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Rainbow Wahine fall to No. 22 Utah

Cindy Luis
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Hawaii setter Norene Iosia bumped the ball in front of outside hitter Casey Castillo and libero Savanah Kahakai during the first set. Utah’s Adora Anae (front) finished with 19 kills.

Senior hitter Adora Anae put down 19 kills to lead No. 22 Utah to the championship of the 30th Hawaiian Airlines Classic tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center with a 20-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-23 victory over host Hawaii.

Anae, a Kahuku High product, added a double-double with 16 digs en route to being named the volleyball tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. It was the first win over Hawaii by Utah in 12 meetings; this one took 2 hours and 19 minutes.

It also was the fourth consecutive time a Pac-12 team has won the Rainbow Wahine’s signature event. Hawaii has now lost eight straight to a ranked team dating back to 2015.

Junior hitter McKenna Granato led the Wahine (2-4) with 23 kills. Senior libero Savanah Kahakai had a match-high 20 digs.

The Utes (5-1) outblocked the Wahine 19-15 with senior middle Tawnee Luafalemana in on 12 and freshman hitter Dani Barton in on 11. Barton also had a double-double with 10 kills.

Named to the all-tournament team from Hawaii were Granato, Iosia and Emily Maglio. Joining them were Utah’s Bailey Choy, an ‘Iolani graduate, and Berkeley Oblad, and South Dakota’s Hayley Dotseth.

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