Wolverines shock Wahine in opener

Big Ten?

Big trouble.

Think Michigan State 1995.

Think Wisconsin 2004.

Think Michigan 2007.

ASICS Rainbow Wahine Invitational At the Stan Sheriff Center Schedule Yesterday » Oregon State 3, Colorado State 2 » Michigan 3, No. 10 Hawaii 2 Today » Michigan vs. Oregon State, 5 p.m. » Colorado State at No. 10 Hawaii, 7 p.m. Tomorrow » Colorado State vs. Michigan, 3 p.m. » Oregon State at No. 10 Hawaii, 5 p.m.

No. 10 Hawaii started slowly, then couldn't hold on late, falling to the unranked Wolverines 30-14, 30-28, 22-30, 27-30, 18-16 in the second match of the ASICS Rainbow Wahine Invitational. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,948 (7,343 tickets) saw the Wahine lose their season opener for the second time in three years.

In yesterday's tournament opener, Oregon State upset Colorado State 30-27, 25-30, 24-30, 30-28, 18-16 in 2 hours and 46 minutes.

Today's 5 p.m. match pits the two unbeatens -- Oregon State and Michigan. The second has the two beatens: the Wahine against Colorado State.

Michigan's balanced attack had four hitters finish with 17 kills each: Katie Bruzdzinski, Beth Karpiak, Veronica Rood and Lyndsay Miller. Tara Hittle led the Wahine with 17 kills, while Aneli Cubi-Otineru, playing in the last four games, added 16 and Juliana Sanders 14.

Game 1 was quick and ugly for Hawaii, which hit .000 to Michigan's .684. After changing liberos (Elizabeth Ka'aihue for Jayme Lee) and bringing in Amber Kaufman and Cubi-Otineru, the Wahine looked as if they would even the match in Game 2. But they couldn't hold late leads of 25-22 and 26-24.

By Game 3, the Wahine lineup had been overhauled. Sophomore Stephanie Brandt had replaced freshman Dani Mafua, and Jamie Houston was on the bench, having put down one kill in 18 swings.

Sanders came up big in Game 3, with eight kills and Hittle had six. The Wahine controlled throughout, despite not having a single block.

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Game 4 was a near replay of Game 2, except this time Hawaii did not fold at the end. Behind Brandt's serving, the Wahine rallied to score the final six points.

It was about 4 a.m. in Michigan when Game 5 started. The Wahine led at the midway point, trading sides at 8-6.

Kaufman's lineshot gave Hawaii match point at 14-12, but the Wolverines weren't ready to go to bed. Michigan held off two UH attempts in tying it up on three straight kills by Miller.

It was tied at 15 and 16 with the Wahine holding off two Michigan attempts to end it. But the third time was the charm for Michigan -- Cubi-Otineru's attempt rolled along the tape and landed wide to end it.

Hawaii outblocked Michigan 16-8 with Kari Gregory in on eight and Sanders six. Gregory had an efficient night hitting as well, with eight kills and no errors on 15 attempts.

Oregon State 3, Colorado State 2

After the season they had last year -- 3-24, 0-18 in the Pac-10, one road victory -- there was only one direction for the Oregon State volleyball team to take.

But few expected that the U-turn would happen so quickly and so dramatically. One win does not a season make, but the Beavers will take last night's upset of Colorado State and build on it.

"This is a big boost, such a big mental boost," Oregon State coach Terry Liskevych said. "It's a big win for the program."

Sophomore hitter Rachel Rourke had 17 kills and five aces to lead the Beavers.

Rams coach Tom Hilbert hopes his team will cut down on the little mistakes that added up in a big way.

"Absolutely, we let them back in that match," said Hilbert, his team committing 23 service errors, three at crucial times in Game 5. "The next two opponents (Hawaii and Michigan on Sunday) we'll play are better than Oregon State."

Down 24-19 in Game 4, the Rams nearly closed it out after taking the lead at 28-27. Rourke's diving dig landed just in, tying it, and the Beavers forced Game 5 with an ace from Jennifer Fritz and a kill by Lauren Rinderknect.

Game 5 was tied nine times. Oregon State served for the match four times, the first at 14-13. CSU answered three times, but twice made service errors. It ended on a hitting error by Amanda Fahnestock.