Wahine serve up win over Shockers

On the second night of the volleyball season, 10th-ranked Hawaii and Wichita State staged a remarkably balanced battle worthy of the postseason, not the preseason Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational.

The Wahine served their way to a 21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-18 victory Saturday behind 13 aces and Kanani Danielson. The three-time All-American rallied from another slow start to finish with 16 kills that got louder as the night wore on before a crowd of 4,679 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"Kanani just took over like she has so many times in her career," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They had no answer. When she plays like that, we’re a much better team."

After hitting .000 in the opening set (two kills, two errors) for the second straight match, Danielson had just one more hitting error all night. Freshman Jane Croson also came back from a ragged start — she had five kills and six errors after two sets — to end up with 14 kills.

Shoji attributed it to not being in rhythm early with new setter Mita Uiato.

"Mita settled down and got Kanani some really good swings," he said. "Jane’s just got to learn how to hit at this level. She’s gotten away with just hitting hard all the time. You can’t hit right into the block. She’ll learn, and she is learning."

Brittany Hewitt added 12 kills in 20 swings, while sophomore Emily Hartong, Hawaii’s other middle, came up with eight kills and six aces. In the 38-year history of Wahine volleyball, only Amber Kaufman and Sarah Mason have hit more aces in one match.

Earlier, Arizona remained unbeaten by holding off San Francisco 25-20, 20-25, 25-16, 24-26, 15-10. The Wildcats (2-0), who have been to five regionals in the past 10 years, play Hawaii tonight at 5 for the invitational championship. Wichita State (0-2) and USF (0-2) meet at 2 p.m.

Wichita State, which has been to the past four NCAA tournaments, looked nothing like the team that shanked its way to a quick loss in Friday’s opener against Arizona. Its passing was near perfect in the opening set, and only Hawaii’s middle attack and a four-point surge ignited by Croson kept it close.

"It’s a good thing Wichita State didn’t play like this against us," Arizona coach Dave Rubio said on his way out. "Holy smokes."

The opening set was tied 11 times, the last at 18. The Shockers’ balance was breathtaking, with four attackers and setter Mary Elizabeth Hooper getting three kills apiece, and they hit .361 as a team.

"They ran such a fast offense that we couldn’t close on it from the middle," Shoji said. "That just leaves Mita and Chanteal (Satele) exposed and it’s tough for them."

In contrast, UH hit .250 the opening set, with its three outsides combining for six kills and five errors. The team percentage dropped to .132 in the next set. Somehow, the Wahine won it, using 11 players and six well-timed aces.

"It was just trying to find a way to win and use our bench," Shoji said. "Trying to find the right combo."

It came together, somehow, with UH outscoring WSU 10-3 at the end. The rally began with Hartong serving three aces in a 5-0 run that put UH up 20-18. The final ace went off Sarah Waldorf’s neck — rare awkwardness for a libero who gathered 18 digs in a brilliant performance that anchored the Shockers’ exceptional defense.

Hawaii’s next three points came on off-speed shots — two planned. That was followed by Kaela Goodman’s kill, which was heading out until the Shockers touched it. Croson closed it with her third ace.

The next set was tied at every point through 13-all. UH scored five straight, with Emily Maeda serving to break ahead 17-13. Wichita got the next three, with two aces of its own.

After a timeout, UH scored eight of the last 10, with Satele slamming the 12th ace and Croson blasting set point off Waldorf and into the bleachers.

In the final set the Shockers, who start three seniors, finally got frustrated by a Wahine defense that was even better than their own. Hawaii collected 67 digs, with Danielson (14), Croson (13), Satele (12) and Maeda (11) all hitting double digits.

Hawaii pulled ahead 13-8 on a series of WSU errors and then pulled away.

In the first match, Arizona was led by freshman Madison Kingdon for the second straight night. Kingdon collected 18 kills and seniors Marketa Hanzlova (13) and Courtney Karst (12) added 25 more.

USF was again led by transfer Jocelyn Levig (21 kills) and freshman Valentina Zaloznik (16). Libero Rebecca Kopilovitch had 24 digs.

The teams combined for 56 hitting errors — neither hit .200 — and 145 digs in a contest that lasted 2 hours, 19 minutes, pushing the beginning of the UH-WSU match back an hour.