Match Results
- #12 UCLA def. #20 Hawaii 3-2, (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 15-10)
- UCLA improves to 3-0, while Hawaii falls to 0-3
- Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Match Stats
UCLA used consistent play to take a tough five-setter away from Hawaii at the Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational. The win moves the Bruins to a 3-0 start while Hawaii falls to 0-3 in their first matches outside of the Dave Shoji era.
In the first set, UCLA made a late comeback after Hawaii led 18-13, to tie things up at 22 apiece. The Bruins weren’t able to keep the momentum going to finish out the set, with the Rainbow Wahine taking the set 25-23. Hawaii’s McKenna Granato set the tone for the match with 10 kills on 17 swings in the first set.
The second set of the match featured 12 ties and five lead changes with the Bruins tying up the match 1-1 with a 25-23 second set win. The third set was an even tighter battle with 13 ties and five lead changes. UCLA was able to handle the chaos to take the 2-1 match lead. Hawaii pulled away the fourth set to force a fifth set where there were five ties and three lead changes before UCLA went on a 6-0 run to end the match 15-10.
Freshman Mac May led the Bruins effort with 18 kills and three aces while Madeleine Gates and Jenny Mosser added another 16 and 12 kills, respectively. Setter Sarah Sponcil dished out 58 assists. In the back row, Zana Muno picked up a career-best 34 digs while tied for fourth-most digs in a match in UCLA history.
Despite a match-best 29 kills, Granato couldn’t help the Rainbow Wahine to a win. In addition, Granato picked up a career-best 19 digs for a double-double. Casey Castillo and Kendra Koelsch added another 15 and 10 kills, respectively. Norene Iosia recorded a double-double with 57 assists and 16 digs while Savanah Kahakai picked up a team-best 28 digs
2017 Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational All-Tournament Team
Jayden Kennedy, San Diego
Kristen Gengenbacher, San Diego
Allie Barber, Marquette
Mac May, UCLA
Madeleine Gates, UCLA
Emily Maglio, Hawai’i
Most Outstanding Player: Reily Buechler, UCLA
Press Release
Courtesy of UCLA Athletics
Junior Zana Muno tied for the fourth-most digs in a match in UCLA history with a career-high 34, while freshman Mac May led the 13th-ranked Bruins’ offensive attack with 18 kills in a five-set win at #20 Hawai’i on Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Set scores were 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 15-10.
May, who added nine digs and three aces, was one of four Bruins (3-0) to reach double figures in kills. Sophomore Madeleine Gates had a career-high 16 kills, freshman Jenny Mosser added 12 with four blocks and sophomore Kyra Rogers notched a personal-best 11 kills and only one error in 17 attempts (.588 hitting percentage – career high) to go with a career-best seven blocks. Senior Sarah Sponcil tallied a double-double for the second match in a row with a career-high 58 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore Savvy Simo added 12 digs and senior Reily Buechler had nine kills and 11 digs. The Bruins hit .251 for the match.
Despite a late comeback to make things interesting, the Bruins never led in set one. Leading 8-7, four in a row for Hawai’i (0-3) gave the home team a set-best lead of five at 12-7. The Rainbow Wahine still led by five at 18-13 before an 8-3 UCLA run evened the score at 21. May had two kills, Buechler and Mosser each posted one, Gates had a solo block and three Hawai’i errors knotted things up.
The score was tied again at 22 after another May kill, but the Rainbow Wahine netted the next two to earn a pair of set points. May’s team-best sixth kill of the opener saved one set point, but the home team claimed the first by a score of 25-23. May did not commit an error in 12 attempts (.500 hitting percentage), Mosser was 4-for-7 with just one error (.429) and Rogers was 3-for-3 (1.000). Muno and Simo each added four digs, while Buechler had three kills. A great hitting set saw the Bruins get out-hit, .486 to .359.
Set two featured 12 ties and five lead changes, but in the end, the Bruins won it, 25-23, to even the match heading into intermission. Even at eight, the Bruins scored four in a row thanks to three blocks, with Rogers involved in all of them. The first was with Sponcil and the last two were with Mosser, with a Sponcil ace making it 12-8 UCLA. The four-point lead was the largest of the set for the Bruins, but the Rainbow Wahine responded with a 9-4 run to go back up 17-16.
Five of six for UCLA on kills by May and Rogers, a pair of Rogers combo blocks, first with Sponcil and then with Mosser, and a bad UH set put the Bruins up for good at 21-18. Hawai’i would tie the score at 22 and 23, but a Gates kill and a Simo ace closed out a 25-23 win. Gates had three kills to lead the Bruins, Muno added seven digs and Rogers notched five blocks, as the Bruins were out-hit, .136 to .108.
Set three was even closer, with 13 ties and five lead changes, but the Bruins won it to take the match lead. The biggest lead of set three for UCLA was four, while the largest for Hawai’i was just one. Trailing 8-7, a May kill and ace and a Buechler solo block put the Bruins up by a pair. The Rainbow Wahine came back to take a 15-14 edge, but a May kill, a Rogers solo stuff and a UH error put the Bruins up for good at 17-15.
