EUGENE, Ore. — Momentum can be difficult to build, even harder to sustain.
Hawaii has seen that all volleyball season when apparently in control, only to lose control. Recent matches with UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine come to mind — late runs of points given away that eventually led to losses.
Only those defeats didn’t cost the Rainbow Wahine, not like Thursday’s one against Baylor. Unlike the one against the Gauchos that prevented Hawaii from sharing the Big West title or the one against the Waves that fueled speculation that the Wahine wouldn’t be selected for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1992, falling to the Bears cost Hawaii its season.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Wahine opened postseason play with a five-set marathon. For the second straight year, Hawaii walked out of an arena in the Pacific Northwest as a one-and-done.
Last year, it was the Big Ten’s Illinois in Seattle. This time, it was the Big 12’s Baylor here at Matthew Knight Arena.
Again, the emphasis was on “big.” The Bears used their height to their advantage, outblocking the Wahine 16-12 — including 4-0 in Set 5 — en route to a 23-25, 23-25, 25-14, 26-24, 16-14 reverse sweep.
Hawaii (18-9) saw two seniors end their careers with double-doubles, with outside hitter McKenna Granato finishing with 11 kills and 10 digs, and setter Faith Ma’afala 26 assists and 14 digs. The Wahine also had libero Tita Akiu, one of Hawaii’s one-and-done senior transfers, eclipse her career high of 33 digs set at Texas Tech with 34 after 2 hours and 46 minutes.
It put Akiu into the program record book with the single-season mark in the rally-scoring era.
Junior setter/hitter Norene Iosia turned in her fifth triple-double (11 kills, 11 assists and 15 digs) for the Wahine, who fell to 3-4 in five-set matches this season. The Bears won their fifth straight in five, improving to 5-2.
“We were right there,” Ma’afala said. “That’s what makes it hurt a little bit more.
“But like coach Rob (Robyn Ah Mow-Santos) said, one or two points and it could have gone either way. We did our best. Kudos to Baylor.”
“Hats off to Baylor, hats off to my team,” second-year coach Ah Mow-Santos said. “Our girls fought hard to the end. This one’s a little bit harder than last year.”
Against the Illini, Hawaii was down 0-2 and lost Set 5 15-10. Against Baylor, Hawaii had a 2-0 lead and a swing for the match at 14-13.
It was the first win over the Wahine by the Bears in seven meetings. In today’s second round, Baylor (20-8) will take on 15th-seeded Oregon, a 25-22, 18-25, 25-21, 25-11 winner over New Mexico State.
There was a consensus from both the Wahine and the Bears that the momentum shifted in Set 2 with Hawaii leading 21-13 and 23-15. Two points was all the Wahine needed to take the set convincingly, but they had to work, as Baylor closed to 23-22.
Hawaii was bailed out by a service error for set point at 24-22 and traded points to take a 2-0 lead. But things had changed.
“I think we had the momentum,” said Bears junior middle Shelly Fanning, who finished with match highs of 18 kills and 10 block assists. “We were fighting to get back into our rhythm and we wanted to run the match around (in Set 2), even if we didn’t win.
“We had to play every point like it was our last because, if we didn’t, it would be.”
Both Fanning and sophomore hitter Yossiana Pressley (17 kills) said their biggest challenge was dealing with the frustration created by Hawaii’s defense. The Wahine finished with an 89-82 edge in digs, with four players in double digits, led by Akiu’s 34.
“Balls that normally go down … they came back up,” Pressley said. “I tried going angle, line, different shots and it was a battle to put a ball down.”
After getting blown out in Set 3, Hawaii had its chances to close it out in four. The Wahine led 18-14, with an emphatic solo block by sophomore Sky Williams on Pressley that should have deflated the Bears.
Instead, Baylor called a timeout and Hawaii’s service error made it 18-15. The Bears caught the Wahine at 19-19 and there would be four more ties, the last at 24. Fanning gave Baylor its second swing at tying the match and the Bears blocked senior opposite Angel Gaskin to send it to the fifth.
Set 5 was equally tight, with eight ties and five lead changes. The Wahine had a shot to end it, taking match point at 14-13 on a Baylor hitting error. The Bears answered with a 3-0 closing run, two kills by Gia Milana sandwiching a block of Iosia.
After Set 3, Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said, “I think we overpromised them. We said that if we could win the fourth, guaranteed we’d win the fifth.
“For our program, this is big. Hawaii is a traditional power and has a special place in my heart. I’m blessed to have married the prettiest Wahine to have ever played at Hawaii, and that’s special.”
McGuyre’s wife is former Wahine middle Jennifer Roberts, a teammate of Ah Mow-Santos, assistant Angelica Ljungqvist and director of volleyball operations Aven Lee in the 1990s.