FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Seventh-seeded Hawai?i came from behind to defeat No. 10-seed Purdue in four sets (18-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-20) in the NCAA Regional semifinals Friday. The Rainbow Wahine now advance to the Elite Eight to face No. 2-seed Stanford at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Hawai?i out-hit Purdue .238-.194. UH also bettered the Boilermakers in kills (62-47), assists (57-40) and digs (45-44), but Purdue out-blocked the Rainbow Wahine 13-9.
Kanani Danielson paced Hawai?i with a match-high 21 kills on .400 hitting. She also added nine digs and three blocks. Jamie Houston finished with 15 kills, while Amber Kaufman added 11. Dani Mafua dished out 51 assists to go along with seven digs. Tara Hittle tallied a match-high 12 digs.
In the first set, Purdue used a 4-0 run to jump out to a four-point lead (7-3). The Rainbow Wahine later scored four in a row to cut it to one, 14-13, but that was as close as they would get as the Boilermakers closed out the set on a 7-2 run. Purdue hit .345 on the set, compared to the .147 of Hawai?i. Danielson and Houston paced the Rainbow Wahine with five kills apiece.
After taking a 2-0 lead in the second set, Purdue rattled off seven straight points to go up 7-2. The Boilermakers maintained their lead until Hawai?i scored six straight points to take the lead, 18-17. UH went on to the 25-22 win. The Rainbow Wahine hit .111 on the set, compared to the -.030 of Purdue. Danielson tallied five kills, while Kaufman had four blocks to pace Hawai?i.
Set three was played closely early until Purdue took a four-point lead (13-9). The Boilermakers later scored three in a row to extend their lead to six, 17-11. When it seemed as though the Rainbow Wahine were out of the set, they scored three in a row to make it a two-point set (19-17). Hawai?i later tied it at 22 and went on the 25-23 win. UH out-hit Purdue .278-.179 on the set.
With ties at one, five and six, the fourth and final set was played close early. Hawai?i opened up a four point lead (13-9), but Purdue scored four in a row to tie it again. The Rainbow Wahine went up by three points seven different times before winning 25-20.