HONOLULU — A promising start to opening night instead ended in disappointment for the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team following a five-set loss to Marquette in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic on Friday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
One point away from a sweep, the Rainbow Wahine saw a marathon third set tip to the Golden Eagles, who then dominated the fourth and surged late in the fifth to take the match 25-27, 17-25, 34-32, 25-18, 15-9.
 
UH went to a fifth set in its season opener for the fourth straight year and the sixth time in Robyn Ah Mow's eight seasons as head coach. The 'Bows were poised to make it a much shorter evening this time around and earned six match points in the roller-coaster third set. But Marquette survived each time and improved to 3-0 in the all-time series with UH.
 
A new-look UH lineup produced several career bests. Outside hitter Tali Hakas set career highs with 17 kills and 47 attempts and had 12 digs in her 10^th career double-double. Stella Adeyemi posted her first double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 18 digs. Libero Victoria Leyva went over 20 digs for the first time in her career and finished with 23.
 
Miliana Sylvester had the most efficient performance of UH's attackers with 14 kills while hitting .400. The sophomore was also in on six blocks.
 
Bri Gunderson, one of the nation's leading blockers last year at Eastern Washington, sent back eight blocks in her UH debut to go along with eight kills. UH finished with 14 kills as a team, the most since posting 15 in a five-set win in the 2023 season opener against Northwestern.
 
Sophomore Adrianna Arquette made her third career start and first as a setter and distributed 49 assists. She also had six blocks and seven digs. Freshman Cha'lei Reid also got a start in her collegiate debut and added nine kills and two aces.
 
Marquette relied on the arm of Natalie Ring, who finished with 27 kills in 80 attempts to power the Golden Eagles' comeback.
 
After a shaky start, UH rallied from seven-point deficit to tie the set opening set at 18-18 then closed out a tense duel. Leyva had nine digs in the set and Hakas led UH with five kills to help fuel the comeback. UH appeared to convert on its third set point on a block, but an incorrect server call forced a replay of the point. The ensuing play ended with an Marquette attack error to give UH the set.
 
UH opened up a three-point lead in the second set with Arquette twice dealing one-handed sets to Hakas and Sylvester for kills. Marquette closed to within a point at 18-17, but that would be the last point UH surrendered in the set. The 'Bows closed the set with a 7-0 run sparked by a  block by Arquette and Gunderson. Leyva served up an ace in the run and Gunderson closed out the set with her fifth kill of the night.
 
Momentum took turns on both sides of the net in the undulating third set with UH again rallying to erase a 22-18 deficit. The 'Bows fought off a set point on a block by Sylvester. freshman Kāhea Moriwaki followed with her first career ace to give UH its first match point. Both teams traded the advantage with UH serving for the match on six occasions. UH began to  celebrate after a Marquette attack was initially ruled long at 32-31. After a review, the call was instead reversed to extend the match. The Golden Eagles took advantage of their new life by scoring the next two points as well to send the match to the fourth. The set was the highest scoring  for UH since Sept. 24, 2016, when the 'Bows dropped the opening set at Cal Poly 34-32 before rallying to a four-set win.
 
Marquette rolled the momentum into a 15-7 lead in the fourth and remained in control to force a fifth set.
 
Marquette took a 6-2 lead to prompt a UH timeout. UH was down 8-3 then went on a 4-0 run to close to within a point. Adeyemi hammered an overpass for her 10^th kill and tie the set at 9-9. Marquette surged away again with a 6-0 run to close out the match.
 
The tournament continues Saturday with San Diego taking on Marquette at 4:45 p.m. and the Rainbow Wahine facing Utah State at 7.