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HONOLULU—The No. 17 University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (4-0, 0-0 Big West) struggled early on but made adjustments and fought back to find their groove to defeat Iowa (2-2, 0-0 Big Ten) in four sets, 18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-21 on the opening night of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Challenge. The 'Bows' block was silent in the first set, but over the last three sets, racked up a season-high 17.5 team blocks—the most since rejecting 19.5 at Cal Poly last season. Junior opposite Nikki Taylor led Hawai'i with a match-high 22 kills while senior middle hitter Olivia Magill recorded a match-high 11 blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Kalei Greeley was her steady self, notching her first double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center with 6,299 tickets issued.
 
Taylor also tallied two service aces, four digs and six blocks on the night. She hit .192 with 12 errors in 52 swings on the night. Magill's 11 blocks was just one shy of tying her career-high of 12 set last season against St. John's (Sept. 6, 2014). She buried seven kills against the Hawkeys.
 
Greeley's 11 digs was tied for the team-high with Tayler Higgins. Greeley also had a team-high .345 hitting percentage with just two errors in 29 attempts. She added four blocks and a service ace to help lift the 'Bows to the win.
 
In the first set, the Hawkeyes got off to a hot start, holding a comfortable lead throughout the set. Iowa led by as much as seven points twice at 17-10 and 18-11. UH rallied on Greeley's serve to cut their deficit to just three point at 15-18 on a five-point run, but that was as close as the 'Bows would get as the Hawkeyes pulled away to eventually win 25-18.
 
The Rainbow Wahine bounced back to take the second set, 25-20. As UH's serving got tougher, the 'Bows' block solidified as they stuffed Iowa 6.5 times in the second set alone led by Magill's four block assists. The set was tied six times early on before the Rainbow Wahine got a four point lead on an attacking error on Iowa and back-to-back kills by Magill to take a 13-9 lead while Savanah Kahakai served. But Iowa would answer right back after calling timeout the Hawkeyes scored four-straight points of their own to knot the score at 14-14. Soon thereafter, on UH's Clare Marie Anderson's serve, UH strung together four straight points—including an ace by Anderson—that gave UH some separation at 19-16. Hawai'i would hold off Iowa the rest of the way to tie the match at 1-1 in sets. In the second set, Taylor stayed hot on offense as she had seven kills in the second frame.
 
In the third set, neither team could get much traction with 10 ties between the two teams early on. But a five point run with Taylor behind the service line gave Hawai'i the lift they needed and they never looked back cruising to a 25-18 win to take a 2-1 lead. During that run, Higgins and Annie Mitchem teamed up for a pair of blocks. UH outblocked the Hawkeyes, 8-to-1 in the third with Magill and Mitchem both registering four block assists apiece.
 
Set four began with the teams going back-and-fourth, but it was Iowa who held an early lead as large as three points at 12-9. But with UH's McKenna Granato serving, UH caught and then leapfrogged the Hawkeyes on a seven-point run to go up 15-13. Iowa would tie the score once more at 20-20, but the 'Bows pulled away to take the match with a 25-21 win in set four. Tai Manu-Olevao re-entered the match back late in the fourth set and racked up four key kills to help buoy the 'Bows to the win.
 
Hawai'i is off to it's best start since 2012 when UH started the season at 5-0.

Up next for Hawai'i is American, who fell in straight sets to No. 25 UCLA Bruins defeated American in straight sets, 25-19, 25-19, 25-18. UH will face American at 7:00 pm after the UCLA vs. Iowa match at 4:30 pm.