HONOLULU – Led by a career-high 11 kills from freshman Annika de Goede in her first start for the University of Hawai'i, the Rainbow Wahine (3-4) topped USC in four sets on Friday night (25-17, 11-25, 25-21, 25-20).
 
De Goede led all UH attackers with her 11 kills, hitting .429 for the match. The opposite hitter had three kills in the first set, one kill on one swing in the second set, four kills without an error in the third set and three more kills in the fourth set. The Dutch attacker also collected eight digs and three blocks, all career-highs.
 
Fellow freshman Anna Kiraly also posted gaudy numbers in her first start in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, recording eight kills on 16 swings for a .375 attack percentage with three blocks.
 
Freshman Tayli Ikenaga also had a career-high night, collecting 15 digs in the four-set match. The Moanalua grad also added an important ace late in the fourth set.
 
USC's (3-4) Brooke Botkin led all players with 17 kills and Katelyn Smith led all players with 17 digs. The Trojans out-hit the 'Bows but UH had more aces (6) and fewer service errors (7).
 
Hawai'i capitalized on USC errors in the first set. Nine Trojan attacking errors helped Hawai'i take the first set 25-17. The set was tied at 5-5 before a kill by redshirt senior Brooke Van Sickle, back-to-back unforced errors, and a service ace by junior Mylana Byrd made the score 9-5 UH. Two more attacking errors back-to-back of each other later in the set pushed Hawai'i's lead to nine. Kirlay, de Goede and Van Sickle kills helped keep the Trojan's back in the set.
 
USC flipped the script in the second set, forcing UH into nine attacking errors in the second frame. A .476 attacking clip for USC also helped cement their 25-11 second set victory.
 
Close sets in the third and fourth set went the way of the Rainbow Wahine, particularly behind 15 UH kills in the fourth set. An ace by redshirt junior Janelle Gong at 22-20 forced USC to call timeout in the third set, but a USC error and a kill down the line by Kiraly put the 'Bows in the drivers seat, 2-1.
 
Tied 9-9, 15-15 and 17-17, the fourth set was close until it wasn't. Three straight points, two kills by freshman Mia Johnson and a USC attacking error forced USC to call timeout at 21-17 UH. An Ikenaga ace and Van Sickle kill forced USC to call timeout again. The Trojans clawed back fighting off three match points, but Johnson finished the match with her fifth kill of the fourth set.
 
The two teams face off again on Saturday at 7 p.m. HT in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.