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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 5:26 p.m., Saturday, December 6, 2008

Rainbow Wahine sweep USC, advance to NCAA Regionals

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES — Sixth-ranked Hawai'i took out 12th-ranked Southern California on the Trojans' homecourt tonight to advance to their 10th NCAA Women's Championship regional in the last 11 years. The Rainbow Wahine swept USC, 25-21, 25-18, 25-22, before an overwhelmingly green crowd of 1,019 at Galen Center.

The Rainbows, seeded seventh in the postseason, play 10th-seeded Purdue Friday in the semifinals of the Fort Collins, Colo., regional. The Boilermakers beat Middle Tennessee in five last night in Indiana. MTSU ended the 'Bows' season last year in the second round. Hawai'i also will be joined by second-seeded Stanford and No. 15 Florida in the regional.

Hawai'i's 17th consecutive victory earned the 'Bows their 17th 30-win season.

They were led by Jamie Houston's 17 kills. Freshman Kanani Danielson added 11, with 15 digs. Amber Kaufman had 10 kills and hit .714 out of the middle. The Rainbows out-dug the Trojans (17-12) 45 to 32.

Freshman Alex Jupiter had 12 kills to lead USC, with Jessica Gysin adding nine.

The opening set was tied seven times before the 'Bows broke to a 13-10 advantage on Dani Mafua's ace. They kept the advantage behind their defense and the hitting of Danielson and Houston, until Aneli Cubi-Otineru was stuffed three straight times by the big Trojan block, the last putting USC ahead 21-20.

Hawai'i called time, tied it on Houston's fifth kill and went ahead when the Trojans touched the net. Houston got her sixth kill and Kimmee Roleder — one of four sophomores who started for USC — launched an overset out of bounds. It ended on Gysin's third hitting error.

UH scored the final five on Amber Kaufman's serve. The Trojans hit .105 for the set, with Roleder and Gysin — the Trojans' only all-Pac-10 selection — held to no kills and negative .333 hitting. Jupiter was the only USC attacker the Rainbows could not rattle, going for six of her team's 11 kills.

Houston and Danielson again anchored the Hawai'i offense in the second set, with Kaufman creating just enough of a threat in the middle to split the Trojans' big block. The Rainbow Wahine took off from a 4-all tie and USC couldn't catch them as it struggled to put a ball down against an exceptional UH defense led by Danielson.

The Trojans had burned both timeouts with Hawai'i ahead 15-11. They scored the next two points, Danielson's first error of the match making it 15-13. But the 'Bows scored 9 of the next 12 to run away and Cubi-Otineru got set point.

The final set was tied 12 times before Hawai'i went ahead 19-17 on a Kaufman kill and USC violation. The Rainbow Wahine won it on Danielson's final kill.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.