Taylor makes triumphant return

Welcome back, Nikki Taylor.

With the senior All-American sidelined for the first three matches, it was very noticeable that No. 15 Hawaii missed not just her offense but her court presence. With her back Thursday night, it was equally noticeable that the Rainbow Wahine were on their way back to meeting the high expectations of this volleyball season.

It didn’t take long for the 6-foot-4 Taylor to make a statement, with two blocks, a kill and an ace among Hawaii’s first six points. Taylor finished with 21 kills — including career No. 1,000 — and was in on four blocks as the Wahine swept Missouri State 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 in the second match of the 29th Hawaiian Airlines Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.

In Thursday’s opener, No. 8 UCLA remained undefeated with a 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-19 win over Pacific.

The Bruins (4-0) face the Bears (2-2) in today’s 4:45 p.m. match. The Wahine (2-2) and Tigers (2-2) meet at 7 p.m.

Taylor didn’t make the crowd of 4,538 wait long for her to reach the career milestone. Her eighth kill of the night made it 10-6, making her the 19th Wahine to reach 1,000 kills, the first since Emily Hartong (2010-13).

“I was really excited to come back and it felt great,” Taylor said “I felt very comfortable out there.

“I was only out for a week and three days … volleyball is like riding a bike.”

Taylor rarely fell off during the 101 minutes, with just three errors and hitting .529. She and freshman setter Norene Iosia finished with double-doubles, both with 11 digs, while Iosia had 37 assists. Both also had two aces.

The second-best thing about last night for Hawaii?

“Winning in three,” said junior libero Savanah Kahakai, who finished with 15 digs, her fourth straight match in double figures. “Last week’s tournament we went four (lost to Wisconsin), four (lost to Kansas State) and five (win over Arizona). It’s good to be able to go home early.

“Tomorrow, we have to come out strong, start the same way we did tonight, and keep the energy.”

The Wahine also got 13 kills from freshman hitter Kirsten Sibley. Hawaii outblocked Missouri State 9-4, with junior middle Emily Maglio, sophomore middle Casey Castillo and Taylor all in on four.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. Missouri State, running what UH coaches called a “gnarly” offense, hung tough in the final two sets. Led by junior hitter Lily Johnson (12 kills) and junior middle Lynsey Wright (11), the Bears showed why they were able to knock off then-No. 14 Illinois in Champaign last week.

Hawaii had corralled Johnson — the program’s fastest-to-1,000-kills — in Set 1 but lost track of her in Set 2. Johnson had eight kills and Missouri State rallied from down 19-11 to close to 23-22.

McKenna Granato’s fourth kill gave Hawaii set point and Iosia’s second ace quickly ended it.

The Bears brought momentum out of the locker room and Johnson and Wright continued to have success. It was tight until the end with 17 ties and 10 lead changes.

A kill by Taylor gave Hawaii the lead for good at 20-19 and she added two more to give the Wahine separation at 22-19. The Bears closed to 23-22 only to have Taylor’s final kill give the Wahine aloha ball.

Sibley put down her final swing to give Hawaii its first sweep of the season.

“We beat a good team tonight,” Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “Johnson is a very good player. You can’t play her one way, she has lots of shots. We did a nice job at slowing her down.

“This was a good team win for us tonight. It was nice to have Nikki back, she gives us a lot of offense. She’s terminal. I thought she might be a little rusty, might need to work into the rhythm of the game, but she was in stride right away.

“She’s a complete player.”

Kahakai agreed.

“It’s a load off everyone’s shoulders with her in,” Kahakai said. “We know she’ll get the job done. She really helps me on defense.

“It’s good to have her back.”

UCLA 3, Pacific 1

Senior hitter Jordan Anderson put down 17 kills and sophomore hitter Zana Muno — last season’s setter — added 13 for the Bruins. UCLA had five players in double-digit digs, led by senior libero Taylor Formico’s 17.

For UOP, senior hitter Lexi Elman had 15 kills and 11 digs, and freshman middle Ashlyn Fleming 11 kills. The Tigers also had four players with double-figure digs, led by junior libero Katrin Gotterba’s 31.