HONOLULU — The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team completed an undefeated run in the OUTRIGGER Invitational with a five-set victory over UC San Diego in the tournament finale on Sunday at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (4-2) posted a season-high 18.5 blocks and rallied past the Tritons (2-4) 22-25, 25-15, 21-25, 26-24, 15-8 and celebrated the tournament title before a season-high crowd of 6,000. UH's blocks total was the highest since posting 20 against Long Beach State on Oct. 11, 2015.
Outside hitter
Panna Ratkai put away a match-high 19 kills and had two aces and was voted the OUTRIGGER Invitational's Most Valuable Player. The senior averaged 4.00 kills per set and served up five aces in the tournament.
Setter
Adrianna Arquette also made the All-Tournament team after filling the stat sheet with 36 assists, four kills, five blocks and 17 digs, tying her career high. Middle blocker
Miliana Sylvester was in on a season-high nine blocks and earned All-Tournament honors as well.
Tali Hakas finished with 12 kills while hitting .300 and had seven blocks and eight digs. Freshman middle
Rachel Purser continued her hot tournament with eight kills and eight blocks. Libero
Victoria Leyva had eight digs and eight assists in the win.
UH also got key service runs from
Jaci Miyasaki,
Cameron Holcomb and
Manon Baudrillard off the bench, with each contributing at least one ace, to help UH improve to 12-0 in the all-time series with UCSD.
UC San Diego broke away in a tight first set with a 7-1 run to earn set point at 24-18. UH won the next four points before a service error closed out the set.
The 'Bows answered by jumping out to a 7-1 lead in the second set on Miyasaki's seven-point service turn. The sophomore served up her first two aces of the season and forced an overpass that Hakas slammed to the floor. UH continued to pull away and led 16-5 on a kill by Ratkai, who later ended the set with an ace to even the match.
The third set was tied at 18-18 when UCSD went on a 4-1 run to take control and reclaimed the lead.
The fourth set featured 14 lead changes, the last coming after UCSD took a 23-22 lead. A service error tied it and Hakas and Purser combined on a block to give UH set point. UCSD forced deuce, but another service error gave UH the advantage and Sylvester put away set point to send UH to a fifth set for the second straight match.
UH jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the race to 15 and extended the lead to 6-1 on a kill by Maëli Cormier. UH continued to pull away and had match point at 14-4. UCSD stayed alive for four more points before Sylvester and Cormier put away UH's final block of the night.
The Rainbow Wahine conclude their season-opening homestand with a two-match series against Central Arkansas on Sept. 10 and 11 at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
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