HONOLULU – The No. 4 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (5-0, 2-0 HAL) swept the New Mexico Lobos (2-4) 25-15, 25-14 and 25-21 in front of a crowd of 6,332 in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center Saturday.

 

Elizabeth Ka'aihue became just the 12th player in Rainbow Wahine volleyball history to surpass the 1,000-dig mark, ending with 14 digs on the night. Emily Hartong had the best match of her young career, hitting .474 with 12 kills. Kanani Danielson added 10 kills, 13 digs, three blocks and three aces. Chanteal Satele and Michelle Waber added seven kills apiece while Brittany Hewitt had five kills, six blocks and a .400 hitting percentage.

 

Hawai'i went ahead 8-5 to start the first set, only to see a three-point Lobo run tie it up. Maeda then served UH on a seven-point run that including three-straight Danielson kills, putting the Rainbow Wahine ahead 15-8. UH used another three-point run to make it 19-12, before coasting to a 25-15 first set victory.

 

After a back-and-forth start to the second set, Hawai'i ran off five points in a row on three kills by Waber and two by Hartong, putting UH ahead 10-5. Another run by the Rainbow Wahine got it to 19-11 before Hawai'i ran away with the second set, 25-14. Ka'aihue passed the 1,000-dig mark during the second set.

 

The Rainbow Wahine jumped ahead 12-8 to start the third set. But the Lobos answered, coming back to take the lead at 17-16. After trading a few sideouts, Hawai'i went on a timely 4-0 run on the serve on Hartong, putting UH ahead 22-19. UNM would score a couple more points before a kill by Danielson ended it 25-21.

 

In the early match of the day, No. 10 USC defeated Michigan State 25-17, 25-23 and 25-15, setting up the championship match between the two top 10 teams tomorrow at 5 p.m.