Wahine survive in 5

Simply put, Emily Hartong took over.

Hawaii’s senior All-America hitter, aced twice to end Set 4, more than made up for it Friday night, when the seventh-ranked Rainbow Wahine were pushed to a fifth set by No. 23 Creighton. Hartong put down seven of her match-high 20 kills in the deciding Set 5 — including four of UH’s last six points — as the Wahine outlasted the Bluejays 25-17, 25-16, 19-25, 20-25, 15-9 in the Shocker Volleyball Classic in Wichita, Kan.

A Charles Koch Arena crowd of 1,972 saw Hawaii (10-1) win its eighth straight in 2 hours and 12 minutes. The Wahine can win their fourth consecutive tournament title today (2:30 p.m.) with a victory over host Wichita State (11-1); the Shockers swept South Dakota in Friday’s second match, 25-22, 25-14, 26-24.

Both Hartong and sophomore hitter Tai Manu-Olevao finished with double-doubles against Creighton (7-3) — Hartong her sixth when coming up with 16 digs, Manu-Olevao her third with a career-high 14 kills and 14 digs. Adding to Hawaii’s balanced attack was a 13-kill performance by junior middle Kalei Adolpho, who had one error in 25 swings to hit .480.

That it went to five did not surprise Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. That it went to five after his team had a 2-0 lead was "disappointing."

"Maybe we won the first two (sets) too easily," he said. "But they (Creighton) regrouped, got some confidence and it was the tough match we were expecting. All of a sudden, we’re going five (sets).

"But our team stayed upbeat. The key is to get a lead at the start, be ahead at the switch (teams switch sides when one team reaches eight points). Obviously, it was a relief to win."

Hawaii’s only loss came back on Sept. 1, in five, to San Diego. In that match, the Wahine trailed 8-4 at the changeover en route to losing Set 5 15-11.

Friday, the Wahine broke a 5-5 tie to take the lead for good at 6-5 when Creighton’s Melanie Jereb hit wide. Kills by Manu-Olevao and Hartong helped Hawaii to an 8-6 margin at the changeover, and the Wahine used a 7-3 closing run — four kills by Hartong, two by Adolpho and a block by Adolpho and Mita Uiato on Jereb — to close out the match.

Hartong also played a key role at the end of Set 2 when she served for the final seven points, a run that included one of her two aces.

The biggest negative for Hawaii was the lack of blocking; the Wahine were outblocked 16-5. But UH won the dig battle 81-58, led by senior Ali Longo’s 23.

"We are not a good blocking team, but we are good defensively behind the block," Shoji said. "Ali had a stellar match, came up big when we needed a big dig.

"Tomorrow will be a challenging match. We feel Wichita State is the strongest team we face here. They’ll have a big crowd and it will be a challenging match. We will have to play better than we did tonight because they are a very good team."

Friday night, the Shockers got 12 kills from senior hitter Sam Sanders and 11 each from senior middle Ashley Andrade and sophomore hitter Katie Reilly. Honolulu-born sophomore libero Gaby Urban, who played for Sacred Hearts before finishing her high school career in Nevada, had five digs and an assist coming off the bench.

Note

No. 2 San Diego (8-2), the only team to beat Hawaii this season, was swept by host Brigham Young (8-3), 25-20, 25-21, 25-21, Friday in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.