HONOLULU – No. 3 Hawai'i saw its postseason run come to end Friday, falling in five sets to USC, 19-25, 29-27, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12. The Rainbow Wahine close the season at 31-2 while USC (28-4) moves on to Saturday's regional final.
Jane Croson had career-highs of 25 kills and 23 digs while Kanani Danielson finished with 21 kills and 23 digs. Brittany Hewitt recorded a match-high 11 blocks.
Alex Jupiter had a match-high 33 kills for the Trojans.
In front of a sold out crowd, UH struck first with a 25-19 set one win. The Rainbow Wahine held early leads of 7-3 and 13-6 before USC rallied to cut the lead 17-14. Croson nailed consecutive kills to push UH's lead up to 23-18. Hewitt and Kaela Goodman recorded block assists to clinch the win.
The second set saw USC even the match with an epic 29-27 win. The Rainbow Wahine staved off four set points before the Trojans won the set and evened the match for USC.
UH returned from the break to capture a 25-19 set three win, inching one set closer to a trip to the NCAA Final Four, but could not seal the win in set four. Chanteal Satele gave the Rainbow Wahine a 19-17 lead, but USC rallied with three straight points. Danielson later posted a kill to give UH a 23-22 lead, but the Women of Troy again scored three straight to earn the win.
The fifth set saw USC take an early lead and hold on to the win. The Rainbow Wahine trailed by as many as four points before storming back to cut the lead to 13-12 before USC posted back-to-back kills to win the match.
The regional semifinal was the first sell out since 2003, with 9,692 fans in attendance.