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HONOLULU—The No. 14 University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (5-4, 0-0 Big West) fought as hard as they could, but came up just short in a five set heartbreaker against No. 6 Washington 23-25, 25-17, 26-28, 25-23, 13-15. With the win, the Huskies captured the championship of the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge. Nikki Taylor led the 'Bows with a career-high 29 kills and a season-high seven blocks on Sunday night in the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
Taylor also recorded a career-high with 70 attacks and 33.5 points (her previous high was 27 kills, 63 attempts and 31.5 points against Florida a year ago today). She hit .257 for the night with 11 errors. She also added two assists, a service ace and eight digs. Taylor was one of three Rainbow Wahine hitters who notched double-digit kills. McKenna Granato tallied 17 kills and was a dig short of her second double-double with nine digs. She hit .200 with eight errors in 45 swings. Granato posted a pair of service aces as well to fill her stat line. Emily Maglio added 11 kills and had just one error in 20 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. Maglio and Casey Castillo both had five blocks apiece. Castillo tied her career high set against Northern Illinois earlier in the tournament.
 
Setter Norene Iosia posted her third double-double of the season with 53 assists and a career-high 20 digs. She also had three kills and combined on three blocks.

UH libero Savanah Kahakai led UH with 23 digs. It is the fourth time this season that she has recorded over 20 digs in a match.
 
In the first set, Washington was on cruise control early, leading by as many as eight points at 12-4. But the Rainbow Wahine would chip away at their deficit, beginning with a 6-0 run on the serving of Clare-Marie Anderson highlighted by a pair of Kalei Greeley kills and one kill each from Maglio and Granato plus a hitting error from UW which cut UH's deficit to 13-11. Hawai'i trailed by just one point at 16-17 before the Huskies reeled off four straight points to go up 21-16 from which UH could not recover. UW ended up winning the first set 25-23.
 
The second set was a much different story, with the 'Bows leading from start to finish except for an early tie at 1-1. Hawai'i scored in small bunches throughout the frame to win 25-17 with freshman Kirsten Sibley getting the final kill off an assist from Iosia.
 
Hawai'i kept the momentum going in the third set, leading for most of the set and by as much as six at 20-14. But, from that point, the Huskies came charging. UW tied the set at 24-24, 25-25, and 26-26 before taking the lead at 27-26 and then winning the set at 28-16. Hawai'i squandered five set points down the stretch and UW won eight of the last 10 points to close out the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
The fourth set saw the momentum swing back-and fourth between the two teams. Hawai'i jumped out to a small lead early, until UW was able to go on a 4-0 run to catch and overtake UH to a 13-12 lead. Later, the Huskies would go on a 5-0 run to take a 21-18 lead, but a UW attack error and back-to-back kills by Taylor knotted the score at 21-21. UH would tie the score twice more before UH snuck away with a 25-23 win on kills by Taylor and Maglio end the set and force the fifth.
 
In the fifth, after UH held the early lead, UW scored four-straight points to go up 11-8. Hawai'i, however, countered with a 3-0 run to tie the score at 11-11. Taylor tied the score again at 13-13, but the Huskies would score the final two points to win set five and the championship match of the tournament.  

Washington was led by Crissy Jones who had 22 kills with just four errors in 60 attacks for a .300 hitting percentage. Tia Scrambray added 22 digs and Kara Bajema had six blocks.
 
Hawai'i will finish its non-conference portion of its schedule this coming week with a pair of matches against Pepperdine on Sept. 16 and 17. On the 17^th, UH will also host its annual Alumnae Game at 5:00 pm prior to the 7:00 pm match.


2016 Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge
All-Tournament Team
Lexi Thompson, Utah Valley
Mary-Grace Kelly, Northern Illinois
Emily Maglio, Hawai'i
Courtney Schwan, Washington
Tia Scambray, Washington
Nikki Taylor, Hawai'i
 
Most Outstanding Player: Crissy Jones, Washington