Reno, Nev. - The University of Nevada (9-10, 4-5 WAC) volleyball team fell by scores of 19-25, 20-25 and 17-25 to ninth ranked Hawai`i (15-3, 8-1 WAC) in a Western Athletic Conference match played at the Virginia Street Gym tonight. The loss snapped the Wolf Pack’s season-high four-match win streak and leaves them 9-10 overall and 4-5 in conference play. The Rainbow Wahine improved to 15-3 on the season and 8-1 in WAC action.
UH jumped to a 7-3 lead in set one and never trailed in winning 25-19. The Rainbow Wahine hit .333 in the first set while Nevada hit .179.
There were 10 ties and six lead changes in set two before UH won 25-20 to take 2-0 set lead in the match. The final tie of the set came at 15-15 but UH used a 3-0 run to take the lead on the way to victory. The Bows hit .268 and Nevada .167 in set two.
Hawai`i did not trail in set three and held a four-point advantage at 10-6 and posted its largest lead of the night of eight when the set ended 25-17. The Bows hit .208 and the Pack .077 in the final set of the night.
Freshman Erin Garvey topped Nevada with eight kills and junior Sage Aune was close behind with seven. Setter Sonnie Sei dished out 20 assists while Allison Hernandez topped the team with 10 digs.
Aneli Cubi-Otineru posted a match-high 13 kills for UH and also led them with eight digs on the night. Setter Dani Mafua finished with a match-high 31 assists.
UH hit .276 in the match and Nevada .144. The Rainbow Wahine won the blocking battle 9.5 to 5.5 Nickie Thomas posted a match-high six blocks while Garvey topped Nevada with four.
Nevada continues four match homestand Thursday when Louisiana Tech comes to the Virginia Street Gym for a 7:00 p.m. match. The Wolf Pack defeated the Lady Techsters earlier this season 3-2 in Ruston, La.
