LSU ends Rainbow Wahine’s season in NCAA opening round
STANFORD, Calif. >> LSU’s Sanaa Dotson put away 16 kills and the Tigers posted 14 blocks in ending the University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team’s season with a four-set win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament today at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion.
After the Rainbow Wahine rolled past the Tigers in the opening set, LSU capitalized on a deluge of UH attack errors to even the match, then picked up its offense on the way to a 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-22 win to advance to the round of 32.
UH outside hitter Riley Wagoner led the Rainbow Wahine with a match-high 20 kills and middle blocker Amber Igiede added 16. But UH tied its season high with 32 errors and saw a 12-match winning streak end. The Big West champion Wahine closed the season at 22-7.
UH took a 9-5 lead on a block by Igiede and Braelyn Akana. LSU answered with a 4-0 run with two Dotson kills out of system and an ace by Maddie Waak. The Tigers led 17-16 when UH went on a 7-1 run powered by three kills from Wagoner and two from Igiede. Setter Kate Lang landed a tip to give UH set point at 24-19. LSU fought off the first two before Caylen Alexander hammered an overpass of Tiffany Westerberg’s attack to give UH the set.
The Wahine led 3-1 in the second set before the run of errors swamped UH. The Wahine had trouble finding the court on 10 swings and LSU blocks accounted for another five errors. The Tigers needed just eight kills to even the match.
The teams played to a 15-15 tie and LSU setter Josie Vondran took a swing on a second contact for a kill to trigger a 6-1 Tigers surge. The run included four more UH errors and LSU led 21-16 on a block by Dotson and Alia Williams. The Tigers closed out the set on UH’s ninth error of the set and 27th of the match to take the lead in the match.
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LSU middle Anita Anwusi was in on two blocks in a 7-2 Tigers run early in the fourth set. UH senior Mylana Byrd entered to set and teamed with Westerberg on a block that cut the LSU lead to 16-15. After a timeout, the Tigers went on a 3-0 run to reclaim control. LSU earned match point at 24-20 and Igiede put away her final two kills to keep UH alive. A service error then ended the match and the UH season.
