HONOLULU – The No. 5 University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (21-1, 11-0 WAC) seized control in the conference standings, sweeping the New Mexico State Aggies (15-10, 9-2) 25-18, 25-10 and 25-23 in front of a crowd of 5,696 at the Stan Sheriff Center Sunday.

 

Brittany Hewitt hit .727 with eight kills to lead UH. Kanani Danielson added 11 kills and seven digs while freshmen Michelle Waber and Emily Hartong each posted seven kills, hitting .500 and .400, respectively. Chanteal Satele added five kills and four blocks with Dani Mafua ending up with 35 assists and six digs.

 

The first set was tight early, seeing seven ties before a 7-1 Hawai'i run put them ahead 12-8. The Rainbow Wahine kept their lead between two and four points for most of the rest of the set before going on a 4-0 run to close it out, taking it 25-18.

 

An early 10-1 run by the Rainbow Wahine put UH in control of the second set right away, 12-3. Another Hawai'i run made it 17-5 before the Rainbow Wahine closed out the set in dominating fashion, winning 25-10. UH hit .481 with 16 kills in the set while holding NMSU to six kills and a .087 hitting percentage.

 

After Hawai'i jumped out to an early 5-2 edge, NMSU responded, scoring six of the next eight points to take the 8-7 lead. A quick 4-1 run by UH put them ahead 15-12 at the media timeout. The Aggies stayed in it, pulling back within a point on a couple occasions. Hawai'i got it to 24-19, only to see the Aggies give UH a late Halloween scare, scoring the next four points to get it to 24-23. But Danielson stepped up, putting away a deep kill to take it 25-23.

 

The Rainbow Wahine host Louisiana Tech tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center, before taking on Hawai'i Pacific on Friday, Nov. 5, also at 7 p.m.