HONOLULU — The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team rolled to its fourth straight win with a sweep of Central Arkansas in the opener of a two-match series on Thursday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (5-2) hit .288 as a team while holding the Sugar Bears (0-6) to a .027 percentage in the 25-12, 25-17, 25-18 win.
Panna Ratkai, the reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week, posted her third double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs. Middle blocker
Miliana Sylvester put away 12 kills while hitting .556.
The UH defense came up with 58 digs in the three-set win, led by libero
Victoria Leyva's 16 digs.
Tali Hakas added 11 digs to go along with eight kills. Setter
Adrianna Arquette distributed 38 assists and contributed eight digs.
Building on the momentum of their OUTRIGGER Invitational title last weekend, the Rainbow Wahine hit .319 in the opening set with Ratkai leading the way with seven kills on .429 hitting. After UCA scored the opening point of the match, UH went on a 7-2 run and eventually stretched the lead to 21-9.
Sylvester hammered four kills in a 7-1 UH run to open the second set. The junior went on to post six kills on nine error-free attacks and was in on a block in the set. UH hit .300 and never trailed in the second.
UCA kept pace with UH midway through the third set before UH pulled away with an 8-3 surge. An ace from
Leilani Lopez gave UH a 20-13 lead, and
Rachel Purser's fifth kill of the night punctuated the win.
The Rainbow Wahine close out their eight-match season-opening homestand in Friday's rematch with the Sugar Bears at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
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