University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics

PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Warren Haraki)

FULLERTON, Calif.—The No. 14 University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (16-5, 9-1 Big West) swept Cal State Fullerton, 25-19, 25-13, 25-19 on the road on Saturday night. Annie Mitchem notched career-highs with 13 kills and seven blocks while McKenna Granato and Emily Maglio adding nine and eight kills respectively at Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif.
 
Mitchem hit .344 for the match with just two errors in 32 swings. She also recorded a career-high with 16.5 points (kills + blocks + aces). It marked the fifth time this season that Mitchem had double-digit kills.
 
In the second set. Nikki Taylor tied Emily Hartong at No. 11 on the UH career-kill list with her 1,277^th career kill of a back-row attack that gave UH a 15-13 lead. For the match, Taylor tallied seven kills and six digs in the first two sets.
 
Granato added nine kills and had just one error to hit .421 for the match. She added three digs, a service ace and a block for the 'Bows. Both Natasha Burns and Maglio did not commit a hitting error in the match. Burns hit .714 with five kills on seven attacks and was in on four blocks. Maglio posted eight kills on 18 swings for a .444 hitting percentage.
 
In the first set, the Titans kept things close early on. The score was tied at 7-7 when Emily Maglio went on a five-point serving run to give the 'Bows a 13-7 lead from which the Titans could not recover from as UH pulled away to take the first set, 25-19. Hawai'i out-hit the Titans, .263-to-.091 in the first frame.
 
In the second set, Cal State Fullerton was battling with the Rainbow Wahine, tying the score at 9-9 and 11-11, 13-13. But then, UH scored the last 12-straght points to take the second set, 25-13. Taylor served seven points and Tayler Higgins came in to serve out the set's last four points.
 
The Titans took their first lead of the match start the third set, going up 3-0. But the 'Bows quickly caught up, tying the score at 3-3. The score was tied again at 4-4 but McKenna Granato served three straight points to give UH some cushion and never looked back.
 
CSF's Madeline Schneider led the Titans with 11 kills while Kyra Smith had team-high three blocks. Madisen Babich tallied a match-high 23 digs.
 
Hawai'i out-hit CSF, .316-to..076 and outblocked the Titans, 10.5-to-5.0.
 
Up next, UH will battle Long Beach State with the league lead on the line. Both teams are tied at 9-1 in the Big West. First serve is slated for 7:00 pm on Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Stan Sheriff Center.