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This time the roller coaster did not fall off the tracks.
This time there was no gut-wrenching, heartbreaking collapse when pushed to five sets.
This time, aloha ball came with a huge sigh of relief.
Junior hitter McKenna Granato put down 22 kills and senior middle Emily Maglio added a career-high 18 as Hawaii “broke the curse,” rallying past Baylor 18-25, 25-14, 18-25, 25-17, 16-14 in Friday night’s second match of the Outrigger Resorts Challenge. Sophomore setter Norene Iosia had a career-high 63 assists and senior libero Savanah Kahakai 14 digs as she moved to No. 9 on the all-time digs list as the Rainbow Wahine (3-5) won a five-setter for the first time in four ties this season.
It took 2 hours and 32 minutes for Hawaii in front of 4,110 fans to avoid a program-high sixth loss at the Stan Sheriff Center. It took a lot of believing in themselves, Wahine coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said.
“I told them we were going to win the fourth, and we were going to win the fifth,” Ah Mow-Santos said. “Afterwards I told them thank you. Thank you for believing.
“Tonight, it wasn’t so much what they (the Bears) were doing. It’s what we weren’t doing. And then McKenna … she’s 5-9 but plays like 6-4. She plays big.”
Granato came up huge in Set 5 with four kills, her last giving the Wahine their second chance at ending it at 15-14. It came on a 3-meter attack, where “I got up and was ready,” said Granato, who added 13 digs for her fourth double-double this year.
Baylor (5-3) has a short turnaround, as it takes on No. 10 Brigham Young at 3 p.m. today. The Cougars (7-0) can earn the tournament title outright by beating the Bears.
Earlier Friday, junior hitter Roni Jones-Perry continued to make a strong bid for tournament MVP honors with 14 kills in the Cougars’ 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 sweep of Nevada (3-4)
Hawaii and Nevada meet at 7 tonight in the event finale.
Freshman hitter Yossiana Pressley had 18 kills and senior hitter Katie Staiger 16 for the Bears.
“I think we were just sick of losing in five,” Granato said.
Early on, it didn’t look like Hawaii would be playing a five-setter for the second straight night.
With Staiger (5 kills) and Shelly Fanning (4 kills) Baylor took control midway through Set 1, breaking away from a 10-10 tie to a 17-12 lead. The bright spots for Hawaii were Maglio (5 kills, no errors, 6 swings) and Kahakai, tying Martina Cincerova for No. 9 on the all-time digs list.
As Kahakai began eyeing Suzanne Eagye at No. 8, the Wahine got another defensive lift from sophomore hitter McKenna Ross. On serve at 2-2, Ross had three key digs in the back, matched by Hawaii’s three blocks at the net, and quickly it was 7-2.
The Wahine frustrated the Bears’ attackers with 17 digs and three blocks, as well as efficient hitting (one error, hitting .424). Baylor switched setters, replacing freshman Hannah Lockin with sophomore Braya Hunt, with little success, as Hawaii expanded the lead to 23-11.
Unlike Thursday, when the Wahine came out of the locker room with focus in Set 3, Hawaii again found itself unable to get out of a bad rotation. Down 11-10, Baylor scored six straight, including three blocks to pull away for good at 16-11. The rare highlight for Hawaii was sophomore middle Natasha Burns, making her first start, putting down four kills to give her eight, two more than her previous career high.
The see-saw battle tilted back to the Wahine in Set 4. Again it was Ross’ serve that kept the Bears off balance, her 5-0 stint putting Hawaii in the lead for good at 7-2.
Baylor made things interesting, closing to 11-8, but the Wahine held, pushing the margin to 19-12, capped by a solo stuff of Pressley by Burns and Granato.
The fifth had nine ties and one lead change. Baylor held off one match point on Pressley’s last kill. Granato gave Hawaii its second swing at it and Camryn Freiberg’s hitting error ended it.
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