Wahine shake off jitters, finish sweepingly

The Stan Sheriff Center has seen its share of memorable volleyball matches since opening on Oct. 21, 1994. Saturday night was not one of them.

Still, Hawaii overcame lackluster play and a lethargic start to sweep Big West cellar-dweller Cal State Fullerton 27-25, 25-11, 25-14 in 103 minutes. As 5,329 saw, it was anything but pretty, but it was a “W,” and it kept the Rainbow Wahine (15-5, 9-1) within a half-game of their next opponent: No. 23 Cal Poly (19-2, 9-0).

Friday’s match at San Luis Obispo, Calif., likely determines the conference championship, as well as Hawaii’s postseason fate. That was the furthest thing from the collective minds of the Wahine on Saturday, as they found themselves in a soul-searching battle as they faced set point in Set 1 … set point held by the Titans at 24-23.

“I was kind of nervous, freaking out,” Hawaii libero Savanah Kahakai said. “We’ve been in that situation before, but this felt more nerve-wracking. It was playing in my head.”

The Wahine played themselves out of the funk, again riding the arm of senior middle Emily Maglio, who had 13 kills on 21 errorless swings, hitting .619. The Canadian national also was in on six of Hawaii’s nine blocks as the Wahine ran their record against the Titans to 38-0.

Junior hitter McKenna Granato finished strong, putting down seven of her match-high 15 kills in Set 3. Kahakai had 19 digs, giving her 1,312 for her career and moving her to within three of tying Tara Hittle for No. 4 on the program’s all-time digs list.

“We were not looking past tonight,” said Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, who played in the 1994 opener, a 3-1 win over San Jose State. “We’re taking it game by game.

“Best thing about tonight? It’s a ‘W.’ I don’t know why we had to come back (in Set 1), but we turned it around.”

Junior hitter Madeline Schneider had 11 kills for Fullerton (4-18, 0-9), which lost its 24th straight conference match dating back to last season. Junior libber Cady Francis had 17 digs for the Titans, who have won just one set in nine conference matches.

They nearly made it two Saturday night.

Fullerton, which had dropped 30 straight sets to Hawaii dating back to 2012, went up 24-23 on a block of Wahine senior hitter Kendra Koelsch.

The Wahine tied it at 24 and 25, the 14th and 15th ties of the set, then blocked Schneider for their second shot of ending it. Maglio did it on her fourth kill, extending Hawaii’s consecutive-set streak over Fullerton to 31 in a row.

Making it 32 wasn’t tough. By the time sophomore setter Norene Iosia aced Francis to make it 14-6, the Titans were out of timeouts and had switched setters and right-side hitters.

Iosia’s 9-0 service run had the Wahine rolling. Maglio’s kill put the lead at 21-11 and reserve setter Faith Ma’afala camped out on the service line for the final four points, the final coming on Maglio’s slam back for a service overpass.

Hawaii took control of Set 3 early, jumping out to leads of 7-2, 12-6 and 17-9. The lack of a consistent right-side hitter has been a problem this season and, with Koelsch struggling and sophomore Kirsten Sibley not cleared to play (apparent concussion protocol after a collision with Kahakai on Friday), Ah Mow-Santos went with freshman middle Sophia Howling.

Howling’s kill put Hawaii up 21-13 and the Wahine only had to side out the rest of the way. The highlight of the night may have been redshirt freshman defensive specialist Rika Okino coming in on aloha ball and ending it on a walk-off ace.

While the arena had about half the number of fans Saturday night as it did on the sold-out opening night in 1994, Ah Mow-Santos said the feeling was the same.

“Who wouldn’t want to come here?” she asked. “It’s still a special place.”