Coming into Thursday’s match, McKenna Granato needed 15 kills to reach the 800 mark for her career. She had a season-high 19 … and Hawaii needed every one of them to turn back Idaho in the second match of the 24th Outrigger Volleyball Challenge.
A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,042 saw the Rainbow Wahine (3-2) grind out their third consecutive victory, running their record to 21-0 against the Vandals via a 25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22 win. Senior libero Tita Akiu added a career-high 22 digs and junior setter-hitter Norene Iosia turned in her fifth straight double-double (22 assists, 13 digs) heading into tonight’s match with undefeated Portland.
The Pilots (7-0) needed just 85 minutes to sweep San Diego State 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 in Thursday’s first match. The Aztecs (1-6) meet the Vandals (4-3) in today’s 4:45 p.m. opener.
Portland and Idaho conclude tournament play at 3 p.m. Saturday. Hawaii hosts San Diego State in the tournament finale at 5 p.m. Sunday.
“Mac is just a special player — she has been since she stepped onto campus,” Wahine assistant Kaleo Baxter said of Granato. “She has a cannon of an arm but does so many things that go unnoticed. She is a complete six-rotation player.
“She had 19 kills, playing six rotations and doing everything, blocking, passing, serving. We knew No. 8 (Idaho senior hitter Kaela Straw) was a steady player. She had 20 kills playing three rotations.”
Straw finished with a team high in kills for the Vandals. Senior hitter Sarah Sharp added 13 and senior libero Alycia Wodke had 21 digs for Idaho, which is 0-4 in this event, last appearing in 2012.
The 2 hours and 5 minutes also saw Hawaii’s middles combine for 18 kills with just one error. Natasha Burns came off the bench for nine, her lone error coming late on a low set, and Sarah Liva added nine with no errors, as well as serving up her first career ace.
Liva’s ace came in Set 3, giving the Wahine an 11-5 lead. Coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos had given the go-ahead for Liva to stay in and serve, but didn’t watch.
“I think she said a little prayer for me and told me just to pop it in there,” Liva said. “I have been practicing my serve.
“Tonight was a win, which is what we said we wanted. Obviously, we have a lot of work still to do. We got in some ruts but took care of what we needed to take care of.”
The insertion of the 6-foot-5 Burns made an immediate difference in Set 2. Hawaii had trailed for most of it, but Burns sparked a rally that had the Wahine closing to 22-21.
Iosia’s second ace of the night tied it at 23, but Idaho tied the match on a hitting error by Granato and Straw’s 13th kill.
Hawaii came out of the locker room aggressively, and with Burns asserting her height. Two quick kills by the Canadian put the Wahine up for good at 3-1.
Set 3 also saw junior hitter McKenna Ross put down her first two kills of the season subbing in for senior hitter Casey Castillo.
“Our block wasn’t touching as many balls as we wanted,” Baxter said of replacing sophomore Skyler Williams with Burns. “Skyler was hitting .750 when we took her out. It just came down to blocking.”
Burns was in on four of Hawaii’s eight blocks, including two solo.
The Wahine had 10 aces — including a career-high three by senior setter Faith Ma’afala — but also 12 service errors.
“The aces-to-errors ratio, if you look at the stat line, is OK,” Baxter said. “What isn’t is the type of errors and the timing of them.”
Portland 3, San Diego State 0
The Pilots remained unbeaten, riding the arms senior hitter Reghan Pukis (12 kills) and sophomore Izzy Guzik (11). Sophomore libero Carey Williams, a Kahuku graduate, had a match-high 15 digs.
Junior hitter Ashlynn Dunbar led the Aztecs with 13 kills. Serving proved to be a problem for SDSU on both ends of the court as they gave up eight aces and committed 10 service errors.
Note
On a night when No. 22 Cal Poly raised the Big West championship banner in Mott Gym, the Mustangs (6-1) picked up a huge win, upsetting No. 9 UCLA (4-1) 25-21, 17-25, 25-11, 25-18.
