WACO, Texas—The No. 13 University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (10-0) battled back and held off No. 17 Missouri in five sets to remain one of five undefeated teams in the NCAA DI. The Rainbow Wahine outlasted the Tigers in Game 2 of the Baylor Classic, 17-25, 28-26, 16-25, 25-16, 16-14 on Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. Junior middle blocker Skyler Williams led UH with 13 kills while hitting a match-high .500 and rookie middle Amber Igiede rejected a match-high eight blocks—including the final point of the game. UH had three players with double-digit kills and five with double-digit digs in the win.
 
Williams also added five blocks, three digs and two assists in the win. Her 13 kills tied her career-high which she set earlier this season vs. Army (9/5/19). It marked the third time this year that Williams has had double-digit kills.
 
Freshman outside hitter Hanna Hellvig tallied her third straight double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. Hellvig also posted a career-high six blocks. She started off slowly on offense, and although she finished with her lowest hitting percentage of the season (.083), it marked the seventh time this season that she has come through with 10+ kills and fourth time with 10+ digs.
 
McKenna Ross hit .261 and tied her career-high with 11 kills. She also had four digs and a block in her third start of the year in place of the injured Jolie Rasmussen.
 
Igiede was formidable at the net. She had seven kills to go with her eight blocks with one dig in the match. She finished one block shy of her career-high of nine blocks set against Washington (9/1/19).
 
Also recording a double-double was senior setter Norene Iosia who dished out 21 assists and had 11 digs. She was one of five Rainbow Wahine with 10+ digs—Brooke Van Sickle (14), Riley Wagoner (13), Hellvig (11), Rika Okino (11). For the libero Okino her 11 digs was a season-high.
 
The first set was all Mizzou. Hawai'i kept things close early, but with the Tigers leading 11-8, Mizzou went on a 7-to-2 run from which UH could not recover from.  Missouri out hit UH  .289-to-.108 in the set—UH's lowest set hitting percentage this season. Skyler Williams led UH after one set with four kills and three blocks.
 
In the second set, the Rainbow Wahine led throughout much of the set. The 'Bows led by as many as six points at 19-13. But Mizzou would chip away, later going on a 6-to-2 run to catch and overtake UH for a 26-25 lead. But the 'Bows would show its resiliency as they did not fold, instead they scored the final three points to take Set 2, 28-26. UH knot the match at a set apiece, 1-1.
 
Mizzou took control of Set 3 early, jumping out to  a 7-1 lead to start. The Tigers extended their lead to 12-3 on a 5-to-0 run. From there, Mizzou coasted to take a 2-1 match lead as they won Set 3, 25-16
  
The Rainbow Wahine went on a 9-to-3 run early in Set 4 to take a 13-5 lead. Mizzou closed to within four points on a four-point run of their own at 13-9. But UH would cruise to a 25-16 win in Set 4 with set point coming on a Choy ace. UH racked up five service aces and two blocks in Set 4.
 
The race to 15 in Set 5 started off with Hawai'i jumping out to a 5-1 lead. But Mizzou would once again come on strong late as they went on a 7-to-2 run, staving off three match points to tie the score at 14-14. But UH then got a kill from Ross followed by a double-block by Igiede and Hellvig to end the match with UH capturing the fifth set, 16-14.
 
For UH, it marked their third, fifth set win of the season. It was Missouri's first fifth set of 2019.
 
Hawai'i out-blocked their opponents for the 10^th time in as many matches this season. UH had 15.0 blocks to Mizzou's 8.0. But the Tigers out-hit UH 66-to-58 in kills and .202-to-.183 in hitting percentage. It was the lowest hitting percentages for both teams this season. Mizzou out dug UH 83-to-77. But after being plagued by service errors early on (UH recorded just one ace with 11 service errors through the first three sets), the 'Bows ended up with six service aces to Mizzou's three. UH did not have another service error after the third set. 
 
Missouri was led by Kylie Deberg's match-high 25 kills. Setter Andrea Fuentes issued a match-high 55 assists and Leandra Mangual-Duran had a match-high 23 digs.
 
The UH win sets up a battle of the unbeaten as the Rainbow Wahine will take on host No. 5 Baylor (8-0) on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 9:00 a.m. HT.