Rainbow Wahine volleyball team beats Texas State in four sets

After playing six hours of volleyball over two nights this past weekend, the quick turnaround wasn’t a problem for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team.

Caylen Alexander put down a match-high 20 kills and Hawaii middle blockers Jacyn Bamis and Miliana Sylvester each had 10 kills to help the Rainbow Wahine put away Texas State 25-17, 15-25, 25-19, 25-18 on 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 each, but Texas State managed to hit only .188 as a team and .029 in the final set.

We know they are going to win a lot in the Sun Belt, and so coming out with a win tonight is big,” associate head coach Kaleo Baxter said. “I think we went to the middles fairly early on in the match and it opened some looks for our outsides.”

UH has yet to play a three-set match this season and kept it to four sets for only the second time after going five both times in a weekend split against Pepperdine.

Hawaii led 20-16 in the fourth set when Ah Mow decided to substitute Jackie Matias in for Alexander and play two setters on the court at the same time.

The Rainbow Wahine closed out the final four points, with Stella Adeyemi’s seventh kill booming off a Bobcats defender and into the crowd for the win.

Alexander, who has hit the 20-kill mark in four of five matches, has had her two best hitting percentages in her past two matches.

She won’t end many UH wins looking on from the bench, but enjoyed this vantage point of the final kill for at least one night.

“It was really nice,” Alexander said. “I think like Coach Kaleo said, it wasn’t our best win, but we still pulled it out. I think coming off on the sideline for those couple of points gave me an opportunity to sit with my teammates and just cheer them on.”

Sophomore Tali Hakas led Hawaii with a season-high 16 digs and senior libero 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.

Alexander, who entered the match averaging a Big West-leading 4.89 kills per set, had six in the opening frame as Hawaii marched out to an early lead for the second straight match.

Bamis had four kills in five swings and Leyva, who started alongside Ikenaga for the second match in a row, served up two aces in a 5-0 UH run late to put away the set.

The Bobcats, unfazed by the early deficit, scored the first four points of the second set and Ah Mow took a quick timeout to rally her squad.

It worked for a moment as Hawaii pulled within a point twice, only to see the Bobcats explode on a 12-4 run to even the match.

“I think we could have done a little better job with our block defense and something we will focus on in (today’s) practice,” Baxter said.

Alexander brought the crowd to life in the third set ending a long rally with a thunderous back-row kill off Bobcats libero Alyssa Ortega to put UH ahead 9-5.

Alexander again ended a long rally with a kill and then put another kill off a block after a diving dig from Leyva kept the rally alive.

The pesky Bobcats stayed close until 17-15, when UH embarked on a set-closing 8-4 run. Bamis, who earlier in the set committed her first hitting error, was in on two blocks and put down a kill during the run.

Alexander gave UH set point putting down an overpass, and after a UH net violation and a Bobcats ace, Alexander’s 15th kill put UH ahead 2-1.

Texas State will remain on Oahu to compete with Oregon State in the three-team Outrigger Invitational, beginning 2 p.m. today in Honolulu.

UH will play 7 p.m. Friday against the Beavers and 7 p.m. Saturday against the Bobcats.