UH puts away Pepperdine in 4 to sweep series

Balance, from the front line and the back line.

No. 15 Hawaii again let it rip from the service line against Pepperdine on Saturday, concluding its season-opening homestand with a 25-14, 25-18, 23-25, 25-12 nonconference volleyball victory at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Wahine (7-4) had 11 aces during the 115 minutes, including four from senior opposite Nikki Taylor, as four players finished with eight or more kills. Sophomore hitter McKenna Granato had a match-high 17 kills, with Taylor adding 14, senior hitter Annie Mitchem 11 and junior middle Emily Maglio eight to go with eight blocks.

A crowd of 5,568 saw Hawaii defeat Pepperdine (6-6) for the 13th consecutive meeting. Except for a collapse at the end of Set 3 — one that mirrored Hawaii coach Dave Shoji’s accident earlier Saturday, when he was hit by his standup paddleboard — the Wahine were in control for most of the night.

“I was bothered at the time (when they dropped Set 3),” Shoji said. “But then we rebounded pretty well. I tried to remind our team that it wasn’t over. I guess we got on the bus a little early.

“We won’t have the problem next week.”

Hawaii heads out on the road for the first time on Wednesday, opening Big West play at UC Santa Barbara (9-4) on Friday and Cal Poly (7-4) on Saturday.

“We know it’s going to be a tough trip. Santa Barbara and Cal Poly are both better than last year,” Granato said. “But winning these two gives us confidence.

“At the end (of Set 3), we made too many errors passing and hitting. We know we could have won that third set and know we could have done better. You can’t make those errors when it’s tight like that.”

Hawaii also got a lift from 6-foot-5 freshman middle Natasha Burns, who had five kills and five blocks.

It was anything but tight in a Set 1 that — unlike Friday — had little drama. Taylor, getting the green light to “rip it” on serve, had two aces in a 6-0 run that had the Wahine pulling away at 20-12. At 20-14, Clare-Marie Anderson held serve for the final five points.

Hawaii took control in Set 2 during Taylor’s serving run, her fourth ace capping a 3-0 run that gave the Wahine the lead for good at 11-10. Senior setter Tayler Higgins’ ace made it 21-16 and at 23-18 Hawaii got kills from Taylor and Granato to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room.

Three points away from its second straight sweep of Pepperdine, Hawaii couldn’t close. Down 22-19, the Waves rallied to take the lead at 23-22 on a kill by junior middle Katherine Townslee.

Townslee had all three of her kills during a 5-0 spurt that gave the Waves set point at 24-22. Nikki Lyons’ service error gave the Wahine hope for another comeback, but it ended when senior defensive specialist Katiana Ponce served into the net.

There was little doubt in Set 4 as “we just wanted to be done and go home,” Granato said.

It was 2-2 then it was over, with Mitchem serving for seven straight, a run that included two aces. Hawaii expanded its 10-2 lead to 21-9, getting kills by Maglio, Granato and sophomore middle Casey Castillo to help finish it out as the Wahine hit .433.

“I thought we ended the preseason on a positive note,” Shoji added. “We’re still a little pin-dominant (sets to the outside hitters), but overall we had good distribution.”

Taylor had 35 swings, Granato 32 and Mitchem 31.

Hawaii outblocked Pepperdine 13-5 and won the dig war 58-43. Junior libero Savanah Kahakai led the Wahine with 16 digs and freshman libero Hana Lishman, a Punahou product, led the Waves with 12.