A full lineup and a fast start was all the University of Hawaii needed against Northern Arizona.
Olivia Magill and Nikki Taylor each recorded 11 kills in the Rainbow Wahine’s 25-18, 25-15, 25-18 volleyball victory Friday night in Honolulu.
“We got off to a good start, and that was the key tonight,” coach Dave Shoji said on the OC16 broadcast. “We kind of made it a point to just be energized early.”
UH (7-3) received workmanlike efforts all around in hitting .298, and setter Taylor Higgins (31 assists) had no shortage of options. Kalie Greeley posted seven kills and Tai Manu-Olevao and Kalei Adolpho each had six.
But option No. 1 continues to be Magill, who made only one attack error in hitting .500. Taylor was playing in only her third match of the season.
“Nikki gives us something on the right, even though she didn’t have that great a night. She hit to many balls into the net,” Shoji said. “But you can see thee is potential is there.
“We want to set Magill as much as we can, but teams are stacking on her. That should open of Tai and Kalei (Greeley). We’d like to be evenly distributed, and we want to go to our best players as well.”
Lauren Jacobsen compiled 12 kills but made nine errors for the Lumberjacks (9-1), who hit just .127.
The teams will meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday in UH’s last game before it begins Big West play.
“That’s not a bad team,” Shoji said. “I think they’ll play better tomorrow. I think they were disoriented , maybe jet-lagged or something.
“They are a lot better than they showed tonight. We have to stay on them tomorrow.”
Soccer
Kama Pascua, Storm Kenui and Hayden Gibson each scored goals and the Rainbow Wahine beat Eastern Montana 3-1 in Missoula, Mont.
Kenui’s team-high fourth goal of the season put UH (4-5) ahead for good late in the first half.
Hawaii outshot the Eagles (2-3) 19-6, including 11-2 in the first 45 minutes.
Pascua netted her third goal, giving the Wahine the lead in the 24th minute, while Gibson’s insurance goal in the second half was her first score at UH.