At 17-all, a 5-1 UCLA run on a Buechler kill and block and kills by Rogers, Gates and Mosser made it 22-18. On their second set point, a Gates kill wrapped up the 25-22 win. Gates had five kills in the third, Buechler and May each added four and Mosser recorded three. Muno produced 10 digs. The Bruins out-hit the Rainbow Wahine, .229 to .159.
There were eight ties and four lead changes in set four, but Hawai’i pulled away to force a fifth set. Down 8-5, a UH error and two May kills evened things at eight. After a UH sideout, the Bruins scored three of the next four on two Rogers kills and a Rainbow Wahine error to go ahead 11-10. The lead would be short-lived, as Hawai’i netted the next three and didn’t trail for the rest of the set, going on to win, 25-22. Gates had five kills to lead UCLA, May added four and Rogers notched three. Muno had eight digs. The Bruins were out-hit, .489 to .333.
Set five featured five ties and three lead changes. Hawai’i held a 5-3 lead before a Gates kill, a UH attack error and an over-pass kill by Muno put the Bruins up. The Rainbow Wahine netted the next three, but a May kill and Sponcil solo roof evened things at eight. Hawai’i still led by one at 10-9 before UCLA scored the last six of the match to win the fifth. Kills by Rogers, Buechler and Rogers again made it 12-10, which was followed by a Rogers/Mosser block, a Mosser kill and a UH attack error to wrap up a 15-10 win for the Bruins. Gates, May and Rogers each had two kills in the fifth, while Muno had five digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Rainbow Wahine, .214 to .000.
Up next for the Bruins is a two-match tournament in Las Cruces, N.M., as UCLA faces New Mexico State on Friday, Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. PT and UNLV on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 9 a.m. PT.
Press Release
Courtesy of Hawaii Athletics
The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team came into tonight’s match against No. 13 UCLA looking for its first win of the season and of the Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational. UH pushed the match to five sets, but it was the Bruins who pulled away down the stretch to win 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 15-10. With the win, UCLA captured the tournament title and improved to 3-0 while UH fell to 0-3.
In the loss, it still was a night of career-highs for the Rainbow Wahine. Junior outside hitter McKenna Granatopummeled a match-high 29 kills—the second most in her career. Granato recorded a career high in digs with 19 for her second double-double of the season and fifth of her career. Junior outside hitter Casey Castillo set a new career-high with 15 kills, while fellow outside hitter, senior Kendra Koelschburied a new career-high 10 kills. Senior libero Savanah Kahakai tallied a team-high 28 digs, which was a new career-high for the UH libero. Sophomore setter Norene Iosia ended up one assist shy of tying her career high with 56 assists against the Bruins.
The first set saw the ‘Bows come out of the shoot firing on all cylinders, a marked improvement from Saturday night’s match against No. 22 San Diego. UH’s improved ball control led to a much more efficient offense. Hawai’i never trailed in the opening set and Granato led the team to a 25-23 win with 10 kills and a service ace. Senior Kalei Greeley came into the game to a rousing applause from the UH fans. It marked her first appearance on the court this season, coming in to play in the back row for Castillo.
Hawai’i and UCLA kept the second close with 12 ties and five lead changes, but UCLA pulled ahead to snag the set, 25-23. UCLA led 21-18, but UH battled their way back to tie it at 22-22, but UCLA won three of the last four points to tie the match at a set apiece.
The Bruins captured the third set, 25-22 which was also a tight battle between the two squads seeing 13 ties and five lead changes. UCLA started to pull away after UH tied the score at 17-17, but from that point the Bruins went on a 5-to-1 run which led to a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Rainbow Wahine however dug deep and fought back, winning the fourth set, 25-22 to force a fifth set. After trading points through much of the fourth, UH rallied to take a 21-18 lead and never looked back eventually winning the fourth, 25-22.
The deciding fifth set was a battle. UH took an 8-6 lead at the turnover, but it was the Bruins who ended the match winning the last five straight points to seal the victory. It was UH’s second five-set loss in three games. In the waning moments, freshman Sophia Howling came in for fellow rookie Skyler Williams who was hobbled after a block. Williams had a solid first collegiate tournament, recording 22 kilss and 21 blocks in three matches.
For the Bruins, freshman outside hitter Mac May led in kills with 18 and three service aces. Sophomore middle hitter Madeleine Gates was close behind with 16. Junior middle hitter Kyra Rogers led in blocks with a hand in seven of the teams total 13.
This is the first time the Wahine have gone 0-3 since 1980 when they lost to Pacific, UCLA and San Diego State.
The Wahine will compete in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic with their first match against Western Carolina on August 31 at 7 p.m.
2017 Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational All-Tournament Team
Jayden Kennedy, San Diego
Kristen Gengenbacher, San Diego
Allie Barber, Marquette
Mac May, UCLA
Madeleine Gates, UCLA
Emily Maglio, Hawai’i
Most Outstanding Player: Reily Buechler, UCLA.
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