MANOA, Hawai'i – UC Riverside gave Big West preseason favorite Hawai'i all it could handle on Saturday night inside the Stan Sheriff Center, but dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 match to the Rainbow Wahine.
UCR jumped out to a 3-1 lead in set one with a pair of marathon points, setting the tone for the rest of the night on both sides. Rachel Schwartz delivered back-to-back aces fresh upon entering to push the lead to 6-3.
The Highlanders put up three straight points to tie the match at 15 with a pair of Hawai'i attack errors. Set one continued to be up for grabs as the Rainbow Wahine called a timeout after a kill from Sophia Ewalefo, who picked up her third double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs.
UCR closed its first set win at Hawai'i since 2015 with a 3-0 run, punctuated by Ewalefo's fourth kill of the night. The Highlanders and Rainbow Wahine played to 13 ties and four lead changes in set one, while UCR hit a towering .382.
Makena Tong recorded her 1,000th career assist early in set two while setting up Andrea Brewer's seventh kill. The Hawai'i native finished her final UCR match at UH with her third double-double of the year, putting up 22 assists and 11 digs.
Jessica Dean's ace put UC Riverside up 4-3 in set two, and the Highlanders capitalized on two more UH attack errors to stay neck and neck with the hosts at 6-6. UCR struggled later throughout the set, but called time and collected itself before mounting a late comeback spurred by Brewer.
A rejuvenated Highlander squad got back on the horse with an 11-9 lead in set three. The pace mirrored that of set one, with 10 ties and three lead changes at the media break, where UCR held a slim 15-14 advantage. A block from Vanessa Imoh and Layla Hooks gave UC Riverside its largest lead of set three at 22-18, but it was Imoh's hustle that carried UCR across the line for the 25-21 set win and 2-1 match lead.
UCR nipped at Hawai'i's heels in a fourth set that UH controlled from the get-go. The Highlanders battled with separate scoring runs that kept the set tight before UH forced a fifth set.
A most opportune 3-0 lead in set five included two additional Hawai'i attack errors on the night and an ace from Misu Nguyen. UCR put a stop to a brief UH scoring run and got hot at the right time, piecing together a 5-0 run that put them all square at 13 before Hawai'i took the match.
UC Riverside returns to action on Thursday, October 2, to host UC Irvine inside the SRC Arena. Tickets for the 5:00 pm match are available now at GoHighlanders.com.
