MOSCOW, Idaho — The No. 7 University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (21-3, 14-1 WAC) swept through the Idaho Vandals (16-9, 9-5) 25-17, 25-13 and 25-21 at Memorial Gym yesterday, posting its seventh road sweep in as many matches
MOSCOW, Idaho — The No. 7 University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (21-3, 14-1 WAC) swept through the Idaho Vandals (16-9, 9-5) 25-17, 25-13 and 25-21 at Memorial Gym yesterday, posting its seventh road sweep in as many matches this season.
Amber Kaufman led all players with 11 kills and five blocks while hitting .381. Kanani Danielson added a double-double with 10 kills, 12 digs and a .345 hitting percentage. Aneli Cubi-Otineru had eight kills, 11 digs and four blocks while Tara Hittle posted 12 digs from the libero spot. Dani Mafua set the UH attack, posting 37 assists, three kills and four digs.
Hawai‘i jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead to start the first set on a couple of blocks and an Idaho hitting error. The Vandals used a three-point run of its own to tie it up at 5-5. UI stayed in it until a timely 6-2 run got Hawai‘i’s lead to 14-9. The Vandals pulled within a couple points at 15-13 before the Rainbow Wahine took over, scoring eight of the next 10 points to take a commanding 23-15 advantage. From there, UH could just side out their way to victory as Kaufman put away a quick set to take it 25-17.
The second set started out tight until a 7-1 Hawai‘i run put them ahead 11-5. Idaho wasn’t able to get the deficit any lower than four points the rest of the way, as UH scored the final four points of the set to take it 25-13.
Three-straight Danielson kills from the left side capped a 5-1 UH run that gave them a 9-4 lead to start the third set. Up 10-5, Hawai‘i watched its lead slip away as a big 10-2 Idaho run pushed the Vandals to a 15-12 edge. The Rainbow Wahine battled back with a timely four-point run, taking back the lead at 20-18. Hawai`i then closed it out as a kill by Jamie Houston ended the night with a 25-21 third set win.
Hawai‘i will finish the road trip with a match at Fresno State, at 5 p.m. HST tomorrow for their final regular season WAC match before returning to the islands for a non-conference match against Utah Valley on Saturday.
