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RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Juliana Sanders slammed the ball during last night's Game 2 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

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Wahine get back
to winning

Victoria Prince puts it all on her
shoulders to help Hawaii extend
its home winning streak

WELCOME HOME.

A return to the soothing embrace of the Stan Sheriff Center and the energy of its partisan crowd was just what the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball needed to heal the wounds of last week's 0-2 road trip.

HAWAII 3 USC 0 NEXT UP vs. Penn St., today

The Wahine put a winless August and Nebraska behind them last night, starting off September with a victory in their home opener. A crowd of 5,687 (7,247 tickets) saw senior Victoria Prince put down a match-high 17 kills and then serve up the match-ending ace in a 30-23, 30-27, 33-31 victory over No. 7 Southern California (1-2).

The Rainbow Wahine (1-2) continue play in the 18th Hawaiian Airlines Classic, taking on No. 5 Penn State for the second time in seven days in tonight's second match. The Nittany Lions (3-1) needed only 84 minutes to sweep Western Michigan 30-19, 30-26, 30-22

In today's 4:30 p.m. match, USC faces Western Michigan (2-1).

The huge collective sigh of relief came after an hour and 45 minutes. Hawaii held off one game point by the Women of Troy at 29-28 in Game 3. The Wahine had three swings at ending it, with Prince taking over, accounting for the team's final five points on three kills, an assist block and her second ace of the match.

"Anyone who lost confidence watching us last week got their confidence back if they were watching tonight," said Prince, in on eight of the team's 10 blocks. "It's a great feeling, beating SC. This is the fifth time I've played them and the first time I beat them. (The other four came when playing for Washington State). And to do it in three is awesome.

"The chemistry and the confidence were there tonight. Everything we did wrong against Penn State last week we worked on in practice and did right tonight."

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RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Alicia Arnott tried to smack the ball past USC's Nena Siljegovic in Game 1 last night.

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Prince and setter Kanoe Kamana'o made an adjustment that made the difference, going to a "C" set that allowed Prince to change where she contacted the set. It also allowed Hawaii to extend its home-court winning streak to a nation's best 39. The last time the Wahine lost at home came against eventual NCAA champion USC in the 2003 NACWAA Tournament.

"I'm very glad that Victoria was in the front row at the end," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "She got some big sideouts and the big match ball. It is a relief. Winning tonight was huge for the team's mental sake."

Junior Alicia Arnott added 12 kills and freshman Jamie Houston finished her home starting debut with 10. Injury-plagued USC was led by Diane Copenhagen's 13 kills.

"No one wants to start 0-3," USC coach Mick Haley said. "Hawaii had their backs against the wall, kicked it up and got it done."

Penn State 3, Western Michigan 0

The Nittany Lions continued their success in the Aloha State, running their record to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the Sheriff Center. Sophomore Kate Price put down a match-high 16 kills and freshman Nicole Fawcett added 10 against the Broncos.

"I don't think we played well (as a team) tonight," said PSU coach Russ Rose, whose team won its only NCAA title at the Sheriff Center in 1999. "We didn't have the energy.

"It's early in the season, you win some, you lose some. You can't get too caught up in it when the goal is to be as strong late in the year when it counts."

After spotting WMU a 3-0 lead in Game 1, Penn State countered with a very strong rally, going on a 10-0 run. The next time the Broncos strung together three straight points, it would only pull them to within 28-18.

The Broncos hung tough in Games 2 and 3 only to have the Nittany Lions finish strong in each in winning their third match in a row.

Shaylen Jackson and Abby Gephart had 10 kills each for the Broncos, who won the blocking battle 10-6.

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Hawaii def. USC

30-23, 30-27, 33-31

Trojans (1-2)
	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Siljegovic	3	1	0	1	1.000	0	0	8
Candelas	3	10	3	36	.194	0	1	4
McBride	3	0	0	4	.000	0	3	0
Copenhagen	3	13	8	37	.135	1	2	9
Venski	3	12	4	40	.200	2	1	6
Tennant	3	8	3	20	.250	0	3	8
Freeburg	1	1	0	1	1.000	0	2	2
Seilhamer	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	14
Montgomery	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Gilmour	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	1
Dillon	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	8
Totals	3	45	18	139	.194	3	12	60
Rainbow Wahine (1-2)
	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Sanders	3	6	1	17	.294	0	1	0
Boogaard	3	6	3	17	.176	0	2	15
Arnott	3	12	8	42	.095	0	0	11
Houston	3	10	9	30	.033	0	1	4
Kamana'o	3	1	0	1	1.000	0	3	7
Prince	3	17	2	29	.517	3	5	1
Hittle	3	0	1	1	-1.000	0	0	9
Gregory	2	1	0	2	.500	0	1	0
Keefe	1	2	2	8	.000	0	1	0
Watanabe	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	14
Ong	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	3
Totals	3	55	26	147	.197	3	14	64

Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- USC (1): Gilmour. Hawaii (7): Watanabe 2, Prince 2, Ong, Arnott, Kamana'o. Assists -- USC (41): Siljegovic 29, Freeburg 8, Copenhagen 2, Dillon, Candelas. Hawaii (50): Kamana'o 47, Boogaard 2, Prince.
T -- 1:45. Officials -- Ernest Ho, Wayne Lee. A -- 5,687.