Wahine repeat sweep

Perfect? No.

But pretty darn close.

Take away freshman middle Sky Williams’ hitting error on Hawaii’s first swing of the night — on a never-had-a-chance low set — and the Rainbow Wahine were flawless over the remaining 89 minutes Friday night against South Dakota.

Led by senior middle Emily Maglio’s 11 kills and .786 hitting percentage, the Wahine swept the Coyotes 25-19, 25-15, 25-13 in the second match of the 30th Hawaiian Airlines Classic. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,264 saw Hawaii (2-3) outblock South Dakota, 10-0 and create a true championship showdown on Sunday at 4 p.m. against No. 22 Utah.

The Utes (4-1) also swept on Friday, with senior hitter Adora Anae (Kahuku) putting down 13 kills in topping Western Carolina 25-20, 25-18, 25-22.

The Catamounts (1-4) and Coyotes (1-4) meet today at 1 p.m. to determine third place.

If there was a word to describe the Wahine’s performance — where they hit .446 as a team — it was “efficient,” with solid passing creating opportunities for sophomore setter Norene Iosia to run a multi-pronged attack.

The emphasis was in the middle, where Maglio, Williams and freshman Sophia Howling combined for 15 kills, but Hawaii’s pin hitters also had a number of one-on-one chances from the outside.

“What (assistant) coach Kaleo (Baxter) said in the locker room was that Norene set very efficiently,” Wahine coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said. “That’s what it was.

“A win is always good, but what I liked was how the team came in ready to take care of business. It wasn’t the up-down, up-down we’ve had. We’re getting better at getting stable.”

Hawaii has a practice day today to prepare for Utah, which has never defeated the Wahine in 11 meetings. There were mixed feelings about the break from play.

“It’s nice to have the practice time, be good to work on stuff,” senior hitter Kendra Koelsch said after putting down five kills and being in on three blocks. “But you’d rather play.”

“We’ve got this momentum,” added Howling, who finished with three kills and three blocks. “We’re in game mode.”

Hawaii played with focus pretty much from the start. The Wahine pulled away from a 12-12 tie in Set 1, using an ace by junior hitter McKenna Granato during a 3-0 run to take control.

The highlight of Set 2 may have been senior hitter Kalei Greeley putting down her first kill of the season. Playing just in the back row to stabilize Hawaii’s passing, Greeley — still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery — connected from behind the 3-meter line to put the Wahine up 15-11.

“Kalei brings that senior stability in there,” Ah Mow-Santos said. “She’s out there and her demeanor, even if she makes a mistake, is ‘next ball.’ ”

Despite a revolving door from bench to court — 13 Wahine played for a second consecutive night — Hawaii maintained the energy that was often missing in going 0-3 on opening week. Things were going so well that even sophomore hitter McKenna Ross’s dig went over the Coyote block and landed for a kill and a 23-13 lead.

Sophomore hitter Kirsten Sibley served the final five points of the match, a run that included Maglio being in on two of her four blocks.

South Dakota, hitting .115, got 11 kills from junior hitter Hayley Dotseth. The Coyotes, No. 2 nationally in digs last season, won the dig war on Friday 42-33, led by sophomore libero Anne Rasmussen’s match-high 12.

Note

Hawaii’s .446 was its highest hitting percentage since .471 against Cal State Northridge last season. The program record is .657, coming in 1987 against Cal State Fullerton.

Click here to see more photos of the match between Hawaii and South Dakota.