HONOLULU – The No. 5 University of Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team (20-1, 10-0 WAC) swept the Boise State Broncos (17-10, 4-7) 25-15, 25-13 and 25-18 in front of a crowd of 6,435 at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.

 

Kanani Danielson hit .433 with 15 kills and seven digs while Elizabeth Kaaihue had 20 digs, posting her second-straight match with 20-plus digs. Brittany Hewitt added 10 kills and four blocks while hitting .389, with Emily Hartong posting nine kills. Chanteal Satele also added seven kills with Dani Mafua setting the UH offense with 37 assists.

 

After giving up the first point of the set, Danielson and Hartong combined for five kills to push Hawai'i to a 5-1 lead. A six-point run by the Rainbow Wahine later got it to 12-4. The UH offense kept pushing the rest of the set, taking the set 25-15, hitting .419 with 18 kills as a team.

 

The Rainbow Wahine opened a 4-1 edge to start the second set, pushing it later to 8-3. Boise State was able to pull it back to 9-6 before Hawai'i fan off five of the next seven points, getting it to 14-8. A 6-1 run later in the set got it to 23-12 before UH closed it out 25-13. The Rainbow Wahine sided out at an amazing 92 percent, allowing only one point by the Broncos off their serve.

 

Boise State started out the third set much improved, holding an early 3-2 edge before coming back to tie it at 11-11. But Hawai'i responded, scoring six of the next seven, to push their lead to 17-12. Down the stretch, the Rainbow Wahine just had too much defensively, taking the final set 25-18.

 

Hawai'i will host New Mexico State in a battle for WAC supremacy on Sunday, Oct. 31, at 5 p.m. UH will then face Louisiana Tech on Monday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m.