Same team. Different mindset.
The effect Joshua Walker and his staff have had on this Rainbow Wahine volleyball team in their first season continues to stand out in each match as Hawaii again battled back to pull out a 22-25, 25-15, 21-25, 26-24, 15-8 win over UC San Diego on Sunday night to go undefeated in the Outrigger Invitational at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 4,245 saw UH pull out a tight fourth set and then run away with the fifth to improve to 4-2 this season.
Panna Ratkai put down a match-high 19 kills and Tali Hakas added 12 kills, eight digs and seven blocks as the two outside hitters finished off an impressive tournament while stepping up in the absence of sophomore Cha’lei Reid.
Freshman middle Rachel Purser had eight kills and eight blocks and junior Miliana Sylvester added seven kills and nine digs in the middle as Hawaii outblocked the Tritons 18.5-7 to earn its third straight win.
“It was just about owning the moment,” Hakas said. “This is our house and hearing all of the fans, if we’re not doing it for us, we’re doing it for them.”
Don’t miss out on what’s happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It’s FREE!
UH setter Adrianna Arquette posted a double-double of 36 assists and a match-high 17 digs and also had five blocks and four kills.
Gia Rivera had 15 kills and Molly McCluskey added 14 for the Tritons (2-4), who lost all three matches in the tournament despite winning five sets.
“Love this tournament. All of these teams were very different in their style and UCSD runs a really fast offense and really challenges the block and I am glad our block showed up tonight,” Walker said.
Victoria Leyva, Manon Baudrillard and Cameron Holcomb all had serving turns of at least three points in the fifth set as UH slammed down the door on the Titans, winning 13 of the first 16 points.
UCSD survived five match points before a double block by Sylvester and Maeli Cormier provided a fitting end to the match.
We have a smart team,” Walker said. “All of these teams we played have a very different style. Our ability to adapt quickly and learn quickly was very impressive.”
The Rainbow Wahine dropped the opening set for the first time in the tournament.
Ireland McNees, the Tritons’ leader in kills, had five in nine swings and UCSD hit .290 in the opening frame.
Hawaii was held to nine kills and no player had more than two as UH hit .241.
UCSD was ahead 24-18 before Hawaii rattled off three straight points, getting kills from Sylvester and Purser in the middle to prompt head coach Spencer McLachlin to call a timeout.
UH got another point on a bad set but Leilani Lopez then served out to give the Tritons the set.
Hawaii battled back to win the second set by double figures. Jaci Miyasaki got UH off to a strong start with a six-point scoring run behind the service line with two aces.
Hakas and Ratkai had five kills each in the second set, helping Hawaii hit .471 with only one error.
Cormier and Purser teamed up for one of six UH blocks in the first two sets and Ratkai finished off the set with an ace to even the match.
Hawaii used four players off the bench that all had key service turns during the match.
“They are huge. You’re always going to play players that are functional from the passing line,” Walker said. “Them just having a different look from somebody else, it’s just really tough to prepare for everybody. Their ability to be a little bit different and still play defense on the back of it is huge. They did a really good job of giving us swings after those serves as well.”
Hawaii had four blocks in the third set but couldn’t take the lead against the Tritons, who hit .213, Hawaii made a match-high five errors in the set to fall behind 2-1.
The fourth set was tied at 18-all when McCluskey hammered a rare kill from the middle spot. Ratkai then shanked a pass on a serve to give UCSD its seventh ace and promote Hawaii to call timeout.
Hawaii had two swings to win it at 24-23, but the Tritons came up with two digs to lead to a Lucia Barroso kill to force deuce.
After a Hawaii timeout, UCSD served into the net and Sylvester put down her seventh kill to force a fifth set.
Ratkai, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, finished with 52 kills in 134 swings in the three matches.
“I feel great,” Ratkai said. “I feel like we prepare our bodies for this and that is what we are training for.”
Hawaii will finish its eight-game homestand to start the season with matches on Thursday and Friday against Central Arkansas.
LMU 3, Utah Tech 1
Maria Tabacuks and Anya Santrac led five Lions in double figured in kills with 14 and LMU defeated the Trailblazers 25-23, 17-25, 25-23, 25-16 to finish the tournament 2-1.
Nicole Schuetz added 12 kills and Zaria Thornton had 11 kills and five block assists for the Lions (5-1).
Tessa Treanor had a match-high 17 kills and 10 digs for Utah Tech (3-3).