HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team held off UNLV in a marathon, five-set match, 25-22, 18-25, 25-15, 22-25, 15-13 on Tuesday night at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Caylen Alexander put down a match-high 18 kills to lead three other UH players with double-digit kills in UH's first of three spring matches this week.
 
Alexander posted a double-double with 12 digs to go with her 18 kills while adding an assist and a service ace to her stat line.  She hit .371 (18-fo-35) with just five errors on the night.
 
Both Stella Adeyemi and Paula Guershing tallied 13 kills apiece. Adeyemi was tied with Tayli Ikenaga with a match-high three service aces. Guersching also logged eight digs, two blocka and an ace on the night.
 
Jacyn Bamis, UH's lone middle blocker this Spring, played the entire match at middle. She notched 10 kills, four blocks and three digs.
 
Primarily orchestrating the offense was Kate Lang who issued 33 assists  with seven digs and a block.
 
As a team, the Rainbow Wahine served up 10 service aces by five different players.
 
In Set 1, UH led by as many as six early, taking a 15-9 lead into the media timeout. But a late 5-to-2 run by UNLV tied the frame at 20-20. Hawai'i would close out the set scoring four of the last five points with a kill by Alexander, two kills by Guersching and a UNLV hitting error gave UH Set 1, 25-22..
 
UNLV led Set 2 from the get go. UH was able to tie the score three times, but a 5-to-1 would allow the Rebels to pull away to even the match at a set apiece taking Set 2, 25-18.
 
Early in Set 3, Hawai'i scored four-straight points to take an early 7-4 lead and never looked back, extending their lead to as many as 11 points at 22-11. The 'Bows would take Set 3, 25-15.
 
Hawai'i scored seven-straight points early in Set 4 to take a 9-5 lead. But an 8-to-2 Rebel run allowed UNLV to leapfrog over UH for a 14-13. UH would string four-straight points together to see-saw back in front, 17-14, but the Rebels would re-take the lead and lead and pull away to win Set 5, 25-22 to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
UH jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but UNLV countered by scoring the net four points to go ahead, 4-3. The Rebels would hold the lead until a four-point UH run pushed the 'Bows to a 12-10 lead. But the Rebels would not go down easy, tying the score at 12-12. Hawai'i would score three of the last five points for the 15-13 win.
 
The Rebels were led by Babrielle Arretche-Ramos' 15 kills. Fatima Sheriff was in on a match-high six blocks while Arien Fafard dished out a match-high 42 assists.
 
The Rainbow Wahine have a quick turnaround as they take on Colorado State in UH's second Spring match of three this week. on Wednesday, March 13^th at 7:00 p.m. HT in the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.