Wahine volleyball hang tough

Digging deep into its roster and even deeper into lineup combinations, No. 8 Hawaii dug itself out of a dangerous situation Saturday night, rallying past UC Irvine.

Led by senior hitter Tai Manu-Olevao’s 15 kills and a block that showed up late, the Rainbow Wahine pulled out a 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24 victory over the Anteaters. A crowd of 5,895 saw Hawaii remain undefeated in the Big West, improving to 8-0, and 18-1 overall with its 13th straight win.

It was anything but easy. It was anything but normal.

It was a night that saw junior hitter Nikki Taylor miss her first start in 38 matches, the Wahine nearly running out of substitutions at the end of Set 4, and senior middle Olivia Magill serving for the first time in her UH career to close out the match in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

“We struggled all night, but we survived,” Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. “We couldn’t stop their slide for a long time and finally did at the end.

“Magill had been wanting to serve all season and, with one sub left, we couldn’t risk taking her out. She got to serve, got us two points and we’re happy she did.”

Hawaii had to hold off one set point with UCI leading 24-23, looking to force a fifth set for the second time in as many meetings. The Wahine came out of a timeout, getting Magill’s 10th kill, to tie it for what would be the seventh and last time.

Freshman McKenna Granato, starting in place of the injured Kalei Greeley, put down her ninth kill and sophomore Emily Maglio’s big swing powered through the UCI block, her 12th kill ending the heart attack of a comeback.

“Coming into this game, we knew it was kind of iffy, with all the people we had out,” said sophomore libero Savanah Kahakai, leading the Wahine with 15 digs. “They played a really great game, had us on our toes all night.

“The ending was kind of nerve-wracking. I told the girls before Set 4 that we needed to play like it was the fifth. We probably didn’t have enough for a fifth game, so it was Set 4 or nothing.”

Hawaii survived having a very makeshift lineup from the get-go with junior middle Annie Mitchem making her first start on the right side in place of Taylor, sophomore setter Kendra Koelsch making her fifth start in place of junior Tayler Higgins and Granato in for Greeley.

Higgins and Koelsch shared time, but it was Higgins who was in at the end.

And, at the end, there was Magill at the service line.

“It was ‘Just get it in, don’t be a hero, just get it in,’ “Magill said of her serving thought process.

“We knew if we could just cut down the errors on our side, we’d win. We wanted the fourth to be the last set and not go five. We had to grovel and grind, but we did it.”

Hawaii did it by barely winning the block war, finishing with an 18-17 edge. Magill was in on nine, just missing out on a double-double, adding 10 kills.

Manu-Olevao did get the double with 11 digs and Mitchem finished with 12 digs and nine kills.

Marisa Bubica led the Anteaters (8-11, 2-5) with 14 kills and five blocks. Chloe Hakim finished with a match-high 16 digs. UCI fell to 0-33 against Hawaii.

Hawaii started slowly in the first two sets, spotting UCI a 2-0 lead in Set 1 and 4-0 in Set 2. In both, the Wahine were able to take control, earlier in the first than in the second but steadied out when it was needed most.

The Anteaters created some anxious moments in Set 2, threatening to end the Wahine’s perfect record in second sets (now 19-0), closing to 24-23 and holding off one set point. Maglio ended it with authority with her sixth kill and Hawaii headed to the locker room with a 2-0 lead.

That changed during the next 30 minutes as the Anteaters turned the tables on the top blocking team in the country with six stuffs of their own. Three of those came during a 5-1 run that UCI took the lead for good at 18-15.

The Wahine got as close as 20-19 and 21-20 but no closer as the Anteaters pulled away, helped by an ace from Harlee Kekauoaha and Bubica’s 10th kill.

Set 4 was a roller coaster, with seven ties and three lead changes. Unlike last season, when the Wahine had to rally from being down 0-2 at UCI to win in five, Hawaii — with lineups practiced only on Saturday — avoided that never-know-what-will-happen Set 5.

Saturday

Hawaii def. UC Irvine, 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24

UC Santa Barbara def. CSU Fullerton, 20-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-10

Long Beach State def. CSUN, 25-21, 25-19, 25-16

Cal Poly def. UC Riverside, 25-7, 26-24, 25-19

Next Hawaii matches

Oct. 29: vs. UC Riverside, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center

Nov. 1: vs. Cal State Fullerton, 5 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center (senior night)

No. 8 Hawaii def. UC Irvine, 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24

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 — UC Irvine 3 (Kekauoha 2, Anderson). Hawaii 6 (Granato 2, Mitchem 2, Koelsch, Higgins). Service errors — UC Irvine 14 (Bubica 3, Blair 3, Anderson 2, Hakim 2, Tsujimoto 2, Kekauoha, Rosenfeld). Hawaii 10 (Granato 3, Higgins 3, Mitchem 2, Manu-Olevao, Koelsch). Assists — UC Irvine 45 (Blair 33, Anderson 7, Hakim 2, Frost, Kekauoha, Dennis). Hawaii 48 (Higgins 26, Koelsch 17, Anderson 2, Kahakai 2, Maglio). T — 2:20. Officials — Marvin Hall, Dickson Chun. A — 5,895.