Hawai’i holds off Wyoming in extra points to push win streak to seven

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Despite being pushed to the limit in Laramie, the University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team fought off a ferocious upset bid from Wyoming (10-8, 3-4 Mountain West) on Thursday night for a hard-fought five set win over the Cowgirls, (25-13, 19-25, 26-28, 25-18, 17-15).

It was the first time in conference play that Hawai’i (15-3, 7-0 Mountain West) had dropped a set, falling in back-to-back frames before fighting back to take the final two stanzas to escape with the unblemished conference record still intact.

Sophomore outside hitter Cha’lei Reid led the way in kills for the Rainbow Wahine for the third straight match, tallying 16 putdowns on 44 swings to go along with six digs and four blocks. Senior outside hitter Panna Ratkai added her seventh double-double of the season as well, chipping in 14 kills and 11 digs while finishing out the match with her fifth block of the night.

Junior middle blocker Miliana Sylvester helped swing the tides in UH’s favor with one of the best performances of her career, posting her first collegiate double-double with 11 kills and 13 blocks as the Rainbow Wahine racked up a season-best 21.5 blocks as a group. It was the most denials in a single match for Hawai’i since 2010 against San Diego.

Wyoming was held to a season-low .075 on the attack, committing 37 attacking errors as a group against the Rainbow Wahine block party. Senior outside hitter Paige Lauterwasser put up a double-double of her own in the loss, totaling 13 kills and 19 digs to lead the Cowgirls.

After trading the first four frames back and forth, the Rainbow Wahine and Cowgirls clashed for an epic final set that saw 11 ties and four lead changes. Wyoming wiggled in front late to set up match point after an attacking error from Hawai’i but kills from Reid and setter Adrianna Arquette set the visitors up with a match point of their own and Ratkai solo-roofed Wyoming’s Reagan Sharp to snatch victory in extra points for UH.

Sophomore outside hitter/opposite Maëli Cormier tacked on a season-best 12 kills in the victory for the Rainbow Wahine, eclipsing double figures on the attack for the second time in the last three matches. Junior setter Adrianna Arquette added on her sixth double-double of the year, handing out 41 assists to go along with a career-high 19 digs.

Hawai’i and Wyoming will meet back up on Saturday for the rematch with first serve set for 2:30 p.m. HT.