HONOLULU - The No. 11 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (3-0, 0-0 MLC) defeated the Southwest Missouri State Bears (5-1, 0-1 MLC) 30-28, 29-31, 30-27, 30-17 in front of a crowd of 5,626 in the second match of the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Volleyball Challenge at the Stan Sheriff Center Thursday.
The Rainbow Wahine were led by the left-side tandem of Susie Boogaard and Alicia Arnott. Boogaard had 23 kills and 13 digs, while Arnott put away 18 kills, 12 digs and a match-high four aces. Victoria Prince added 13 kills and five blocks while Kanoe Kamana`o had her fourth-straight double-double with 62 assists, 15 digs, three blocks and two aces.
SMS came out firing, taking a 9-7 lead early in game one. Hawai`i came back to take a slight 12-10 lead before a 5-1 Bear run put SMS up 15-13 at the media timeout. UH took the lead back at 16-15 on a kill by Prince and held a 19-18 edge when SMS went on a ferocious 7-1 run to take a 25-20 lead and force Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji to use his final timeout of the game. Boogaard then led UH back into it as she had three kills in a 7-2 run that tied the score at 27-27. The two teams traded points before a Kamana`o block and a kill by Prince put it away 30-28.
Game two also started out with the two teams trading points until Arnott served the Rainbow Wahine to a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. The teams would trade runs with UH getting it to 28-25, looking to put the game away. But SMS kept fighting, closing the game on a 6-1 run to take game two 31-29.
The Rainbow Wahine jumped out early in the third game, taking leads of 10-5 and 15-8. The Bears were able to cut it close on a couple occasions, but it wasn't enough as another kill by Prince put it away, 30-27.
Hawai`i then ripped through the fourth game, taking leads of 6-1, 10-3 and 23-11 before closing it out with a 30-17 game four win.