HONOLULU — In a complete reversal compared to the season's first meeting with CSUN, the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team opened its penultimate homestand of the season with a commanding sweep of the Matadors on Friday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
A little more than a month since being swept by the Matadors in Northridge, Calif., the Rainbow Wahine (10-14, 6-7 Big West) controlled all phases of the rematch on their way to a 25-11, 25-15, 25-15 victory that took 89 minutes to complete. UH closed out the second set with a 12-3 run and went on an 8-1 surge in the third to finish off its fifth sweep of the season.
With the win, the 'Bows moved into sixth place in the Big West standings, a game ahead of UC Irvine and a half-game behind CSUN (14-11, 7-7).
The 'Bows delivered from the service line with nine aces — led by
Victoria Leyva's career-high four — and at the net with 12 blocks, reaching double figures for the eighth time this season.
Freshman
Cha'lei Reid filled the stat sheet with a match-high 14 kills and 10 digs in her fifth double-double of the season and served up three aces and was in on three blocks.
Senior
Tyla Reese Mane finished with nine kills and middle blocker
Bri Gunderson had eight kills on 12 error-free attempts to hit .667 and had six blocks. Along with her career-best night from the service line, Leyva had 17 digs to extend her streak of double-digit performances to seven.
Setter
Adrianna Arquette directed the UH attack to a .316 hitting percentage while distributing 33 assists. The 'Bows matched a season-low with nine attack errors.
UH held CSUN to .027 hitting and came up with 55 digs to the Matadors' 43. The numbers represented a flip from the teams' Oct. 4 meeting when the Matadors hit .333 to UH's .126, outblocked the 'Bows 13-2, and won the back-row battle with a 40-30 advantage in digs.
The 'Bows went on a 5-0 run in the opening set to open up a 13-6 lead and continued to widen the margin to double-digits at 18-8. The 'Bows remained firmly in command and led 23-10 on Reid's second ace and closed out the set on Mane's fourth kill.
The 'Bows took a 13-10 lead in the second set on an ace from Leyva and Gunderson was in on three consecutive blocks, starting with a solo stuff, to stretch the lead to 17-12. UH pulled away with another four-point surge that would be part of the 12-3 extended run to close out the set. Gunderson accounted for nine points in the set with 5-for-5 hitting and five blocks.
Leyva kept the 'Bows rolling after the intermission by serving up three aces in the first four points of the third set. UH led 12-5 when
Ravyn Dash put down a solo block before CSUN made its most sustained push of the match with a 6-1 run to close to 13-11. With UH up 17-14, a kill from Reid ignited a five-point run that included an ace from Arquette and Dash's second solo block. Dash, who made her third start of the season, then put away the final two kills of the match to seal the sweep.
The Rainbow Wahine continue the homestand on Sunday with a matchup with CSU Bakersfield. First serve at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center is set for 4 p.m.
The match will again be a part of the "Our Team. Hawai'i's Team." Food Drive to help residents and students in need, who have recently been affected due to the government shutdown.
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