Hawai’i outlasts UC San Diego to claim 2026 OUTRIGGER Invitational crown

HONOLULU – It takes a team to bring home titles.

The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team completed a perfect 2026 OUTRIGGER Invitational run on Sunday night, powering past UC San Diego (2-4) in five sets in front of an energetic Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center crowd, (22-25, 25-15, 21-25, 26-24, 15-8).

Panna Ratkai turned in a team-best 19 kills for the Rainbow Wahine on her way to earning tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. The senior outside hitter notched double figures in the kill category all weekend, tallying 52 total putdowns over the course of the three matches.

Miliana Sylvester and Adrianna Arquette joined Ratkai on the All-Tournament team after helping power Hawai’i (4-2) to three straight wins over the weekend. Sylvester racked up seven kills and nine blocks on Sunday while Arquette tacked on four kills and 36 assists while tying a season high of 17 digs in the win over the Tritons.

Tali Hakas also did a little bit of everything on Sunday for UH, adding 12 kills, eight digs and a season-best seven blocks while registering her third service ace of the campaign. The Rainbow Wahine racked up 18.5 blocks as a group, by far the best blocking performance of the young season by UH.

UC San Diego, coming off a pair of tough losses against LMU and Utah Tech from the first two nights of the tournament, looked well rested and ready to play spoiler for the hosts as the Tritons took the opening set behind a balanced offensive attack. Five different UCSD players recorded multiple kills in the premier frame as the speedy offense of the Tritons presented early troubles for Hawai’i.

Hawai’i responded in a big way in the follow-up frame, racing out to a 10-point lead by the media timeout with a boost from Jaci Miyasaki, who came in and dished out a pair of aces as part of a run of seven straight serves to begin the second set.

The Rainbow Wahine wasted no time tying up the match, keeping the Tritons at a distance throughout the second set while finishing off the frame with Ratkai’s first ace of the night.

Another battle ensued in the third stanza, seeing the two squads swing back and forth within a point of each other until the Tritons got to 20 and sprinted away for a 25-21 win in the all-important swing set.

UC San Diego seemed to be well on the way to securing the fourth frame after a four-point run launched the Tritons ahead by a pair at the technical timeout, but Hawai’i rallied again with the help of an energetic Sunday evening crowd.

The raucous fanbase of the Rainbow Wahine made the environment untenable for the Tritons, rattling the confidence of the visitors behind the service line to the point of three of the final four serves not making it into play to begin with.

Lifted by cheers, Hawai’i hammered away at the late deficit to take the must-have fourth set, seeing Sylvester punctuate the comeback with a powerful putdown for set point.

The final winner-take-all frame felt like a formality from there as Hawai’i scored the first four points and on nine of the first 11 rallies, taking a 9-2 lead and forcing UC San Diego to burn through both timeouts.

Freshman Cameron Holcomb delivered the Rainbow Wahine on the doorstep of the comeback win over the Tritons with her lone ace of the night and the hosts shut the door after six match points to officially claim the outright OUTRIGGER Invitational title.

Rachel Purser added eight kills and eight blocks for the Rainbow Wahine while Maeli Cormier tacked on five kills, a trio of digs and five blocks herself.

Hawai’i will be right back in action on Thursday, September 10 as Central Arkansas comes to the islands for a two-match series. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. HT.