Golden Gophers wipe out Wahine

DES MOINES, Iowa >> The rhythm and pride finally kicked in. Just a little too late.

Hawaii found itself in unfamiliar territory Saturday night, going down 0-2 against second-seeded Minnesota in the NCAA volleyball tournament regional final. Not only had the Rainbow Wahine dropped Set 2 for the first time this season, they scored the fewest points in a single set all season … and looked bad doing it.

There were no magic words said during the break in the Wells Fargo Arena locker room, just a reminder that Hawaii had come this far playing together as a team. If the Wahine were going to go down, they would go down swinging together.

Hawaii appeared to have Minnesota on the ropes at the end of Set 4 and were poised to push it to five only to have the Golden Gophers deliver a knockout punch with a devastating 7-1 finish. Regional MVP Daly Santana had three of her match-high 26 kills in the final 10 minutes as Minnesota hung on for a 25-18, 25-13, 24-26, 25-21 victory.

It sent the Gophers (30-4) into the final four for the fourth time in program history, and first since 2009. Minnesota, which didn’t make the NCAA tournament last year, will meet third-seeded Texas in Thursday’s first national semifinal in Omaha, Neb. The host Longhorns held off 11th-seeded Florida in five on Saturday.

The other semifinal pits Nebraska against Kansas. The fourth-seeded Huskers eliminated top seed Southern California in five on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.

It sent the Wahine (29-2) into the cold rain and back home one week earlier than they had hoped, their 24-match win streak ending four time zones away from Honolulu.

“We knew we had the capability to play better,” said Hawaii junior opposite Nikki Taylor, named to the all-regional team along with senior Tai Manu-Olevao. “We had to cut back on our errors.

“More importantly, we needed to start playing together. It felt like we were playing individual parts instead of six players working together.”

Things did come together after the break with Hawaii cutting down on errors and able to break away late in a Set 3 that saw 18 ties, the last at 24 when the Gophers held off a Wahine set point. Taylor prevented a sweep when putting down two kills to send it to a fourth.

The Wahine led for most of Set 4, jumping out early at 5-1 and late at 19-16 and 22-20. All-region selection Sarah Wilhite put down her 12th kill to jump-start a 5-0 run that put the Gophers ahead for good and had Santana moving into the front row.

At 23-21, the senior hitter from Puerto Rico nailed a cross-court shot for match point and Manu-Olevao hit long to end it after 2 hours and 3 minutes.

Minnesota outblocked the nation’s top blocking team 12-4 — 11 of the Gophers’ blocks coming in the first two sets — and won the dig battle 61-56. It was a season-low in blocks for Hawaii, which came into the week averaging 3.20 per set.

“They were fast,” said Wahine sophomore libero Savanah Kahakai, finishing with 21 digs. “I don’t think we expected that fast of a tempo. And No. 1 (Santana) was amazing.

“I honestly thought that if we could get it to five, we definitely had it. Just with all the energy coming in after that second set. I don’t think anybody expected us to come back like we did. It would have been a game-changer.”

Instead, it ended the careers of middle Olivia Magill and Manu-Olevao. Magill finished with seven kills, hitting 263, well below her .417 average. She and Taylor were in on three of the team’s four blocks.

“I thought we were getting the hang of it,” Magill said of the adjustments made after Set 2. “But they were digging everything.

“Overall, it was a really good season. We had a really good run.”

It was Hawaii’s first regional final since 2009. The Wahine are 9-10 in 19 appearances. It was also the first time in eight meetings that the Wahine lost to the Gophers.

“Before the tournament started, Russ (Penn State coach Rose) told me that Minnesota was the best team in the tournament,” Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “They were more physical than us and we had no answer to stop their offense. They hit 40 percent and were attacking us from all angles.

“I’m still very proud of our team. We had a chance to go five but didn’t make the plays down the stretch.”

One thing that changed after Set 2 was the permanent insertion of freshman hitter McKenna Granato, who replaced sophomore Kalei Greeley on the left. Greeley had rolled her ankle in Wednesday’s practice and “I almost didn’t play her Friday,” Shoji said of the semifinal against Penn State. “She had a great match but tonight didn’t have the mobility. I thought McKenna came in and did a great job.”

Granato had six kills with one error in 11 swings.

Taylor was the only Wahine with double-figure kills, her 23 giving her 991 for her career.

Joining Santana on the all-tournament team were teammates Wilhite and Hannah Tapp, the latter finishing with 15 kills with no errors on 25 swings to hit .600. Also on the team were Penn State’s Megan Courtney and Michelle Strizak of Illinois.

“It was quite a battle as you would expect at this stage of the tournament,” Minnesota coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “We were in control in the first couple of sets, Hawaii absolutely battled back and played great.

“Again I hate to say how proud I am of the team, but it was different tonight because we had to battle back and there was no way that it was easy, it was a very, very difficult match. Nikki Taylor started hitting the ball with a lot more range, was a lot more effective. It took us a lot to have an answer for that. They brought in Granato and she played particularly well in serve-receive, hitting the ball with good range.

“There were a lot of adjustments that we had to make. As you would expect they were fighting for their lives.”

Added Santana: “It was never easy tonight. (In Set 4) I think we focused on just having good energy and not getting too emotional. The match isn’t over until the last point. We kept battling for each and every point.”