Wahine hold off scrappy Highlanders to grab 14th straight win

Familiarity breeds contentment but also complacency.

At least that seemed the case Friday night for No. 6 Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine overcame a third-set letdown and a fourth-set near meltdown to extend their winning streak to 14 with a defeat of UC Riverside, 25-15, 25-16, 18-25, 25-23, in a Big West volleyball match at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii (19-1, 9-0 BWC), bitten by the injury bug the past few weeks, was able to go back to a starting lineup last used seven matches ago. That included junior hitter Nikki Taylor, who returned after missing her first start of the season (concussion protocol) to finish with a match-high 17 kills.

But, as the crowd of 5,395 witnessed, the rust from a 12-day layoff showed up after Hawaii was up 2-0 and "we were two points away from it going to a fifth," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "When it goes five, anything can happen."

It didn’t, in part to big blocks from reserve setter Kendra Koelsch and bigger swings by Taylor to end it after two hours.

"No one wants to play five sets," said junior setter Tayler Higgins, making her first start since Oct. 2. "We wanted it to be done in four. After you’re up 2-0 you don’t want to drop any sets."

The Highlanders (7-16, 2-8) took Set 3 in fairly easy fashion, leading from start to finish, taking a set off Hawaii for just the second time since 1984. It looked like UCR would double that up when it went up 13-7 in the fourth.

Hawaii began chipping away, tying it at 14, "because we quit doing things that hurt us," Higgins said. "We weren’t making the plays that we’re used to making. We played really well the first two sets. After that, it was a lack of discipline."

That showed from the service line from both teams at the end. With the Wahine leading at 23-22, the teams traded service errors, the first giving Hawaii match point, the second giving the Wahine an anxious moment when Taylor served into the net.

That quickly changed when Taylor put down her 17th kill.

"It’s obvious that we quit playing hard after Set 2," Shoji said. "We started making errors, mental and physical unforced errors.

"Maybe it was a little rust. I don’t like to make excuses. We lost momentum after the second and we need to come out stronger in Game 3."

Hawaii, which has won its past 10 Big West home matches dating back to last season, goes for No. 11 Sunday in the regular-season home finale. The Wahine host Cal State Fullerton (0-20, 0-8) in a designated "white-out" match that is also senior night for Tai Manu-Olevao and Olivia Magill.

Both seniors had eight kills Friday night, with Magill in on five of the team’s 14.5 blocks. Sophomore middle Emily Maglio finished with a match-high seven block assists and Koelsch was in on six blocks as Hawaii, the top blocking team in the country, had 10 or more blocks for the sixth time this year.

Helena Peric led the Highlanders with 11 kills.

Hawaii rolled in Set 1, not committing a hitting error in hitting .548. Higgins and Koelsch both played, running a diverse and successful attack that had all five attackers with at least two kills.

The Wahine didn’t commit a hitting error until their 37th swing when Taylor hit into the top of the net early in Set 2. The Highlanders stayed close until midway through the set, pulling to within 15-13, but Hawaii was able to put together a 10-3 closing run behind serving runs from Katiana Ponce and Savanah Kahakai, the latter finishing it out with two aces.

Saturday

Hawaii def. UC Riverside 25-15, 25-16, 18-25, 25-23

Today

Long Beach State at UC Davis

CSUN at UC Irvine

Sunday

Cal State Fullerton at Hawaii, 5 p.m.

No. 6 Hawaii def. UC Riverside 25-15, 25-16, 18-25, 25-23