HONOLULU—No. 21 San Diego fell to Hawaii 2-3 in a five-set thriller to open the 2019 season on Friday night at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
After dropping the opening set, the Toreros (0-1) battled back to win the next two frames to take a 2-1 lead. The Rainbow Wahine (1-0) answered with a convincing fourth-set victory to force a deciding fifth game.
 
With the momentum in favor of the Bows, USD was limited to a .000 attack percentage in the final set including four Hawaii blocks to fall in the match 19-25, 25-20, 25-16, 19-25, 10-15.
 
The loss spoiled an impressive opening night for the San Diego seniors. Thana Fayad paced the Toreros offensively with 15 kills in her first start in nearly two years. Megan Jacobsen hit .367 on the night and also registered 15 kills for USD, adding a team-high three blocks. 
 
Anna Newsome challenged the Hawaii defense all night along the net, collecting eight kills. The senior setter registered the first double-double of the season for the Toreros, finishing with 43 assists and 18 digs.
 
Annie Benbow was outstanding in the back court for USD as well, collecting 18 digs on the night.
 
The teams battled back and forth in the first set with 13 ties and four lead changes before the Bows went on an 8-2 run to close out the set and take the early 1-0 lead. Hawaii registered a .708 attacking percentage with 18 kills and just one error.
 
San Diego began to find its rhythm in the second and third sets, putting the Rainbow Wahine out of system with tough serving and scrappy defense. USD held Hawaii to .250 and .070 hitting in the second and third sets respectively to take the lead two sets to one.
 
Hitting errors hurt the Toreros down the stretch and Hawaii combined for eight team blocks in the fourth and fifth sets. Redshirt junior transfer Jolie Rasmussen had a strong debut for the Rainbow Wahine, leading the team with 19 kills, nine of which came in the final two frames.
 
UH out-blocked the Toreros 15-5 and held the advantage from the service line with six aces, while Roxie Wiblin collected all three of USD's aces on the night.
 
The Toreros are back in action on Saturday evening for their second match of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic, taking on No. 13 Washington at 7:45 p.m. PT.