RENO, Nev. — The No. 2 University of Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine (30-1) defeated the San Jose State Spartans (10-18) 30-28, 30-26 and 30-20 in front of a crowd of 541 in the WAC Championship match at the Virginia Street Gym
RENO, Nev. — The No. 2 University of Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine (30-1) defeated the San Jose State Spartans (10-18) 30-28, 30-26 and 30-20 in front of a crowd of 541 in the WAC Championship match at the Virginia Street Gym Sunday, winning their fourth straight WAC Tournament title.
Kim Willoughby led the way for UH with 21 kills and 15 digs. Lily Kahumoku added 17 kills and 11 digs while Nohealani Tano added a .538 hitting percentage with nine kills, nine digs and three blocks. Lauren Duggins had eight kills, seven digs and six blocks while Melissa Villaroman spearheaded the effort in the back row with 15 digs.
The Spartans looked to continue their hot streak in the WAC Tournament, jumping out to a 3-1 lead to start game one. San Jose State kept their two-point edge at 8-6 before Kahumoku saved a ball, leading to a Duggins kill to cap a 5-0 UH run, putting the Rainbow Wahine up 11-8.Willoughby took control, putting away consecutive kills to give Hawai’i a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. Consecutive kills by Tano capped a big UH run, putting Hawai’i up 27-20.
San Jose State did not let up, though, as they ran off four straight points to cut it to 27-24, forcing a timeout by Hawai’i head coach Dave Shoji. The Rainbow Wahine got to match-point at 29-27, but SJSU’s Kimberly Noble put away her seventh kill of the game to cut it to 29-28. Both teams fought out the final play before Tano put away the game-winner, giving UH the 30-28 win.
San Jose State again took an early lead in game two, going up 4-2. The Spartans pushed their lead to 11-8 and 13-10 before Hawai’i ran off five of the next six points to go up 15-14 at the media timeout. SJSU came back to tie it at 16 until a 5-0 run put UH ahead 21-16. The Rainbow Wahine kept their five-point advantage until the Spartans scraped their way back to cut the lead to one at 27-26. But Hawai’i had just a bit too much as Willoughby put away back-to-back kills , winning the second game, 30-26.
The Rainbow Wahine looked ready to claim another WAC title coming out of the break as they jumped out to a big 7-2 lead early on. UH kept rolling, taking leads of 15-7, 21-12 and 25-14 before taking the third game, 30-20, game point coming off a SJSC service error.
Hawai’i will now head down to Las Vegas for the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament on Thursday and Friday. UH will take on the Weber State at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 27, then play Kentucky at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, before returning back to the islands to find out their NCAA Tournament destiny.
