UH wins WAC match at Nevada

Advertiser Staff

The sixth-ranked University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team capped a successful road trip at Nevada last night with a 30-27, 28-30, 28-30, 32-30, 15-13 Western Athletic Conference victory at Virginia Street Gym.

Hittle

Prince

Hawai'i (12-0 overall, 2-0 in WAC) stretched its conference winning streak to 92 matches. Nevada fell to 8-6 and 2-2.

"Our kids continue to find a way to win," Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji said. "For much of the match, it wasn't pretty. We didn't play very well. We kind of just hung in there and made some plays at the end of the game."

After winning the first game, the Rainbow Wahine lost the next two games despite hitting .368 in Game 3.

Hawai'i rebounded in the final two games with reserve Cayley Thurlby serving a game-winning ace in Game 4, and Kanoe Kamana'o and Prince combining for a match-winning block in Game 5.

The final game featured 10 ties and five lead changes. It was Hawai'i's fourth five-game victory this season compared to three last season.

"Just to go to Game 5 was a relief," Shoji said. "I like our chances in Game 5. They know they can win Game 5. I think they look forward to Game 5."

Hawai'i held Nevada's first-team all-WAC middle blocker Salaia Salave'a to 15 kills and .158 hitting. She entered the match averaging 4.88 kills per game and hitting .358.

"We did a nice job on Salave'a," said Shoji, who added Hawai'i could have played better defense on outside hitter Teal Ericson, who had a match-high 20 kills. "We weren't too familiar with her and we never made a good adjustment on her."

Nevada's Christine Harms had 17 kills and Karen Adams 10. Hawai'i's Susie Boogaard had 13 kills and Juliana Sanders added 10. Kamana'o had 58 assists and Hittle hit .545 after a 22-kill performance at Fresno State.

"She did it again tonight," Shoji said of Hittle. "She got most of the key sideouts."