Rainbow Wahine volleyball ranked 7th
Advertiser Staff
University of Hawai'i women's volleyball setter Kanoe Kamana'o earned conference honors, and the Rainbow Wahine moved up four spots to No. 7 in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 Coaches Poll after three home victories last week, including Saturday's five-game upset over former No. 3 UCLA.
For her efforts, Kamana'o got her first Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week honor. The sophomore from Iolani is the only remaining starter from last year's Rainbow Wahine team that advanced to the final four.
Kamana'o
Kamana'o was named the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Volleyball Challenge Most Outstanding Player, averaging 14.31 assists per game. She also averaged 3.38 digs and 0.69 blocks per game in victories over Southwest Missouri State, former No. 17 Santa Clara and UCLA.
Against Santa Clara, Kamana'o had 64 assists in the four-game win. She also added four kills and 11 digs in the match. Against UCLA, she had 60 assists and 18 digs.
Kamana'o posted three double-doubles in assists and digs last week, and has had a double-double in every match this season.
The Rainbow Wahine (6-0) won three matches to win the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Volleyball Challenge, beating UCLA in the final.
In the poll released yesterday, UCLA (6-1) fell to No. 6 and Santa Clara (4-2) dropped to No. 19. Minnesota (7-1) earned its first-ever No. 1 ranking, and was followed by USC (5-1), Washington (6-0), Florida (6-1) and Penn State (6-0).
After holding the top spot for 22 weeks, USC dropped after losing to Illinois in five games on Saturday. The loss was USC's first since Nov. 2, 2002, putting an end to its NCAA-record 52-match win streak.
The Rainbow Wahine will host the Waikiki Beach Marriott Invitational against No. 14 California on Friday and UC Irvine on Saturday.
