Hawai‘i completes six-set sweep of New Mexico to open Mountain West play

HONOLULU — The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team made a clean start to Mountain West Conference play, completing a two-match sweep of New Mexico without dropping a set at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Wahine capped the weekend Saturday night with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-18 victory, improving to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Hawai‘i held New Mexico to a .109 hitting percentage while finishing with advantages in kills (45-29), blocks (8-5) and service aces (7-4).

“Obviously happy with the sweep. It’s really hard to do that against conference opponents,” head coach Joshua Walker said. “Just really proud of how we responded and adjusted to the changes that they made.”

Outside hitter Panna Ratkai led the Hawai‘i attack with 15 kills on .302 hitting, adding six digs and two aces. Cha‘lei Reid continued her return to the lineup with 10 kills and hit .333, while freshman middle Rachel Purser contributed eight kills on .389 hitting along with four block assists. Victoria Leyva anchored the back row with a match-high 18 digs.

The Rainbow Wahine were particularly effective in closing out the match, siding out at 73 percent in the third set while hitting .224. Walker said the ability to finish the weekend with their strongest set was an encouraging sign.

“We definitely didn’t play our cleanest ball, but sometimes you just gotta find a way to be consistent,” Walker said. “We found some solutions offensively and then were able to play our best set the last set, which is kind of what you want.”

Despite winning all six sets against the Lobos, Ratkai said there remains plenty to clean up.

“I think we had more unforced errors than we usually do, so that’s something we can work on in the gym,” Ratkai said. “It’s a lot of mental toughness too, so I think we can bounce back quicker mentally.”

Hawai‘i now takes its unbeaten conference record on the road, traveling to Phoenix to face Grand Canyon this Friday and Saturday. The Lopes opened Mountain West play with a split against Nevada, with both matches going five sets.