Despite Cal Poly’s loss against the University of Hawai’i in four sets, Maia Dvoracek was still the kill-leader of the night with 29 kills, just one short of her record for a single game. Dvoracek was followed by University of Hawai’i outside hitter Hanna Hellvig with 13 kills. Sophomore setter Avalon Denecochea led in assists with 45 assists for the match, while senior libero Mika Dickson had 13 digs.
The defeat places Cal Poly (16-7, 9-2 Big West) in a second-place tie with rival UC Santa Barbara (19-3, 9-2 Big West). University of Hawai’i stands at the top of the Big West with a conference record of 10-2.
Cal Poly led the first set by two points until University of Hawai’i surged ahead with an 8-3 run to make the score 8-5. The Rainbow Wahine led for the rest of the set and dominated with a .414 hitting percentage and a .483 kill percentage. The Mustangs had a -.026 hitting percentage.
Cal Poly won the second set 25-22 after a back-and-forth battle with the Rainbow Wahine. The Mustangs had a positive hitting percentage at .297 to tie the game 1-1 heading into the third set.
University of Hawai’i took a 10-4 lead in the third set and never gave it up for the rest of the match. The Rainbow Wahine led by four or five points for the rest of the match as the set ended at 20-25.
At the beginning of the fourth set, University of Hawai’i went on a four point run. Cal Poly broke up the run and scored three points of their own. University of Hawai’i then went on another four point run to make the score 6-11. The Mustangs went on a three-point run of their own, but were unable to take the lead. The teams went back and fourth, tied at 16-16, before the Rainbow Wahine once again took the lead and ended the set 23-25.
Cal Poly hosts UC Santa Barbara inside Mott Athletic Center on Saturday Nov. 9. The Blue-Green Rivalry game will start at 7 p.m.