Rainbow Wahine rally past SMU in volleyball season opener
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii’s Caylen Alexander took her swing against Southern Methodist University’s Maya Tabron.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
The Rainbow Wahine celebrated a point against the Southern Methodist University Mustangs.
Junior Caylen Alexander put down a career-high 28 kills with 11 digs and the Hawaii women’s volleyball team opened the season with a stunning 7-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21, 15-13 win over SMU tonight.
A SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,857, eager to see what this revamped UH volleyball team would look like, was left in stunned silence after UH dropped the opening set by 18 points.
Despite getting out blocked 16-6 and hitting .090 with 40 errors, the Rainbow Wahine found a way to pull out a fifth-set win on opening night for the second consecutive year.
Alexander, one of only two UH players with a positive hitting percentage, had 26 of her 28 kills in the final four sets.
Sophomore Stella Adeyemi hit .286 with 10 kills and hit .286.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. SMU
Everybody else hit .000 or worse.
The match was tied 13-13 in the fifth set when SMU committed one of its six hitting errors in the fifth set.
After a challenge, Alexander fittingly took the ball behind the service line and drilled a tough service that the Mustangs hit over the net.
Alexander took a swing out of the back row and SMU couldn’t get the ball back over the night, ending a long night.
