Southern Cal finished off a tight third set, then pulled away in the fourth to fend off the University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team tonight in the opening match of the Hawaiian Airlines Volleyball Series.
USC sent back 12 1/2 blocks and the Rainbow Wahine tied their season high with 32 attack errors as the Trojans pulled out a 25-23, 24-26, 27-25, 25-20 win before a crowd of 4,746 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Skylar Fields led USC (5-2) with 14 kills and was in on five blocks, and Jordan Wilson added 12 kills for the Trojans. USC setter Mia Tuaniga dished out 38 assists and had 14 digs.
UH freshman outside hitter Caylen Alexander led the Wahine with her second straight double-double, with 13 kills and 10 digs and a season-high five aces. Riley Wagoner finished with 12 kills against 13 errors and nine digs. UH middle blocker Amber Igiede finished with 11 kills on 19 attempts and was in on three blocks.
UH libero Tayli Ikenaga contributed a season-high 18 digs.
The two-match series between the Rainbow Wahine (2-5) and Trojans (5-2) concludes Saturday at 7 p.m.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. USC
The Wahine and Trojans traded four-point runs early in the first set and USC surged ahead with a 5-1 burst and led 19-15 when Kalyah Williams served up the Trojans’ third ace of the set. Annika de Goede, who had a breakout series against USC last year before suffering a season-ending injury, gave UH a spark with an open-net kill followed by an ace to cut the USC lead to 23-21. Williams gave USC set point with a kill and UH stayed alive when Kate Lang won a joust at the net and Wagoner served UH’s third ace. After a USC timeout, Jordan Wilson hammered off the block for her fifth kill to give the Trojans the set.
Igiede opened the second set with her first kill of the night, but the Wahine struggled to get clean swings and went into the media timeout down 15-13 and with a negative-.022 hitting percentage for the match. The Trojans posted four blocks early in the set, but helped the Wahine stay close with four service errors.
Alexander again gave the Trojans fits from the service line and fired her third ace of the match in a 4-0 UH run that pushed the Wahine ahead 17-15. UH opened up a 20-17 lead, but USC answered with a four-point run to take the lead and earned set point at 24-23. Lang went to Alexander for a kill off the block to force deuce and another that landed in the corner to give UH set point. After a USC timeout, Igiede’s serve hung on the tape before falling to the court for an ace that tied the match at 1-1.
The teams played even through 16-16 in the third set before USC broke ahead with a four-point run. Down 22-18, UH went on a 6-1 run sparked by a block by Tiffany Westerberg and Wagoner. Igiede’s kill off an overpass tied the set at 23-23 and a USC error gave the Wahine set point. The Trojans forced deuce, then took the lead with a block. Wagoner got a kill off the block to tie it again at 25-25, but her ensuing serve landed long. In a turnabout from Set 2, Wilson’s serve hit the tape before falling to give the Trojans the set and a 2-1 lead in the match.
USC took control of the fourth set with a 7-2 run that started with a UH service error and included four Wahine hitting errors. After the Trojans earned match point at 24-15, UH fought off five with Igiede at the service line. The Wahine couldn’t bring back Williams’ sixth kill to end the match.
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