Rainbow Wahine volleyball dominates in win at Fullerton
ANDREW LEE / SPECIAL TO THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER.
Hawaii’s McKenna Ross slams down a point against Cal State Fullerton during a match on Sept. 28 in Honolulu. Ross had nine kills on 17 errorless swings tonight at Fullerton.
Junior hitter McKenna Ross had nine kills on 17 errorless swings and Hawaii had a season-high 13 aces in sweeping Cal State Fullerton 25-3, 25-14, 25-13 in today’s Big West volleyball match in Fullerton, Calif.
Senior hitter McKenna Granato added eight kills without an error and four aces while playing just two sets, and Ross added a season-high 10 digs for the Rainbow Wahine (13-6, 9-1), who improved to 40-0 against the Titans (6-16, 0-9). Senior libero Tita Akiu had 19 digs as Hawaii won the dig war 50-36.
Senior setter Faith Ma’afala had a career-high six aces and 20 assists. Hawaii hit .333 with 11 hitting errors, eight coming in Set 2, and have won 39 consecutive sets against Fullerton.
The Titans got eight kills from Jayla Norman as they lost their 15th straight. Fullerton has lost 13 of those matches in straight sets.
Hawaii needed just 20 minutes to win its 37th consecutive set over Fullerton. The Wahine rolled out to a 17-0 lead behind the serving of senior setter Faith Ma’afala, with the Titans scoring all three of their points in closing to 17-3.
Hawaii finished out the set on an 8-0 run, with Granato coming up with three of her four aces. By the time the Wahine began Set 2 they were deep into their reserves, with 13 of the 14 players on the travel squad seeing time.
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The highlight of Set 2 was the first career kills by freshman hitter Trinity Castaneda, two in a row giving Hawaii a 21-7 lead. Three Wahine hitting errors and an ace helped the Titans keep it respectable, pulling within 22-13.
Set 3 opened with Fullerton scoring as many points as it had in Set 1 in taking a 3-0 lead. The Titans had their biggest lead at 6-2 before Ma’afala’s service run had the Wahine taking the lead for good at 7-6, a margin that ballooned to 12-6 with a second ace by Ma’afala and three consecutive kills by senior opposite Angel Gaskin.
Hawaii returns home to host No. 12 Cal Poly on Friday and UC Santa Barbara the next night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Wahine have lost 13 straight matches against Top 25 teams.
