No. 10 Hawaii sweeps UC Riverside for ninth straight
UH Rainbow Wahine Olivia Magill has her eyes on the ball as she sets up for a block with Kendra Koelsch against the UC Riverside Highlanders at the SRC Arena. UH won the match 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-5)
A second road win, a second starter injured. That was the outcome for No. 10 Hawaii Saturday when sweeping UC Riverside in Riverside, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine (14-1, 4-0 Big West) got 14 kills from junior hitter Nikki Taylor in the 25-17, 25-15, 25-5 and got bad news early when sophomore hitter Kalei Greeley joined junior setter Tayler Higgins on the sideline with an injury.
Greeley tweaked her left knee after landing awkwardly imidway through Set 1. On Friday, Higgins went down with an ankle injury in the sweep at Cal State Fullerton.
Sophomore setter Kendra Koelsch, in her first career start, helped Hawaii hit .319. She finished with 35 assists, a kill, six digs and in on six blocks.
Sophomore libero Savanah Kahakai finished with a match-high 17 digs. Hawaii out-dug UCR 64-56 and won the block war 12-7.
It was the ninth consecutive victory for the Rainbow Wahine, who host CSUN Friday and No. 24 Long Beach State Sunday. With both the Matadors and 49ers losing this weekend, Hawaii is the lone unbeaten team in Big West play.
The Highlanders (6-10, 1-2) got 10 kills and 10 digs from Fabiana Rosas.
