Rainbow Wahine beat Sun Belt favorite Texas State in 4
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii Wahine Caylen Alexander was up for an attempted kill against Texas State Bobcats Bailey Hanner and Samantha Wunsch during an NCAA Women’s volleyball game on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at the SimpliFi Arena, Stan Sheriff Center.
Caylen Alexander put down a match-high 20 kills and Hawaii middle blockers Jacyn Bamis and Miliana Sylvester contributed 10 kills apiece to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 25-17, 15-25, 25-19, 25-18 win over Texas State in a rare Tuesday night match at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Outside of a shaky second set, a crowd of 3,065 saw Hawaii (4-1) continue to develop early in the season while earning another good win over a Bobcats team that is the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt Conference.
Samantha Wunsch and Bailey Hanner led the Bobcats (3-3), who qualified for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection last season, with 11 kills, but Texas State managed to hit only .188 as a team and .029 in the fourth set.
Sophomore Tali Hakas led Hawaii with a season-high 16 digs and senior Tayli Ikenaga, the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Week, had 14. Freshman Victoria Leyva, making her second consecutive start, added 10 digs.
Hawaii hit .248 as a team.
Texas State will remain on Oahu to compete with Oregon State in the three-team Outrigger Invitational beginning Thursday.
UH will play Friday against the Beavers and on Saturday against the Bobcats.
