Utah Valley drops game two to tournament host Hawaii

The Wolverines played in their second match in the Hawaii tournament against the host No.18 Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine continued their winning streak beating UVU 3-1. 

Set one and two were both back-and-forth ending in a score of 20-25. In the first set, UVU held a 7-6 lead with kills from sophomore outside hitter, Kazna Tarawhiti and junior outside hitter, Bailey Nixon. Tarawhiti would continue that play bringing in 12 kills in the first two sets. However, Hawaii then pulled ahead with a comfortable six-point lead, and would win both sets 20-25. 

The third set was a different type of match. The Wolverines pulled forward with a 13 point lead as Tarawhiti and freshman outside hitter, Tori Dorius on the front line pushed back against Hawaii ending in a 7-0 run. The Rainbow Wahine would make a late push, but wouldn’t quite get there, as the Wolverines took set three 25-20. 

In the final set, Hawaii pulled an early lead of five points. The Wolverines were never able to catch up. Even with Tarawhiti bringing in five more kills, the final set went to Hawaii by a score of 15-25. 

Even with the loss, the Wolverines had a lot of steady play Tarawhiti tallied a season-high 21 kills in the evening. 

UVU will be back in Utah this week, first going to Logan for a match against Utah State Sept. 18. They will then come back home for a face-off against Weber State Sept.19. 

The Wolverines then begin their WAC games the following week. First, opening with a home game against New Mexico State on Sept. 26. 

Photos by Natasha Colburn