Hawaii's Kanoe Kamana'o tried to block a Nevada kill attempt in last night's match.
UH rallies to nip Nevada
The Rainbow Wahine come back
from a two-game deficit to beat
the Wolf Pack in five
Hawaii 5-0.
That's the record the Rainbow Wahine have this season when a match goes to five games.
Last night, No. 2 Hawaii needed four players to reach double-digit kills, led by Alicia Arnott's 25, to escape a determined Nevada team. For the first time this season, the Rainbow Wahine had to rally from an 0-2 deficit, and they did it in dramatic fashion.
Hawaii kept its senior-night record in the Stan Sheriff Center perfect -- as well as its undefeated record intact via a 27-30, 33-35, 30-20, 30-26, 15-6 victory.
The Wahine (23-0) also finished their Western Athletic Conference season with their sixth consecutive unblemished record at 13-0.
The Wolf Pack, getting 21 kills from Salaia Salave'a, fell to 18-6 and 10-3.
It was amazing. Pretty amazing. Especially since both of Hawaii's seniors -- Melody Eckmier and Teisa Fotu -- helped key the comeback starting with Game 3.
"Being down 0-2 is really tough" said Fotu, who was switched from serving specialist to libero after Game 2. "Tonight showed how much we've grown. We are stronger mentally.
"We came out for Game 3 very focused. There was no fear."
The Wahine seized the momentum at the end of Game 3 and never gave it back. They completely dominated in Game 5, running away to 5-0 and 10-4 leads.
"I'm so proud of this team," said Eckmier, who had three kills and was in on four blocks in the final three games. "We played hard the whole time, but (after Game 2) we started to play our game instead of focusing on what they were doing.
"This made senior night really special."
Victoria Prince's 13 kills capped the amazing comeback in a match in which Hawaii appeared on the verge of losing its first ever WAC match at home.
Susie Boogaard added 17 kills and Tara Hittle 13 for the Wahine. Carly Sorensen had 14 kills for the Wolf Pack and Teal Ericson 11.
Of all the winning streaks on the line last night -- 194 against unranked teams, 102 overall in conference, 90 during regular-season conference play, 37 at the Stan Sheriff Center -- perhaps there was one more personal than the rest for the Hawaii women's volleyball team.
Being successful on senior night.
Hawaii seniors Teisa Fotu, left, and Melody Eckmier celebrated senior night after Hawaii rallied to defeat Nevada.
The largest crowd of the season (8,869 turnstile, 9,915 tickets) saw all of Hawaii's streaks stay alive. It was anything but easy.
For the second meeting in a row, Nevada had chances to nail down the biggest win in the program's history. For the second time, the Wolf Pack let it slip away.
"I think we got a little comfortable and then started playing not to lose," said Nevada coach Devin Scruggs. "It was going through my mind (after Game 2) that this would be the biggest win ever.
"Hawaii didn't change anything. We started doing things we hadn't been doing. We had our opportunities in Game 4. We expected to win this match. But I didn't see the killer instinct at the end. Maybe we were just hoping they would let us win instead of us staying aggressive."
"We never thought it was going to be easy," said UH associate head coach Charlie Wade. "But in Game 3, hey, why not go with your seniors on senior night. They're going to have a high level of emotion.
"It's comforting to know that in these situations, they can right the ship."
Wade missed last month's match in Reno due to the birth of his son. He didn't need to watch the tape; last night was almost a replay of what had gone on.
The Wolf Pack won Game 1 by the identical score that the Wahine had won Game 1 in their battle last month in Reno. Hawaii got off to a slow start, falling behind as far as 10-4 before finding a rhythm to take a 22-20 lead.
Nevada roared back with five unanswered points to go ahead for good at 25-22, a run capped by one of setter Tristin Adams' eight dump kills. It was only the fourth time UH had dropped Game 1 this season, all four times in WAC play.
The seesaw battle continued in Game 2. Hawaii had five swings at game point only to have Nevada answer each time to tie it. The last came on a kill by Adams that knotted it at 33-33.
Tara Hittle hit long to give the Pack the only chance to end it. They did, on Carly Sorensen's ninth kill.
The Wahine completely dominated Game 3, running away to a 27-15 lead, thanks to seven consecutive serves by Victoria Prince. The Pack rallied to within 27-18 and then held off two game points to close to 29-20.
It ended anticlimactically when Adams couldn't connect with Salave'a on a tricky shoot set.
Hawaii got off to a quick 13-5 start in Game 4 only to have a meltdown reminiscent of Game 2 against San Jose State on Friday. Nevada used three blocks during Adams' 5-0 serving run to narrow the gap to 13-11. Salave'a's 20th kill helped the Wolf Pack to a 19-17 lead only to have Hawaii take it back at 22-19.
Nevada wouldn't go away, tying at 22-22. Boogaard's 16th kill gave Hawaii a brief lead at 23-22 only to have the Pack score quickly for a 24-23 margin.
It would be tied twice more, the last at 25-25. Prince capped a decisive 4-0 run with an ace, giving Hawaii game point. One play later, 5-foot-8 setter Kanoe Kamana'o won a joust with 6-foot middle Ericson to force Game 5.
Note: Hawaii dropped its only regular-season WAC match in 1998 at Brigham Young.
Hawaii def. Nevada
27-30, 33-35, 30-20, 30-26, 15-6
Wolf Pack (18-7 10-3 wac) g k e att pct. bs ba d Ericson 5 11 8 40 .075 0 1 0 Salave'a 5 21 11 62 .161 1 6 13 Adams, T. 5 9 2 20 .350 1 1 9 Adams, K. 5 8 4 23 .174 0 5 8 Holda 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 19 Sorensen 5 14 9 48 .104 2 3 2 Nielsen 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Sipherd 5 9 5 23 .174 0 4 1 Brush 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Harms 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 24 Totals 5 72 39 216 .153 4 20 77 Rainbow Wahine (23-0, 13-0 WAC) g k e att pct. bs ba d Boogaard 5 17 8 52 .173 0 1 11 Hittle 5 13 5 30 .267 0 3 15 Gregory 1 1 0 2 .500 0 0 0 Arnott 5 25 9 65 .246 2 3 10 Kamana'o 5 0 0 3 1.000 1 3 16 Prince 5 13 5 30 .267 0 8 4 Sanders 3 1 1 6 .000 0 0 1 Eckmier 3 3 1 6 .333 2 2 1 Watanabe 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Fotu 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Ong 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 5 73 29 194 .227 5 20 71 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Nevada (2): Salave'a, K. Adams. Hawaii (8): Prince 4, Boogaard, Arnott, Hittle, Watanabe. Assists -- Nevada (66): T. Adams 50, Harms 6, K. Adams 3, Holda 2, Siphard 2, Ericson, Salavea, Brush. Hawaii (62): Kamana'o 61, Hittle.
T -- 2:39. Officials -- Verna Klubnikin, Ernest Ho. A -- 8,869 (9,875 tickets issued).
