Match Notes
 
HONOLULU—The 16th-ranked University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (5-1, 0-0 Big West) continues its 13-match, season-opening homestand this week as it hosts its final preseason tournament, the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge from Sept. 10-12. Hawai'i will open the tourney on Thursday, Sept. 10 against San Diego State (1-5, 0-0 Mountain West). On Friday night (Sept. 11), the 'Bows will battle perennial power No. 2 Florida (4-0, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) and UH will conclude the tournament on Saturday against Eastern Washington (4-3, 0-0 Big Sky). All Hawai'i games will begin at 7:00 pm.
 
Hawai'i had their eight-match home win streak dating back to last year snapped by then-No. 25 UCLA in a four-set thriller on Sunday to conclude the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic.  UH had notched wins over Iowa and American before falling to the Bruins.
 
The Rainbow Wahine continue to lead the Big West in four statistical categories—hitting percentage (.266), assists (13.52), kills (14.86) and blocks (3.12). Individually, junior Nikki Taylor tops the charts with a 5.00 kill average and Tayler Higgins holds the top spot in assists with an 11.05 per set mark.
 
Taylor, a junior opposite form Honolulu, O'ahu, buried a tournament-high 53 kills this past week to lead the Rainbow Wahine. For her efforts, she earned her second straight Big West Player of the Week award and a spot on the all-tournament team. Taylor led the Rainbow Wahine in kills in every match this past week, and has done so in all six matches thus far this season. She tallied a game-high 22 kills in the tourney opener against Iowa and followed with 15 kills with a season-high .542 hitting percentage (15-2-24) against American on Saturday.  In the tournament finale against No. 25 UCLA, Taylor posted her second double-double of the season with a team-high 16 kills and 15 digs.
 
Senior middle hitter Olivia Magill has also gotten off to a solid start in 2015. She leads UH with 32 blocks and is averaging 1.52 rejects per set. She is second on the team with 59 kills (2.81 per set).
 
Higgins has been the orchestrator of the offense and leads the league in assists average. Overall she has dished out 232 assists thus far through six matches. She is second on the team with 56 digs and has been in on 11 blocks. She leads UH with three double-doubles this year—the latest coming against Iowa this past week with 44 assists and 11 digs.
 Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015
4:30 p.m. - Florida vs. Eastern Washington
7:00 p.m. - Hawai'i vs. San Diego State

Friday, Sept. 11, 2015
4:30 p.m. - EWU vs. SDSU
7:00 p.m. - Hawai'i vs. Florida

Saturday, Sept. 12
2:30 p.m. - SDSU vs. Florida
7:00 p.m. - Hawai'i vs. EWU
 
OUTRIGGER RESORTS VOLLEYBALL CHALLENGE INFORMATION
When: Thursday, Sept. 10 – Friday, Sept. 12
Where: Honolulu, O'ahu (Stan Sheriff Center)
Television: OCSports (Oceanic Time Warner Cable Channels 16 (SD) and 1016 (HD) –or- Hawaiian Telcom Channel 89 (SD) and 1089 (HD) will be broadcasting all of Hawai'i matches in the tournament with Kanoa Leahey calling the play-by-play and Chris McLachlin providing color commentary.
Streaming Video: Hawai'i's matches are available to watch online at either http://ocsports.tv/ocsports_live -or- BigWest.tv
Radio: ESPN 1420AM will on the airwaves for all of the UH matches live with Tiff Wells handling the play-by-play.
Audio Webcast: Fans can listen to the UH matches online at espn1420am.com.
Live Stats: Live in-game stats are available at HawaiiAthletics.com
Ticket Information: Tickets can be purchased at Stan Sheriff Center Box Office, online at HawaiiAthletics.com, or by phone at (808) 944-2697.