HONOLULU — A spectacular performance from the service line propelled the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team to a sweep of St. John's and the OUTRIGGER Invitational title on Sunday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (2-4) delivered 16 aces, the most in a single match since 2017 and one shy of the program record, and rolled past the Red Storm (0-6) by scores of 25-20, 25-9, 25-13 in the tournament finale.
Hawai'i, Utah Valley and San Jose State all finished the tournament at 2-1 and the Rainbow Wahine claimed the title by the set percentage tiebreaker.
Freshman Cha'Lei Reid led UH with nine kills while hitting .318 and drilled a season-best six aces en route to earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Reid amassed 50 kills for a .275 hitting percentage and landed 10 aces over three matches in the tournament.
Middle blocker
Bri Gunderson and outside hitter
Stella Adeyemi added eight kills each and joined Reid on the All-Tournament team. Gunderson hit .489 in the tournament with 26 kills and seven aces and finished with 18 total blocks, four coming on Sunday. Adeyemi posted 38 kills for the week and had two aces and 29 digs.
Senior
Tyla Reese Mane turned in a career night from the service line with five aces on Sunday. She nailed three in a single service turn in the first set to pass her previous high of two and help the 'Bows break away from the Red Storm. Gunderson and
Victoria Leyva also had two aces each in UH's second straight sweep to close the tournament.
Setter
Adrianna Arquette finished with 30 assists and UH hit .259 to St. John's minus-.012.
UH's 16 aces marked the highest total since delivering 16 in a five-set match at CSUN on Oct. 14, 2017. The 2017 team also set the record of 17 in a three-set win at Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 29, 2017.
Erin Jones led the Red Storm with eight kills and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.
Both teams got out to a ragged start and St. John's took 13-8 lead with the aid of five UH attack errors and three service errors. UH heated up from the service line with aces from Reid, Gunderson and Mane fueling a 9-3 run that pushed the 'Bows ahead 20-18. After a timeout, Mane maintained her hot hand with two more aces to open up a five-point lead. St. John's closed to 23-20 but UH closed out the set with kills from Adeyemi and Reid.
UH went on an eight-point run with Reid on the service line to take command of the second set. Reid's second ace of the run opened up a 15-6 margin. Gunderson had back-to-back aces to in a six-point service turn and Mane also went back-to-back to close out the set, the last falling after hitting the net cord. In all, UH hit .647 in the set with 13 kills in 17 attempts and had eight aces.
Reid delivered two more aces in the third set to become the first Rainbow Wahine player with six in a match since McKenna Granato had six in the UH's record-setting performance at Cal State Fullerton in 2017. Leyva served the final seven points of the match in a run that included her second ace and UH completed the sweep.
UH closes out its season-opening homestand with a two-match series with Portland starting Thursday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The matches on Thursday and Friday are set for 7 p.m.
OUTRIGGER Invitational – All-Tournament Team
Sami Blackett, Utah Valley
Bella Woodson, Utah Valley
Fatima Hall, San Jose State
Erin Jones, St. John's
Stella Adeyemi, Hawai'i
Bri Gunderson, Hawai'i
Most Valuable Player — Cha'lei Reid, Hawai'i
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