No. 9 Hawai‘i ends road trip with sweep at Nevada

RENO, Nev. — The No. 9 University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (15-3, 8-1 WAC) swept through the Nevada Wolf Pack (9-19, 4-5) 25-19, 25-20 and 25-17 at the Virginia Street Gym yesterday to conclude their second road trip of the season.

 Aneli Cubi-Otineru hit .385 with 13 kills and eight digs to lead the Rainbow Wahine. Amber Kaufman added nine kills and two blocks while hitting .615, with Kanani Herring added nine kills, seven digs and two blocks. Nickie Thomas added four kills, six blocks and a .571 hitting percentage while Jamie Houston had five kills, five blocks, five digs and two aces.

 After spotting Nevada a 3-2 edge to start the match, the Rainbow Wahine ran off six-straight points to give UH an 8-3 lead. UN pulled it back to 8-6 with a three-point swing. But Hawai‘i later used a 3-0 run of its own to get ahead 14-9. The Wolf Pack was able to pull back within two points at 17-15, but UH ran off the next five to go ahead 22-15. Nevada made a small run but it wasn’t enough as the Rainbow Wahine were able to close it out, 25-19.

The Wolf Pack again took an early lead to start the second set, going ahead 6-4 and 10-7. But a four-point run gave UH the lead at 11-10, starting a back-and-forth battle. Cubi-Otineru served a 4-0 run by the Rainbow Wahine to give them an 18-15 advantage. A 4-1 spurt by Nevada got it to 19-18, forcing a timeout by Dave Shoji. But Hawai‘i regained control out of the break, scoring six of the next eight points to give UH the 25-20 victory in the second set.

 UH scored the first two points of the third set, only to see three-straight Nevada points put the Rainbow Wahine behind 3-2. A 4-1 run by Hawai‘i pushed them ahead 8-5. UH used another big run to get its lead to 22-14 before eventually closing it out, 25-17, on a solo block by Jessica Keefe.

 Hawai‘i will now return to the islands, hosting San Jose State and Fresno State, on Oct. 24 and 26, at the Stan Sheriff Center.