Aug. 28, 2010
HONOLULU, Hawaii - The No. 5 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine volleyball team rallied back in the season-opener to defeat the No. 22 University of San Diego Toreros 25-14, 22-25, 21-25, 25-16 and 15-9 in front of a crowd of 6,215 at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday evening.
Amy Mahinalani DeGroot led the Toreros with a double-double (12 kills, 12 digs) in her first match back in a little over a year. Amber Tatsch was the second of three Toreros with double digit kills, as the sophomore outside hitter tied a career high with 13 kills, and junior right side Ali Troost added in with 10 kills. Kelsi Myers had a team-best 39 assists and freshman libero C'era Oliveira recorded 12 digs.
The Rainbow Wahine opened the match with an 11-3 run, as they used five early blocks to crab the early momentum. Hawai`i continued to keep their distance from the Toreros throughout, finishing with eight team blocks and a .407 hitting percentage to take the first set 25-14.
In the second set, a DeGroot kill off a set from Myers ignited an 8-4 San Diego run to begin the set. The Toreros kept that four-point spread at 14-10, only to see a seven-point UH run give the Rainbow Wahine the lead at 17-14. A couple more Brittany Hewitt blocks got the Hawai`i advantage to 20-16. But USD had a comeback left in them, as a UH attack error sparked a 5-0 run for the Toreros to tie things up at 21. After a Rainbow Wahine point, San Diego caught fire, scoring the next four points to take the second set 25-21 and even the match at one frame a piece.
Hawai`i opened the third set with a 3-1 edge, only to see four-straight USD points put the Toreros ahead 5-3. After a couple small runs by both teams, the set got really tight. A late 4-0 run sparked by a Tatsch kill, put USD ahead, 22-18. Hawai`i couldn't do better than trading points the rest of the way, falling in the third 25-21.
The Rainbow Wahine opened the fourth set with a 4-1 edge, only to see three-straight points by the Toreros tie it at 4-4. At 6-6, Hawai`i started to make their move. UH scored nine of the next 12 points to pull ahead 15-9, heading into the media timeout. Hawai`i kept pushing as a triple block ended the fourth set with a 25-16 Rainbow Wahine victory.
Hawaii's Brittany Hewitt had consecutive aces to push Hawai`i to a 3-0 edge to start the fifth. But the Toreros wouldn't go away so easily. USD whittled their way to within a point at 6-5 on a kill by Troost. But that is as close as USD would get, as UH went on to claim the match with a 15-9 win.
The Toreros will return to action on Saturday at 8 p.m. as they take on No. 16 UCLA.
