Hawai?i swept past Belmont, while New Mexico State defeated Saint
Mary's in four sets in NCAA Tournament action Friday. Both teams now
advance to the second round tonight.
Hawai?i 3, Belmont 0 | Stats
LOS ANGELES ? No. 6 Hawai`i swept Belmont 25-19, 25-11, 25-16 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Galen Center on the campus of Southern California Friday.
Nickie Thomas led a balanced UH attack, hitting .625 with five kills and five blocks. Amber Kaufman added seven kills and five service aces, while Kanani Danielson hit .368 with eight kills and five digs. Aneli Cubi-Otineru hit .357 with seven kills and seven digs, while Jamie Houston posted seven kills and three blocks.
After spotting Belmont a 6-5 lead to start the first set, Hawai`i ran off five of the next six points to go ahead 10-7. A 4-1 run by the Bruins tied it at 12-12, before a 7-1 UH run gave them a 19-13 advantage. Belmont got back into it at 21-19 with a 6-2 run. But the Rainbow Wahine had the answer, scoring the final four points to take the first set 25-19.
Dani Mafua served UH out to a 3-0 lead to start the second set, only to see the Bruins run off five straight points, taking a 5-3 edge. Kaufman then took over, putting away a kill to get to her serve, before pushing UH on a 10-0 run that included five aces to go ahead 13-5. In all, Hawai`i posted eight aces in the set, taking it 25-11.
Belmont opened a 3-2 lead to start the third before UH ran off five of the next six points to go ahead 7-4. A 5-0 run by the Rainbow Wahine later in the set got UH’s lead to 18-11. UH continued to lead throughout, scoring five of the final seven points, ending the match with a 25-16 third set victory.
The Rainbow Wahine will face host USC in the second round tomorrow at 6 p.m. PT.
New Mexico State 3, Saint Mary's 1 | Stats
BERKELEY, Calif. ? New Mexico State rebounded from a loss in set one to defeat Saint Mary’s in four sets (22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-15) for its first-ever NCAA Tournament win at Haas Pavilion Friday.
NMSU will face host California in a match at 8 p.m. PT tomorrow, Dec. 6.
NMSU hit .221 on the match, compared to the .107 of the Gaels. The Aggies also out-blocked Saint Mary’s 6-3.
Lindsey Yon led all players with 17 kills and added 13 digs for her WAC-leading 13th double-double of the season. Amber Simpson tallied 11 kills, while Whitney Woods finished with 10. Setters Alyssa Gintant and Jennah DeVries dished out 28 and 17 assists, respectively. Gintant added 11 digs for her first double-double of the season. Krystal Torres had 12 digs.
NMSU hit just .073 in the first set, compared to the .214 of the Gaels. The Aggies were also out-blocked 2-0. Yon paced New Mexico State with five kills.
The Aggies dominated the second set, hitting .500 and holding SMC to .160. NMSU had six service errors in the set, while the Gaels had two. Yon again paced the Aggies with five kills.
NMSU jumped out to an 8-1 lead in set three, but the Gaels then went on a 9-4 run to cut it to two (12-10), later tied it at 17 and took their first lead at 19-18. The Aggies used a 7-2 run to close out the set and hold on for a 25-21 win.
With the exception of a tie at one, the Aggies led throughout all of set four, winning 25-15. NMSU hit .344 on the set, compared to the .111 of the Gaels.