Wahine sweep by Ohio

The opening-night jitters were to be expected. Especially for a team with just two returning starters, a new setter and no designated star.

No official go-to player meant go to a committee, which is what No. 17 Hawaii did Friday night. The Rainbow Wahine used 11 of their 16 players in a hard-fought 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 sweep of Ohio in the second match of the Chevron Invitational. turnstile crowd of 5,588 saw Hawaii win its sixth consecutive home opener, running its record to 18-2 in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Junior middle Olivia Magill put down 10 kills and junior Tai Manu-Olevao added nine to lead a balanced attack for Hawaii, which will face No. 25 Arizona State in Saturday’s 8:30 p.m. match. The Sun Devils needed just 69 minutes to dispatch San Diego State 25-18, 25-21, 25-15.

The Aztecs, coached by Rainbow Wahine great Deitre Collins-Parker, take on the Bobcats at 5:30 p.m.

Senior middle Kalei Adolpho and junior hitter Ginger Long each had eight kills, with Long finishing with 35 attacks, one more swing than she took all of last season. Senior Sarah Mendoza, in her first start at libero, finished with a career-high 24 digs as the Wahine out-dug the Bobcats 63-51.

"It was a great win, huge for our team," said Adolpho, hitting .467 with just one error. "We’re still finding ourselves, our identity.

"It wasn’t pretty tonight. We know we are better than how we were playing. It was a matter of getting into a rhythm."

It was ragged throughout, but, when needed, Hawaii found a way. The Wahine fended off every challenge by the Bobcats.

"For us, it’s been part of our practice culture," said sophomore setter Tayler Higgins, who added four kills on six attacks. "Every time they came back on us, we settled down and focused on the next point. Keep moving and keep moving forward."

It was a tight match for most of the 99 minutes, particularly in Set 3, which saw 11 ties, the last at 16. A hitting error by Ohio senior hitter Kelly Lamberti set up a decisive 3-0 serving run by Higgins that put Hawaii up 20-17.

At 23-20, the Wahine finished it off on a 3-meter kill from Manu-Olevao and the aloha-ball swing by Adolpho.

Senior Hannah Burkle, in her first start as a right-side hitter, led Ohio with nine kills. The Bobcats, committed to tough serving, finished with five aces to two by the Wahine, both by freshman Savannah Kahakai.

"I thought we were fairly balanced tonight," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "Ginger probably took too many swings, but a couple of times she had two, three swings on the same play. She did exactly what we needed her to do, kept attacking, and we were happy with the way she responded and didn’t back down.

"Tai didn’t hit over 30 percent in any practice we’ve had and she hit 30 tonight, which was huge for her. Magill never got on track, but she ended up leading the team (in kills)."

Double-teaming Magill was part of Ohio’s game plan, first-year Bobcats coach Deane Webb said.

Magill jumps so high, we committed on her," he said. "She’s not a kid you want to react to (late) and hope it goes well.

"I think late in the game mature decisions come into play and Hawaii was a little better at that late. Every point is just a point, but sometimes, at the end, they seem bigger."

Arizona State 3, San Diego State 0

The Sun Devils had 15 service errors, but that didn’t bother coach Jason Watson. He would rather look at the eight aces and what didn’t show up in the box score: the tough serving that kept the Aztecs out of system for much of the match and had them hitting .062.

Also key for ASU was outblocking San Diego State 3-0 in Set 3 when pulling away.

McKenzie Willey and Macey Gardner each had 10 kills, and Whitney Follete put down eight kills with no errors on 14 swings for the Sun Devils, who hit .295. ASU was an impressive .440 in Set 3 with no errors, with 11 kills on 25 attempts.

The Aztecs got six kills each from Chaiymin Steel and Baylee Little. Seeing her college debut in the middle of Set 2 was freshman setter Courtney Eckenrode, the 2014. USA Today and MaxPreps National Player of the Year.

No. 17 Hawaii def. Ohio 25-22, 25-23, 25-20

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — Ohio 5 (Lamberti 2, Walker, Ashy, Coleman). Hawaii 2 (Kahakai 2).  Service errors — Ohio 8 (Coleman 3, Walker 2, Gilleland, Lamberti, Ashy). Hawaii 5 (Manu-Olevao 2, Higgins, Anderson, Greeley). Assists — Ohio 31 (Gilleland 23, Coleman 5, Ashy 2, Lamberti). Hawaii 40 (Higgins 29, Mendoza 4, Long 2, Kahakai 2, Adolpho, Koelsch, Greeley). Block solo — Ohio 2 (Gilleland, Bull). Hawaii 3 (Long, Passi, Magill). T — 1:39. Officials — Dickson Chun, Wayne Lee.  A — 5,588.