MATCH STATS
- (RV) Hawaii def. Long Beach State 3-1 (16-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-22)
- (RV) Hawaii improves to 12-6 (6-1, Big West); Long Beach State falls to 5-15 (2-5, Big West)
- Long Beach, California (Big West Match)
- Attendance: 2,175
- Box Score
Long Beach, California – The Rainbow Wahine earned a road win against Long Beach State to improve to 6-1 in Big West play as they look to keep pace with Cal Poly at the top of the conference.
Although they won the match, it wasn’t quite the perfect start for Hawaii, who hit a negative mark in an opening set that was dominated by Long Beach State as Megan Kruidhof (14 kills, six digs) and Hailey Harward (12 kills, 16 digs) led the 49ers.
The tables were turned in set two as Hawaii flipped the score by hitting .320 and utilizing a strong block led by Emily Maglio, who had 10 total blocks in the match. She was also the key cog on offense with 14 kills (.321) as Hawaii took sets three and four by hitting .257 and an astounding .452 respectively in the games.
Maglio had plenty of help too with McKenna Granato (10 kills, 15 digs) and Casey Castillo (nine kills while hitting .318) as in total for the match, Hawaii hit .233 to Long Beach State’s .148 and had more kills (49-42), aces (6-5), blocks (12-9), assists (45-38) and digs (55-52).
Hawaii isn’t done in southern California as now they face Cal State Northridge tonight. Long Beach State on the other hand looks to rebound on Tuesday at Cal State Fullerton.
PRESS RELEASES:
LONG BEACH, Calif.—The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team bounced back after a tough loss to Cal Poly last week and overcame a slow start on Friday to defeat Long Beach State on the road, 16-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-22. Senior middle hitter Emily Maglio led the Rainbow Wahine with her second-straight double-double with a match-high 14 kills (tied with LBSU’s Megan Kruidhof) and 10 blocks. Hawai’i improved to 12-6 overall and 6-1 in the Big West while the 49ers fell to 5-15 overall and 2-5 in conference at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.
For Maglio, it marked the third straight-match that she tied her career-high with 10 blocks (three solo). It was also her 13th match of the season and eighth time in the last nine matches that Maglio has posted double-digits in kills for UH. She continues to lead the league with 106.0 blocks. She helped lead UH to the win racking up five kills with just one error in the fourth and final set. She hit .321 (14-5-28) against Long Beach State.
Although junior outside hitter McKenna Granato was a little under the weather, she also overcame a slow start to finish with her seventh double-double of the year with 10 kills and 15 digs. She pounded six of her 10 kills alone in the third set. Granato also had a hand in one block and had two aces in the match. She now has had double-digit kills in 12 matches—including the last four straight.
Sophomore setter Norene Iosia was one dig shy of a double-double with 41 assists and nine digs. She also added two blocks and a kill on the night, while senior libero Savanah Kahakai posted her 14th double-digit dig match of the season. She has now tallied at least 10 digs in the last 12 of 13 matches. Kahakai also dealt a pair of aces in the match to bring her season total to 19. Kahakai is now just 42 digs shy of tying former UH standout Tara Hittle who is No. 4 on UH’s all-time career dig list. Kahakai currently has 1,273 career digs after her 15 against the 49ers.
In the first set, the ‘Bows fell behind early, 7-3 forcing UH to call an early timeout. Long Beach State extended its lead to 19-13 but UH closed to within three points at 16-19. The 49ers then won the last six straight points to pull away and take the first set, 25-16. The ‘Bows offense struggle to get things going and were out-hi in the first frame, -.026-to-.226.
The ‘Bows, however, turned things right around in the second the set, winning 25-16 to even the match at 1-1. The Rainbow Wahine start with a 6-1 lead, with four straight points coming off Clare-Marie Anderson‘s serve. UH went on to lead by as many as nine points at 18-9 and ended the frame on a 4-to-1 run. Maglio had five of her kills in the second set to help pace the ‘Bows. UH flipped the scripts and out-hit the 49ers in the second set, .320-to-.117.
