Short and somewhat bittersweet. As happy as Hawaii was with making it an early night on Saturday with a 94-minute sweep of Nevada, the Rainbow Wahine wanted to play on.
“We want to keep working on things we need to do well as a team,” Hawaii senior libero Savanah Kahakai said after the 25-22, 25-23, 25-12 win over the Wolf Pack at the Stan Sheriff Center. “It doesn’t matter who is out there (on the court). It takes all 18 of us to win the game.”
Thirteen Wahine contributed to the runner-up finish in the 22nd Outrigger Resorts Challenge, which marked the end of Hawaii’s tournament schedule. Courtesy of Baylor’s five-set upset of No. 10 Brigham Young earlier Saturday, the three-day volleyball event ended in a three-way tie, with the Cougars (8-1), Bears (6-3) and Wahine (4-5) finishing at 2-1.
BYU claimed the title on a tiebreaker, as well as the most outstanding player award in sophomore hitter McKenna Miller. Miller had 24 kills in the 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 28-26, 15-10 loss to Baylor.
It was the second straight tournament runner-up finish for Hawaii, which next hosts Northern Arizona on Friday and Saturday.
Senior middle Emily Maglio, named to her third consecutive all-tournament team, said she will miss the intensity of three matches in a week.
“It’s lots of fun playing lots of volleyball,” said Maglio, who had nine kills and was in on six of the Wahine’s eight blocks against the Wolf Pack. “I enjoy tournaments.
“After going five the last two nights, it was nice to win in three. And it was good to end the tournament with the win.”
Kahakai ended the tournament No. 8 on Hawaii’s all-time digs list. Over the three nights, she passed three All-Americans — Lily Kahumoku, Suzanne Eagye and second-teamer Martina Cincerova — in her climb.
A crowd of 4,123 saw junior hitter McKenna Granato put down 16 kills and hit .364 en route to all-tournament honors. Junior hitter Casey Castillo added 13 kills and sophomore setter Norene Iosia finished with her fifth double-double of the season (40 assists-11 digs).
“It is nice to go home early,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said. “But when we started that first set, I thought it was going to be a long night. A win is a win, but we got to get back in the gym, keep working on our blocking and our offense.
“I think I’m out of motivational stories. It’s up to them to come out and play from the beginning.”
Hawaii again started slowly — down 12-6 in Set 1 — and was in negative hitting percentage until Castillo’s kill pulled the Wahine to within 13-12. A kill by Maglio gave Hawaii a 20-19 lead, its first since 1-0, and the Wahine ended it on their second set point via Granato’s fourth kill.
Granato, playing with a taped wrist after a dig late in Set 1, heated up in Set 2 with nine kills. The Wahine went up 2-0, but it wasn’t easy as they needed to hold off a late charge by the Wolf Pack, who tied it at 18 and then closed to 24-23 on an Ayla Fresenius kill.
The Wahine led from start to finish in closing out the match, highlighted by Kahakai passing Eagye.
Asked what she liked about her team after three weeks of competition, Ah Mow-Santos said: “They keep fighting. They can come back from being behind. They’re also growing and learning, whether they know it or not.”
Sophomore middle Shayla Hoeft (Seabury Hall) led Nevada with 12 kills and was named all-tournament. It was the Wolf Pack’s sixth straight loss.
Baylor 3, Brigham Young 2
Given the way the tournament went, it was no surprise that Saturday’s first match also went five sets.
Senior hitter Katie Staiger had a double-double (26 kills-14 digs) and freshman hitter Yossiana Pressley added 18 kills as the Bears (6-3) rallied past the Cougars (8-1) in 2 hours and 16 minutes.
Senior libero Jana Brusek finished with 31 of Baylor’s 89 digs and sophomore middle Shelly Fanning added 12 kills. The Bears outblocked the Cougars 13.5-11.5, led by Fanning’s six.
Sophomore hitter McKenna Miller led BYU with 24 kills and junior hitter Roni Jones-Perry added 12 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore libero Mary Lake had 21 of the Cougars’ 75 digs and senior hitter Cosy Burnett had 10 kills and was in on seven blocks.
Named to the all-tournament team were Hawaii’s Granato and Emily Maglio, BYU’s Mary Lake and Roni Jones-Perry, Baylor’s Staiger and Nevada’s Hoeft.
