FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Seventh-seeded Hawai?i's season came to an end Saturday when it fell in three sets (25-19, 25-9, 25-18) to No. 2-seed Stanford in the NCAA Regional final. The Rainbow Wahine finish the season 31-4.
Jamie Houston and Kanani Danielson were named to the all-tournament team. Houston averaged 4.00 kills and 1.14 digs, while Danielson averaged 4.14 kills and 2.14 digs over the two matches.
Hawai?i hit .053 on the match, compared to the .363 of Stanford. The Cardinal also bettered the Rainbow Wahine in kills (40-35), assists (36-32), digs (43-41) and blocks (10-2.5).
Houston led Hawai?i with 13 kills, while Danielson added eight. Aneli Cubi-Otineru tallied a match-high 12 digs, while setter Dani Mafua dished out 25 assists.
Set one started out closed before the Cardinal used a 6-2 run to go up 11-7. Both teams then traded points before Stanford scored two in a row to take its biggest lead of the set (19-14). The Cardinal went on to a 25-19 win. Hawai?i hit just .067 on the set, compared to the .226 of Stanford. The Cardinal also out-blocked the Rainbow Wahine 3-0. Houston led all players with eight kills on the set.
Stanford jumped out to an 8-2 lead in set two and never looked back, leading by as many as 16 en route to the 25-9 win. It was the first time all season Hawai?i didn't reach double-digit points in a set. The Cardinal hit .375 on the set, while the Rainbow Wahine hit -.160.
In the third and final set, after ties at two, seven and eight, Stanford scored three in a row to take an 18-12 lead and cruised to the 25-18 win.