HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (4-3, 0-0 Big West) finished in second place in the 24^th Annual Outrigger Volleyball Challenge with a 25-21, 25-17, 19-25, 25-17 win over San Diego State. Hawai'i finished the tourney with a 2-1 record. For the second time this season, and the second-straight match, Hawai'i had three players reach double-digits in kills. UH was led by Natasha Burns who had a career-night as she recorded a career-high 15 kills. Casey Castillo added a season-high 12 kills and Angel Gaskin had a UH career-high 10 kills on Sunday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
It was a historic night, as it was the first time ever that two Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine alums went against each other as head coaches of opposite teams with UH's Robyn Ah Mow-Santos and SDSU's Deitre Collins-Parker battling head-to-head for the first time. Both earned multiple All-America honors as players under Dave Shoji, and both played on the United States Olympic Team.
 
Natasha Burns was on fire, hitting .433 for the match (15-2-30). She also was in on a season-high and team-high five blocks with two digs. For the tournament, she racked up 34 kills, averaging 2.83 per set while hitting .438 (34-6-64) in three games as she earned her first all-tournament team honor of her career.
 
Castillo hit .258 for the night (12-4-31) with one dig. She has hit double digit kills in three games this year.
 
Gaskin found a rhythm with setter/outside hitter Norene Iosia as she finally was able to post double-digits in kills at opposite. For the game, she had a .318 hitting percentage (10-3-22) while also rejecting the Aztecs with three blocks.
 
One game after recording her first career triple-double, Iosia was able to notch her sixth double-double of the season with 24 assists and 13 digs. She also had eight kills, a pair of service aces and three blocks. She has had at least a double-double in every match this season.
 
Libero Tita Akiu posted a match-high 22 digs. It was her third-straight 20 -dig match and she has had double-digit digs in every match thus far.

For the first time this season, McKenna Granato was held well below her average of 14.7 kills per match. She was able to tally four kills, but although her offense was off-kilter, she was still able to help the 'Bows on defense as she recorded 12 digs plus a service ace and an assist.
 
In Set 1, UH started out on fire, taking a quick 5-0 lead behind the serving of Faith Ma'afala. But after leading by as many as seven points, the Aztecs went on a 6-to-0 run to trail by just one at 17-16. But the 'Bows responded by scoring six of the next seven points to take a 23-17 lead. Hawai'i went on to take the first set, 25-21.
 
The second set was a battle. The teams were knotted with 11 ties and had six lead changes up until the score was 15-15. But from there, UH went on a 10-to-2 run to pull away and eventually capture Set 2, 25-17. Rika Okino, Sarah Liva and Ma'afala all picked up multiple points on serve down the stretch.
 
Both teams challenged each other early as there were 11 ties and four lead changes in the third set. But, in reverse of how Set 2 ended, the Aztecs flipped the script, going on their own 9-to-2 run to end the third set, 25-19 as UH led the match 2-1.
 
After the score was tied five time early in Set 4, Hawai'i went on a five-point run with Sarah Liva behind the service line which gave UH a 12-8 lead from which SDSU was unable to recover from.
 
Up next, UH has another short week as it faces No. 18 Oregon on Thursday and Friday. The Ducks are coming off a week where they knocked off No. 1 Minnesota 3-1 but fell to No. 5 Penn State 0-3 in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. Hawai'i will also be hosting its annual Alumnae Game before Friday's match against The Ducks.
 
2018 Outrigger Volleyball Challenge
All-Tournament Team
Sarah Sharp – Idaho
Shayla Hoeft – Portland
Cali Thompson – Portland
Deja Harris – San Diego State
Natasha Burns – Hawai'i
Tita Akiu – Hawai'i
 
Most Valuable Player – Reghan Pukis, Portland