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It’s additional baggage fees for which No. 7 Hawaii won’t mind being charged.
The Rainbow Wahine returned home today from their first road trip of the season not only with three more wins than they had when they left Honolulu on Tuesday, but with four extra pieces of hardware, courtesy of the Shocker Volleyball Classic. Hawaii won its fourth championship trophy in as many weekends by sweeping host Wichita State 25-20, 25-20, 25-23 Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 3,251 at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kan.
Senior hitter Emily Hartong earned her third MVP award after putting down a match-high 13 kills, all of those coming in the first two sets. She was joined on the all-tournament team by senior setter Mita Uiato — the MVP of last week’s Hawaiian Airlines Classic — and junior middle Kalei Adolpho. Uiato had 36 assists and two of the Wahine’s four aces, and Adolpho had seven kills and two blocks as Hawaii (11-1) extended its winning streak to nine in 81 minutes.
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Key: UH’s Emily Hartong turns in all of her 13 kills in the first two sets.
Next: UH vs. Cal State Fullerton, 7 p.m. Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center. |
Sophomore hitter Tai Manu-Olevao added 10 kills for the Wahine, who handed the Shockers (11-2) their first loss in 10 matches. Senior libero Ali Longo finished the three-day event with 57 digs, including 20 of the team’s 45 Saturday.
"It feels really good to win three matches on the road, against three quality teams you’ll probably see in the postseason (NCAA tournament)," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "I thought we grew as a team with this trip.
"We played well down the stretch in all three games. That Hartong didn’t have a kill (in Set 3) means we had other people stepping up. Tonight was very fulfilling in that we didn’t let their crowd get into it. And we didn’t let it go four."
It could have easily done so. After four early ties in Set 3, Hawaii found itself trailing by three several times, the last at 17-14.
The Wahine caught the Shockers at 19 on a kill by sophomore middle Jade Vorster. Hawaii then saw its comfortable 23-21 lead turn into an uncomfortable 23-23 tie when Wichita State stuffed Adolpho twice.
"They were finding a rhythm, their crowd was getting into it," said Shoji, who called a timeout at that point.
The Wahine earned match point when the Shockers were called for reaching over the net when Uiato was attempting a set. It ended on a hitting error by WSU’s Katie Reilly.
"We were right there and then we made a couple of silly plays at the end," Shockers senior setter Chelsea Feeking said. "You can’t do that against (a team) like that."
Sophomore hitter Ashlyn Driskill had 10 kills for the Shockers, who finish out the tournament today against No. 23 Creighton.
WSU coach Chris Lamb pointed to the "Herculean effort" by Longo and the performances of Manu-Olevao and freshman hitter Nikki Taylor as keys to Hawaii’s success against his team.
"Those were not the same players we saw on tape or even on (Friday)," Lamb said of Hawaii’s five-set win over Creighton. "Those two players have been more error-prone. Tonight, No. 8 (Taylor) had just two errors with nine kills and No. 10 (Manu-Olevao) three errors with 10 kills. They really stepped up their games.
"And their setter is just exceptional."
Hawaii returns to the Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday, hosting Toyota Auto Body, with former Rainbow Wahine All-American Kanani Danielson, in a 7 p.m. exhibition match. The Wahine begin their Big West title defense at home Friday against Cal State Fullerton (7-4), also at 7 p.m., followed by Sunday’s match with UC Riverside (1-11) that starts at 5 p.m.
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