HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team fell in a five set battle to Portland, 25-19, 11-25, 18-25, 25-20, 8-15 on the second night of the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge. The Pilots remained undefeated at 8-0 while Hawai'i fell to 3-3 overall and saw its three-match win streak end on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
McKenna Granato and Norene Iosia led UH with 15 kills apiece. Granato, who posted her sixth double-digit kill performance, also added five digs and two service aces. Iosia recorded her first career triple-double pounding a career-high 15 kills with 14 assists and 13 digs. She hit .333 for the game with four errors on 33 swings. She helped lift UH in the fourth set to force a fifth as she hit a perfect 5-for-5 with no errors. Iosia was also in on three blocks.
 
Natasha Burns recorded a season-high 10 kills and hit .318 (10-3-22) and had three blocks while Faith Ma'afala dished out 36 assists to lead UH. Tita Akiu improved her UH career-high in digs with a team-high 26.
 
Portland had three hitters who accounted for 46 of the team's 57 total kills. Shayla Hoeft led the Pilots with 16 kills while hitting .536 (16-1-28). Both Reghan Pukis and Izzy Guzik added 15 kills each. Hoeft also had a match-high eight blocks to lead all players. Portland had the block party going on Friday night, out-blocking UH, 14.0-to-5.0.
 
The first set, was a tightly fought battle early on with nine ties, the last coming at 15-15. A four-point run with Ma'afala serving gave the 'Bows an 18-15 lead and from there UH won the first frame, 25-19.
 
In Set 2 the Pilots scored early and often in bunches. Portland flew past the 'Bows as they coasted to a 25-11 win to tie the match at a set apiece. It was the worst set loss for UH since 2008 when UH lost the second set  to Stanford, 9-25 in the NCAA Regional Finals in Fort Collins, Colo. on Dec. 13.
 
But Hawai'i did not go down easy. UH kept fighting. In the third set, with both teams kept each other close with eight ties, the last coming at 16-16. But the Pilots turned on the afterburners and scored the 10 of the last 12 points to take the third set, 25-18 while taking a 2-1 match lead.
 
Hawai'i jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead to start Set 4. But Portland creeped back to tie things at 6-6. The two teams then traded points until a four-point run fueled by four-straight Iosia kills gave UH a 14-11 lead. UH held off Portland the rest of the set, traded side-outs for the last 10 consecutive points to win Set 4, 25-20 to force their first fifth set match of the season. 
 
In the fifth set's race to 15, Portland took an early 6-2 lead. UH almost caught up at 8-9, but a service error gave UP a 10-8 lead. Portland then scored the last five-straight points to win the set, 15-8 and win the match in five, 
 
Hawai'i has Saturday off, but Portland will play Idaho at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday in the Stan Sheriff Center. UH will face San Diego State, who is led by former Hawai'i great, head coach Deitre Collins-Parker in a battle of UH alums on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 5:00 p.m. to conclude the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge.