HONOLULU — Facing its deepest deficit of the season, the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team reversed its fortunes to rally past Oregon State in five sets on Friday in the OUTRIGGER Invitational at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH dropped the first two sets for the first time this season but scratched out the next two to extend the match to a fifth set for the fourth time and pulled out the 20-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-10 victory to improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in five-set matches.
Three UH players recorded double-doubles with outside hitter Caylen Alexander leading the offense with 17 kills to go along with 12 digs.
Tali Hakas finished with 10 kills and 17 digs, one shy of her career high, and setter
Kate Lang had 50 assists and a season-high 18 digs.
The UH defense came up with 94 digs to Oregon State's 60 and had five players in double figures. Libero
Tayli Ikenaga recorded 24 digs, surpassing the 20-dig mark for the third time this season, and defensive specialist
Victoria Leyva had 11 digs and two aces.
Leyva was part of a freshman class that played a pivotal role in sparking the comeback. Middle blocker
Miliana Sylvester had 11 kills and seven blocks, including a solo stuff in the third set. Fellow middle
Maddie Way made her second appearance of the season and recorded the first kill, ace and block of her career. She finished with seven kills in 12 attempts and hit .500.
The wide-spread contributions helped offset a sprited effort from Oregon State (1-6). The Beavers hit .343 with just four errors on their way to the 2-0 lead before UH's block came alive in the third set to help turn the momentum. UH went without a block through two sets before Sylvester had a solo stuff to give UH a 10-9 lead in the third. The Rainbow Wahine finished with nine blocks with Alexander in on four and Way and Lang assisting on two each.
Oregon State converted on eight of its first 13 attempts without an error to take a 12-9 lead in the first set. The teams traded the lead before OSU went on a 6-1 run to open up a 23-19 cushion. The Beavers hit .500 in the set with 15 kills against one attack error and ended the set with an ace.
Oregon State went on a 7-1 run midway through the second set to take control at 18-12. Back-to-back blocks extended the margin to 22-15. The Beavers went on to finish off the set and UH faced a 2-0 deficit for the first time this season.
The Beavers again edged ahead in the third set and led 18-16 before UH strung together a 5-0 run highlighted by two aces from freshman
Victoria Leyva. OSU closed to 22-21 but an error and a Hakas kill gave UH set point. OSU survived another point and a tip by Alexander was initially ruled out. UH coach
Robyn Ah Mow challenged the call and a touch was detected upon review to give UH the set and extend the match to the fourth.
Way made her second appearance of the season to start the third set and scored on three of her first four swings. She served up her first ace in the fourth set and her first block gave UH a 21-17 lead. Two kills by Alexander through the middle helped UH earn set point at 24-19. Oregon State fought off four set points to prompt a UH timeout but Hakas' cross-court shot glanced off an OSU defender to send UH to a fifth set for a fourth time this season.
Alexander posted a block and a kill in an early 4-0 run to push UH to a 6-2 lead in the race to 15. Oregon State got no closer than two the rest of the set and Way punctuated the win with her seventh kill.
The tournament concludes with Hawaii facing Texas State for the title on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine defeated the Bobcats in four sets in a stand-alone match on Tuesday and will meet again in the tournament finale.
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