Win streak hits six as Hawai’i swiftly sweeps San Jose State

HONOLULU – Someone tell Joshua Walker to keep his dancing shoes handy.

The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team continued a perfect start to conference play on Saturday night, slicing through San Jose State (6-10, 1-5 Mountain West) in straight sets inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, (25-20, 25-13, 25-13).

It marked the sixth sweep in a row for the Rainbow Wahine, who held the Spartans to a season-low -0.033 hitting percentage as a group. It’s the program’s longest stretch of consecutive sweeps since 2016, when Hawai’i had eight straight wins by way of the minimum number of sets.

OH Cha’lei Reid led the way for the Rainbow Wahine for the second straight night, finishing as the lone player on either team with double-digit kills with 11 across 33 swings. MB Miliana Sylvester tailed closely behind with nine putdowns and a match-high five blocks.

San Jose State provided their best punch in the night’s opening frame as Hawai’i helped hurt themselves with nine attack errors, but it still wasn’t enough for the Spartans to take a set off the conference-leading Rainbow Wahine as the hosts hung on for a 25-20 victory in the first stanza.

The “Mānoa Roofing Company” came to work in the second set as Hawai’i handed out five blocks as a team in a dominant 25-13 decision, holding SJSU’s attack to a match-low -.172 while more than doubling their own hitting efficiency from the night’s debut frame.

Hawai’i (14-3, 6-0 Mountain West) made quick work of the visiting Spartans in the night’s final frame, hitting .414 and committing only two attack errors on the way to another 25-13 set victory and the sixth straight sweep to begin conference play.

Sophomore OH/OPP Maëli Cormier, who started in place of the injured Tali Hakas for the second straight night, tacked on eight kills on 12 attempts in the victory as she hit above .500 in a match for the fourth time this season.

Senior OH Panna Ratkai chipped in seven kills and a team-leading 12 digs for Hawai’i while junior S Adrianna Arquette dished out 30 assists to go along with eight digs, two kills and two of the team’s seven service aces.

Learden Lee paced the Spartans in the loss as the junior middle blocker racked up seven kills on 16 error-free swings while adding three total blocks. Sophomore OH Morgan Graves, who entered the weekend as SJSU’s leader in kills, was held in check again as she finished the evening with more attack errors (5) than total putdowns (3).

It was the 10th sweep of the season for UH, doubling last year’s total of five straight-set victories and surpassing the 2024 team’s eight matches ending in three-set wins with more than half of the conference schedule still to go.

Hawai’i holds a two-game lead over UC Davis and New Mexico for the top spot in the Mountain West after three weeks of conference competition and will try to keep the good times rolling when they hit the road next Thursday, visiting Wyoming for a two-match series in the elevation.