Hawaii women’s volleyball outlasts SMU in season opener

Despite a disastrous first set, the University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team rallied to defeat SMU 7-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21, 15-13 on Friday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Rainbow Wahine were dominated in the first set, falling 25-7. The Mustangs hit .647 in the first set, while the ‘Bows hit at a clip of -.138.

After recovering with a 25-23 victory in Set 2, Hawaii held a 24-23 lead in Set 3, only to see the Mustangs steal the set with a 3-0 run.

Led by the play of Caylen Alexander, who hammered a career-high 28 kills with 11 digs for a double-double, the Rainbow Wahine forced a fifth set and prevailed in front of a spirited crowd of 4,857.

As a team, the Mustangs had 16 kills compared to Hawaii’s six. Maya Tabron had a team-high 15 kills for SMU, while Celia Cullen had a match-high 41 assists.

Stella Adeyemi added 10 kills for UH, which won despite 40 hitting errors.

Next up for Hawaii is a match against San Diego on Sunday at 5 p.m. to close out the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Classic.