Wahine whip Mustangs

There was cake. There were flowers.

And, more importantly, there was a sweep.

No. 8 Hawaii not only celebrated senior middle Olivia Magill’s 22nd birthday Thursday night off the court, the Rainbow Wahine gave themselves a present with their 20th consecutive victory on the Mott Athletics Center court.

Magill had 12 kills with just one hitting error and was in on four of the team’s nine blocks to help lead Hawaii to a 25-17, 25-19, 25-19 victory over Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Junior hitter Nikki Taylor finished with a match-high 15 kills for the Wahine (25-1, 15-0 Big West), who can go undefeated in conference play for the 16th time with a victory at UC Santa Barbara (7-18 ,3-11) on Saturday.

It will be the fourth match in seven days for Hawaii, which began its California trek Sunday at UC Davis.

"It has been a long road trip, but we’ve been staying mentally strong," said Magill, who came into the week No. 5 nationally in blocks (1.59 bps) and the conference leader in hitting percentage (.382). "We want to keep it going and finish strong.

"I thought our passing was really good. We stayed focused for the most part. I think it would be really nice (to finish unbeaten in conference). I want everyone to stay focused."

Magill and senior hitter Tai Manu-Oelvao were given floral bouquets as part of Cal Poly’s senior night pregame festivities. They then helped spoil the Mustangs’ party, as Hawaii needed just 104 minutes to extend its longest winning streak since the 26 consecutive in 2011.

Key to the match was slowing outside hitter Adlee Van Winden, niece of former Wahine Lisa Strand-Ma’a. Van Winden, likely the conference freshman of the year after winning the weekly award seven times this year, didn’t have a kill until pulling Cal Poly to within 20-13 in Set 3; she finished with three kills, well off her 4.16 kps, which was third-best in the conference.

"We played our best assignment volleyball of the year tonight," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We did a really good job blocking and sticking to the game plan. We did a nice job on all their hitters and we took away the things that Van Winden likes to do.

"Magill had a fantastic offensive night. When she drives hard, gets up high like she can, our setters can get her the ball and she gets pretty offensive."

The closest thing to a negative — other than the Mustangs hitting .038 — was the letdown in Set 2, where the Wahine are now 26-0 this year. Cruise control turned into a stall midway through when Shoji began to go to his bench.

Hawaii spotted Cal Poly a 2-0 lead in Set 2, then went on a roll behind the serving of Manu-Olevao and three kills from Magill to go up 8-2. Libero Savanah Kahakai camped out on the service line with her ace coming in the middle of a 6-0 run that had the Rainbow Wahine cruising at 15-3.

Taylor Greenwald’s tip shot ended a long rally, giving the Mustangs their first kill of the set and some life at 15-4. Cal Poly slowly gained momentum, closing to 22-16 and 23-18 but no closer; the teams traded service errors and sophomore middle Emily Maglio ended it with one of her five kills.

Shoji played 12 of the 13 players on the travel roster, with only junior defensive specialist Katiana Ponce not getting in.

"Unfortunately when we subbed (in Set 2) it was a lineup we don’t necessarily practice," he said. "It was also the other team playing better. But I’m committed to our bench and wanted to get them in."

Hawaii outdug Cal Poly 43-42, with Kahakai finishing with 15 digs to go with two aces. Mustang libero Nicole Kessler had a match-high 16.

Raeann Greisen led Cal Poly with eight kills but hit .059.

"We’re just taking it one game at a time," Taylor said. "(Magill) did a really good job tonight, did what we need from a senior middle. Then we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her."

The Wahine then received cupcakes from Magill’s family, a dual birthday celebration for Magill and her grandmother.

Magill and Manu-Olevao get their third senior night Saturday in the Thunderdome, as it is also the last home match for UC Santa Barbara’s five seniors.

BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL

Tuesday

Hawaii def. UC Irvine, 26-24, 25-21, 25-14

Thursday

Hawaii def. Cal Poly 25-17, 25-19, 25-18

Today

Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State

UC Riverside at CSUN

Saturday

Long Beach State at UC Riverside

UC Davis at UC Irvine

Hawaii at UC Santa Barbara

CSUN at Cal State Fullerton

NO. 8 HAWAII DEF. CAL POLY 25-17, 25-19, 25-18

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 — Hawaii 5 (Kahakai 2, Anderson, Greeley, Taylor). Cal Poly 1 (Nelson). Service errors — Hawaii 8 (Higgins 3, Kahakai 2, Granato, Manu-Olevao, Taylor). Cal Poly 7 (Nelson 2, Niemen 2, Kessler, Kuber, Roach). Assists — Hawaii 37 (Higgins 29, Manu-Olevao 4, Kahakai 2, Koelsch 2). Cal Poly 26 (Nelson 18, Kuber 5, Kessler, Niemen, Roach). T — 1:44. Officials — Rick Olmstead, Dan Apol, C. Kay, K. Long. A — 1,857.