Seventh-ranked Hawai‘i’s initial experience with volleyball adversity this season clashed with 25th-ranked Santa Clara’s initial success on the second night of the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational. It made for a wild ride finally won by the ‘Bows, 25-19, 25-27, 30-28, 25-13, tonight.

Kanani Danielson had a match-high 22 kills for Hawai‘i and freshman Brittany Hewitt went for a double-double with 11 blocks and 10 kills. The Broncos were led by Krista Kelley’s 13 kills and Dana Knudsen’s 10.
The teams traded set points with abandon in the middle of the match, before 4,619 at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH controlled the opening set, hitting .556. That only seemed to tick off the Broncos, who had gone down so quickly Friday against ninth-ranked UCLA that their coach admitted he learned nothing about his team.
They came back with a vengeance in the second set and the ‘Bows’ response was erratic and often disappointing, particularly for a team that mowed down its opening-night opponent.
Aneli Cubi-Otineru’s first hitting error of the season came on her first attempt of the second set — she stepped over the 10-foot line — but it preceded a 4-0 UH run. Then the Broncos began to find a rhythm. Their passing was nearly perfect, and much better than the ‘Bows’, as they tied it at 11 and began shutting down Hawai‘i’s outside hitters.
Santa Clara pulled ahead 19-16 on a UH shank and got to set point at 24-22 behind Kelley and Knudsen. Danielson’s seventh kill of the game and a Bronco error tied it at 24, but Kelley and Knudsen weren’t done. They got the Broncos two more swings at the set and another Hawai‘i shank ultimately ended it.
Hawai‘i had nine hitting errors in the set — as many as it had in the entire match Friday against Western Michigan, which was swept by UCLA last night.
The third set was a sequel, only Hawai‘i authored a different ending despite a series of breakdowns. The Broncos got to 24 first on the second missed serve by a UH senior in the space of four points.
The Rainbows would erase four set points this time, and Santa Clara two before Cubi-Otineru and Hewitt stuffed the 30th point after an Amber Kaufman dig.
The Broncos were out of comebacks. Hawai‘i blew through the fourth set.
The ‘Bows broke away after the ninth tie in the opening set, scoring five straight points on Liz Ka‘aihue’s serve to go up 21-16. The last two came on serves the Broncos botched. Somehow that seemed to inspire Hawai‘i’s passing, which started slowly.
After Cubi-Otineru buried six of her first eight swings to keep UH in it, the ‘Bows passed well enough to get Kaufman her first four swings — and kills — in the last eight serves. Hewitt ended it with her second stuff.
UCLA (2-0) swept Western Michigan (0-2), 25-17, 25-14, 25-15, in the opener. The scores were similar to those in the Rainbows’ sweep of the Broncos Friday, only the big Bruins did most of their damage above the net — after a spectacular early rally demoralized WMU. The point, which included 12 digs and lasted more than a minute, put UCLA up 14-13.
The Bruins limited WMU to .112 hitting, a number illustrated best by Michelle Moore’s struggles in a 6-kill, 5-error performance (.036). Moore, a 5-foot-10 all-conference hitter, led Western Michigan with 10 kills Friday on .248 hitting. Jessica Brown, a freshman who broke into WMU’s starting lineup despite all seven starters returning, was the lone bright spot with 11 kills and .474 hitting.
In contrast, all the Bruins had big numbers. The team hit .552 in the second set, .481 in the third and .426 for the match. Lone senior starter Kaitlin Sather led UCLA with 10 kill while Sara Sage, who didn’t start, and Dicey McGraw had eight apiece.

NOTES
Santa Clara and Western Michigan play at 11 a.m. tomorrow, then fly out. UCLA and Hawai‘i will meet for the championship at 5 p.m.
Fifth-ranked Stanford, which won in five against LSU opening night, was swept by Notre Dame last night.
Kamehameha graduate Rebekah Torres was named MVP last night after leading Pacific over host Fresno State in the championship of the Bulldogs’ tournament.