Call it trench warfare.
No. 20 Hawaii and Army dug in for quite the defensive battle between unbeatens in the second match of Thursday’s 14th Heineken Invitational.
After 2 hours and 13 minutes, and a combined 162 digs, it was the Rainbow Wahine who walked out of the Stan Sheriff Center undefeated.
Hawaii used a balanced attack, led by junior middle Sky Williams’ career-high 13 kills, to turn back Army, 22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19, in front of 3,723. Junior hitter Jolie Rasmussen, the reigning national Player of the Week, and freshman hitter Hanna Hellvig each added 10 kills, Rasmussen turning in her second double-double of the season with 10 digs.
The Wahine, 4-0 for the first time since 2015, take on Sacramento State (2-3) in today’s 7 p.m. match. The Hornets were swept by Denver 25-16, 25-16, 25-21 in Thursday’s 70-minute first match.
The Pioneers (4-0) meet the Black Knights (3-1) today at 4:45 p.m.
Hawaii finished with an 84-80 edge in digs, with three others besides Rasmussen in double figures. Junior hitter Brooke Van Sickle had 20, freshman hitter Riley Wagoner 14 and senior setter Bailey Choy 14 in finishing with a double-double (21 assists).
The Black Knights saw junior libero Ana Oglivie (‘Iolani) have a match-high 22 digs, 16 coming in the first two sets.
“I don’t know what happened,” Williams said after the team’s slow start. “We weren’t in it. We know we are better than what we showed. We can be 1,000 times better.
“It wasn’t Army that was frustrating. It was frustrating on our side.”
“That wasn’t us,” freshman middle Tiffany Westerberg said, finishing with eight kills after coming into the match in Set 2. “We need to make sure we have high energy on the court the whole time.”
Army’s defense dug in early, with 26 digs in Set 1. The Black Knights broke the seventh and last tie (18-18), taking the lead for good on a hitting error by Williams.
Hawaii used a successful middle attack to pull away in Set 2, as Williams and Westerberg combined for seven kills to even the match.
The Wahine then won a Set 3 for the first time this season, helped by a 4-0 service run by junior defensive specialist Kyra Hanawahine. With all three Oregon transfers on the court — Hanawahine, Rasmussen and Van Sickle — Hawaii turned a 10-9 deficit into a 13-11 lead.
Rasmussen, who had just one kill in Set 1, slowly got into a rhythm, finishing strong with four kills in Set 4. Williams was even hotter, with six kills on eight swings with one error in the final set.
“I’m always happy with a ‘W,’ but we just have to work harder,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “It wasn’t crisp.
“What can we do better (Friday)? Do you have an hour? Everything is on our side. Our serves were lollipops, our passing wasn’t crisp. Our setters need to be able to get our hitters into a rhythm, find a way to get them into the game.”
Ah Mow credited the passing of Hanawahine and redshirt junior libero Rika Okino with stabilizing the backcourt.
“And hats off to (Army),” Ah Mow said. “They played scrappy defense.”
Sidney Morriss led the Black Knights with 13 kills and Courtney Horace added 11.
Hawaii outblocked Army 9-7, with Hellvig and Williams each in on four.
Denver 3, Sacramento State 0
Junior middle Tina Boe put down 11 kills and junior hitter Lydia Bartalo added 10 for the Pioneers. Junior setter Ellie Anderson finished with a double-double (18 assists, 10 digs) and Bartalo had three of the team’s seven aces.
Junior hitters Cianna Andrews and Macey Hayden had seven kills each for the Hornets, who lost their third straight and second in three days. Sac State lost at UC Davis 3-1 on Tuesday before flying to Honolulu on Wednesday.
