the way with four kills, hitting .444 in the set and added three digs. Cubi-Otineru had three kills and hit .500 and Hewitt added two kills. As a team UH hit .226 and held Pepperdine to a .067 hitting percentage. The Rainbow Wahine also had four blocks.
The Rainbow Wahine took the second set 25-20, taking a 2-0 lead into the break. Cubi-Otineru and Kaufman each had four kills in the set and Danielson had two kills. The UH defense continued its strong play, recording four blocks and holding Pepperdine to a .154 hitting percentage.
UH went back-and-forth with Pepperdine in the third set, before pulling away down the stretch for a 25-21 victory. Danielson had five kills in the set, while Ferrell had three kills and Kaufman and Cubi-Otineru added two kills each. UH had four blocks in the set, to reach a total of 12 for the match.
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