LAS VEGAS — The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team opened the Lucky Aces Women's Volleyball Invitational in dominant fashion, sweeping Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
The Rainbow Wahine extended their winning streak to six with the 25-17, 25-13, 25-13 victory in their first match away from home this season. They improved to 7-2 in head coach Joshua Walker's first season with their third straight sweep. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fell to 2-6.
The 'Bows delivered an offensive masterclass throughout the 83-minute match. UH posted a remarkable .471 hitting percentage with 45 kills and just five errors on 85 total swings.
UH's hitting percentage was the program's highest since also hitting .471 in a sweep of UC Irvine on Oct. 7, 2022. The five errors were the fewest since committing two against Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 29, 2017.
UH outside hitter
Panna Ratkai put away a match-high 16 kills while hitting a season-best .556 in her sixth straight match with double-figure kills.
Tali Hakas finished with eight kills and opposite Maëli Cormier scored on seven of 10 attempts and hit a season-high .600.
Middle blockers
Miliana Sylvester and
Rachel Purser went a combined 12-for-17 and hit .588 between them. In her return to her hometown, Purser put away five of six attacks and was in on a team-high four blocks.
UH setter
Adrianna Arquette directed the efficient attack with 33 assists and contributed two kills of her own and had a team-high seven digs. Libero
Victoria Leyva served up two aces and had six digs and the 'Bows held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to a .099 hitting percentage. UH out-blocked the Islanders 9.0 to 2.0.
The lone lead change of the match came early in the first set when Leyva sparked a four-point run at the service line to give UH an 8-5 lead. Ratkai and Cormier hammered five kills apiece in the set and the Rainbow Wahine hit .464 as a team.
UH turned in an even more efficient second set in hitting .481, the highest percentage in a set this season. Leyva had a six-point service turn early in the set and delivered an ace late.
Manon Baudrillard also fired an ace to push UH to set point and Ratkai's sixth kill of the set gave UH a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set followed a similar script as Hakas put away five kills to lead a .467 performance.
Jaci Miyasaki's seven-point service run gave UH match point at 24-9, and the Islanders extended the match for three more points before Hakas ended the night.
The Rainbow Wahine next face Iowa State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time (1:30 Hawai'i Time). UCLA swept Iowa State in Friday's tournament opener.
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