GAME DAY BLOG: Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team plays Washington in NCAA Tournament
ANTHONY BOLANTE / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
Hawaii’s Sklyler Williams hits over Washington’s Marin Grote (12) and Samatha Drechsel (9) durng the first set.
ANTHONY BOLANTE / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
University of Hawaii women’s volleyball coach Robyn Ah Mow addressed her team during its match against Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Seattle.
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Hawaii vs. Washington – Curated tweets by StarAdvertiser
SCORE: Washington 3, Hawaii 0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-13)
SEATTLE >> Hawaii made a postseason trip to Washington for the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament four times since 2010.
Four times the Rainbow Wahine returned to Honolulu following a season-ending loss.
They hope the fifth time finally breaks the trend.
The Wahine earned an opportunity to advance out of the Seattle sub-regional for the first time by outlasting Mississippi State in a five-set battle on Friday. Next up, host Washington, the Pac-12 champion and No. 15 overall seed in the tournament bracket.
The winner of today’s 5 p.m. match will move on to the regional hosted by Texas and take on the second-seeded Longhorns, who advanced with a second-round win over Rice on Friday.
After Hawaii (22-7) finished off its win over Mississippi State, Washington (25-4) swept Brown to set up the fifth postseason meeting between the programs and fourth in Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Washington swept UH in 2012, won in five in 2012 and advanced in four sets in 2014, all coming in the second round of the tournament.
The most recent meeting went UH’s way when the Wahine defeated UW in four sets in the final match of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic on Sept. 1. 2019.
After a shaky start on Friday, UH sharpened its serve-and-pass game to rally past then fend off Mississippi State. Forcing Washington out of system will likely be a key to pulling an upset against a a Huskies lineup with a height advantage.
The match starts at 5 p.m.
