A late relief appearance on Saturday provided a glimpse of Mia Johnson’s potential.

The Hawaii freshman delivered in full on Sunday in her first start for the Rainbow Wahine.

Taking the floor for introductions for the first time, Johnson put away 14 kills to complement senior Brooke Van Sickle’s career-high 17 and the Wahine closed the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 bounce-back victory over Texas A&M at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Johnson made her UH debut in the third set of a loss to Marquette on Saturday, posting three kills in five aggressive swings. The 5-foot-11 outside hitter from League City, Texas, rolled the experience into Sunday’s start against a school from her home state and provided a spark as the Wahine (2-1) secured second place in the tournament.

“(Saturday) night was a good warm up for me just going out there and just knowing I can take rips at the ball,” Johnson said. “So I took that into today and just kept swinging.”

Johnson took a match-high 38 swings while Van Sickle set a career best for the second time in the tournament, hitting .361 in 36 attempts. Van Sickle, who had 16 kills against Fairfield on Friday, ended the weekend with 47 kills (5.22 per set) while hitting .394 on 94 total attempts and served up a team-high seven aces.

Van Sickle played alongside three freshmen who joined the program for camp earlier this month. While Johnson helped spark the offense, libero Tayli Ikenaga led the Wahine with 14 digs and fellow freshman Martyna Leoniak added 12 digs.

“(Johnson) obviously has a live arm, we all saw that tonight,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “Also good character. She’s a good kid, works hard, great teammate.”

A day after dropping two tight sets against Marquette and having a comeback fall short in the third, the Wahine were able to fend off Texas A&M late in all three sets on Sunday with Van Sickle ending the drama with a soaring kill on match point.

Ah Mow noted sharper passing and defense in the turnaround as UH hit .274 to Texas A&M’s .230 with junior setter Mylana Byrd distributing 34 assists.

UH middle blocker Amber Igiede contributed seven kills and three blocks and joined Van Sickle on the all-tournament team after hitting a team-best .435 (23 kills, three errors) for the weekend.

“We had ups and downs,” Ah Mow said of the opening weekend. “We lost (on Saturday) but it’s a really good learning experience for the team, what they can work on, and good video for them to look at.”

Igiede twice hammered a Texas A&M overpass to give UH set point in the first and second sets, which ended with Aggie errors.

Igiede teamed with Leoniak on two blocks and Johnson put away three kills in a 6-0 run with Ikenaga on the service line to start the third set. The Aggies gradually trimmed the deficit then moved ahead with a 6-0 surge highlighted by five kills by Morgan Christon, who posted 10 of her team-high 16 kills in the third set.

UH answered with a 4-0 run and reclaimed the lead on a Van Sickle ace. Johnson’s kill off the tape and a Van Sickle tip out of the back row gave UH match point. Texas A&M survived the first two and after a UH timeout, Van Sickle came flying down the middle to send the Wahine into their first road trip on a high.

“Communication was a big thing for us,” Johnson said. “Talking in the locker room before the game, we were defending our home and we’re not going to let another loss happen. So we went out there with that mind-set.”

The Wahine embark on their first road trip of the season this week and face Utah Valley on Thursday in Orem, Utah. They’ll then play in the Utah Classic, taking on No. 20 San Diego on Friday and No. 19 Utah on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Marquette 3, Fairfield 0

The Golden Eagles (3-0) clinched the tournament title with a 25-14, 25-23, 25-15 sweep of the Stags (0-3).

Middle blocker Savannah Rennie finished with 10 kills (.500) and was in on seven of Marquette’s 11 blocks. Taylor Wolf, the tournament MVP, closed the weekend with eight kills in 13 swings, 17 assists and eight digs. Hope Werch added 10 kills while hitting. 421.

KJ Johnson led Fairfield for the third straight match with 12 kills in 19 attempts (.474).

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES RAINBOW WAHINE CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

MVP: Taylor Wolf, Marquette

Savannah Rennie, Marquette

Hanna Vanden Berg, Marquette

KJ Johnson, Fairfield

Lauren Davis, Texas A&M

Amber Igiede, Hawaii

Brooke Van Sickle, Hawaii