The third set was a very tight one with 11 ties and four lead changes. But it was UH that pulled away in the end, scoring five of the last six points to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-20 win in Set 3.
After two ties and lead changes early in Set 4, Hawai’I started to pull away. UH went on a 6-to-1 run in the middle of the frame to take a 12-8 lead from which the 49ers could not recover from. Long Beach State however would not go down without a fight as they cut their deficit down to just two points at 20-18. But senior outside hitter Kendra Koelsch came through with two key kills late to help the ‘Bows win 25-22.
Long Beach State was led by Kruidhof’s 14 kills and Alexis Patterson who had a team-high 35 assists. Emma Kirst had a team-high eight blocks (three solo) while Rachel Nieto had a match-high 18 digs.
The Rainbow Wahine out-hit Long Beach State for the match, .233-to-.148 and UH outblocked LBSU, 12.0-to-9.0. Hawai’i has won their last seven-straight road conference matches dating back to last season. UH’s last road loss was a five set heartbreaker at Long Beach State last season on Oct. 8.
This match between the longtime rivals was the first time since 1984 that it wasn’t UH’s former head coach Dave Shoji and LBSU’s former head coach Brian Gimmillaro were not on the sidelines with their respective teams. Between the two legendary coaches, they had 2,037 combined career wins (Shoji – 1,202 / Gimmillaro – 835); seven combined NCAA titles (Shoji – 4 / Gimmillaro – 3); eight National Coach of the Year awards (Shoji – 5 / Gimmillaro – 3); and 74 combined years as head coach (Shoji – 42 / Gimmillaro – 32).
The Rainbow Wahine will head up the I-405 to take on CSUN on Saturday, October 14 at 4:00 p.m. HT.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Beach looked strong in the opening set Friday night, but couldn’t maintain its form in a 16-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-22 loss against visiting Hawai’i (12-6, 6-1 Big West) at Walter Pyramid. Long Beach State (5-15, 2-5 Big West) outhit the Rainbow Wahine .226 to -.026 in set one thanks to five total blocks, but the visitors bounced back to claim the win in four sets. Interestingly, LBSU’s last seven losses have all come in four sets.
Junior Megan Kruidhof led LBSU with 14 kills, battling through the flu to take 42 swings. Sophomore Hailey Harward started at outside hitter instead of her traditional libero spot, and recorded her first double-double of the season and third of her career. Harward had 12 kills and 16 digs, finishing second on the team in both categories. Starting libero Rachel Nieto had a career-high 18 kills on the night. Redshirt junior Emma Kirst had a solid night, posting a season-high eight blocks with five coming in an impressive first set. Three of her eight total blocks were of the solo variety.
The Beach started the match well with the support of 2,175 fans inside Walter Pyramid, taking an early 7-3 lead on three straight Hawai’i hitting errors. LBSU eventually took a 12-5 lead, helped by a Harward kill and then an ace on the next play. The Beach finished strong, closing the set on a 6-0 run as Kruidhof’s fifth kill ended it. Harward had four kills and six digs in the opening set to get LBSU off to a perfect start.
Hawai’i turned the tide quickly in the second, racing out to a 6-1 lead to force a Beach timeout. The Rainbow Wahine eventually opened up a 17-8 lead and led wire-to-wire thanks to a .320 hitting percentage.
Set three was played tight in the early stages as the teams tied 11 times in the frame. A Harward tip kill gave LBSU its first lead at 12-11, but UH eventually took control of the set. The visitors went on a 4-1 run to lead 20-17, forcing a Beach timeout. LBSU battled back to within a point on two different occasions, but the Rainbow Wahine finished the frame on a 4-0 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Kruidhof had five kills in set four as LBSU looked to extend the match, but Hawai’i hit a blistering .452 to secure the win. The Beach made a pair of 3-0 runs in the later stages of the set to pull within two, but Hawai’i never let LBSU get any closer and won the match on a Beach hitting error.
After playing just once this week, Long Beach State will play three road matches in the week ahead. LBSU goes to Cal State Fullerton for a 7 p.m. match on Tuesday night before hitting the Central Coast for matches against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
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