Rainbow Wahine rally past Shockers

After opening the season by splitting two five-game matches, the Hawaii players said they didn't want any more.

The Rainbow Wahine were relieved to have one last night.

Very relieved.

No. 16 Hawaii shook off a lethargic start and a bit of schizophrenia to turn back upset-minded Wichita State last night in 2 hours and 35 minutes. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,205 (6,030 tickets) saw Jamie Houston rebound from Thursday's off night to carry the Rainbow Wahine with 27 kills in a 27-30, 28-30, 30-22, 30-19, 15-12 victory.

Hawaii (5-3) can claim the championship of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge outright with a win over No. 19 Santa Clara in today's second match. Yesterday, the Broncos (6-2) took just 97 minutes to sweep Eastern Washington 30-27, 30-16, 30-24.

The Eagles (1-7) take on the Shockers (5-3) at 5 p.m. today.

"This was huge and it will be bigger if we can win tomorrow," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We need to beat Santa Clara for this to be meaningful."

Houston -- putting down Hawaii's third swing for aloha ball -- had plenty of help last night, with Aneli Cubi-Otineru managing a career-high 22 kills -- four in Game 5 -- and Tara Hittle, with her best match in two years, adding 11. The Wahine block also came up big in the final three games, finishing with a 15-14 edge. Juliana Sanders was in on seven and Hittle five.

Wichita State got 17 kills from Sara Lungren and 15 from Emily Stockman.

Both teams played outstanding defense, the Shockers winning the dig battle 81-76. Kelly Broussard had 34 for WSU, while UH got 30 from Elizabeth Ka'aihue.

The key may have been Hawaii's short serves over the last 90 minutes, a tactic suggested by UH associate coach Mike Sealy. It disrupted the Shockers' quick attack "and it disrupted their offense, bunched their attackers up, created a little doubt," Shoji said.

"They were a really good team," said Hittle, playing against her best friend and former high school teammate Stockman.

"I had complete confidence. Being down 0-2 was nothing new to us."

The difference was that, unlike the season-opening loss to Michigan in five, the Wahine pulled it out.

"They were steadier on the left side tonight than we were," Shockers coach Chris Lamb said. "We matched them defensively, but it seemed that we never won a long rally."

Although Hawaii's rally in Game 2 fell short, the momentum had begun to swing.

"I told them we had a chance to win this, we just weren't disciplined," Shoji said. "This is a step in the right direction. We're finding ourselves, which is not easy when playing good teams."

No. 19 Santa Clara 3, Eastern Washington 0

Nina Sevastopoulos put down 11 kills and Lindsy Evans added 10 as the Broncos rebounded from Thursday's loss to Wichita State.

As they did against Hawaii on Thursday, the Eagles hung tough in Game 1 but couldn't finish it. EWU did outdig the Broncos 52-49 -- 10 by senior defensive specialist Kristen Ponce (Kamehameha '04) -- but Santa Clara's better transition game proved the difference.