Friday, September 13
Honolulu, Hawaii
1:00 a.m.
West Virginia University
at
Hawai'i
Photo by: Katie MacCrory
Sunahara, Mountaineers Travel to Honolulu
September 11, 2019 06:13 PM | Volleyball
HONOLULU, Hawai'i – Following the SDSU/USD Tournament in San Diego, the West Virginia University volleyball team travels to Honolulu, Hawai'i, for a trio of matches at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Volleyball Challenge, hosted by the University of Hawai'i at Manoa from Sept. 12-14.
WVU (4-2) opens play against host No. 18 Hawai'i (6-0) at 1 a.m. ET on Friday before taking on UCLA (3-2) in a 10:45 p.m. ET tilt that evening. West Virginia will conclude the three-day tournament on Saturday, as it takes on Utah Valley (2-5) in a 10 p.m. ET matchup. All three matches will be played inside the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Mountaineers match against the Rainbow Warriors will be streamed live on BigWest.TV, and live stats for all three matches can be found on WVUsports.com.
Fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara boasts strong ties to Hawai'i, as he hails from the Big Island. Sunahara competed for the men's volleyball team at UCLA and was a two-time All-American and three-time NCAA Champion. He also started his coaching career with the Bruins. The Hawaiian native will compete against his alma mater in his home state on Friday, Sept. 13.
"It's great to bring my team to Hawai'i and show them how I grew up," Sunahara said. "I love sharing the Aloha spirit with all of them, and I can't wait to play three quality teams in this atmosphere, in front of the Hawaiian crowd. It will be amazing for our program, and I hope this experience creates life-lasting memories for them."
Of note, the Mountaineers will compete against all three teams at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Volleyball Challenge for the first time in program history. Hawai'i qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament, while Utah Valley earned a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
West Virginia most recently dropped two-of-three matches at the SDSU/USD Tournament, held in San Diego, California, last weekend. WVU opened the three-day tournament with Arkansas on Sept. 5, defeating the Razorbacks in three sets for its third consecutive sweep of the season.
West Virginia then captured the first two sets against host San Diego State on Sept. 6, but it wasn't enough, eventually dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 match to the Aztecs. WVU also suffered a 3-1 loss to Arizona in its final contest of the tournament on Sept. 7.
Sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Kristina Jordan, a native of San Diego, paved the way for WVU, posting a career-high 30 kills vs. San Diego State on Friday. Jordan's 30-kill performance marked the first time a Mountaineer scored 30 or more kills in a game since Morgan Montgomery posted 31 kills vs. Marshall on Sept. 15, 2015. For her efforts, Jordan was named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 9. In all, she notched 49 kills in 12 sets to rank inside the top five of the Big 12 Conference in kills per set last week, averaging 4.08.
As a team, West Virginia is hitting .223 and holding its opponents to a .179 clip. Redshirt junior middle blocker Audrey Adams leads the team's blocking efforts with 1.15 blocks per set, while junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting averages 4.36 digs per set.
Hawai'i, ranked at No. 18 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, holds a 6-0 record for the first time since 2004, as it most recently topped Army West Point, Sacramento State and Denver at the Heineken Rainbow Wahine Invitational last weekend. Junior middle blocker Skyler Williams, who leads the team with 3.12 blocks per set, earned Big West Women's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week honors after being named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament on Sept. 8.
UCLA went 3-0 at the Long Beach State Mizuno Classic last weekend, defeating Georgia, Texas State and Long Beach State for a trio of sweeps. Junior outside hitter Mac May was listed as the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while senior outside hitter Savvy Simo and sophomore defensive specialist Kelli Barry were named to the All-Tournament Team. May leads the team with 4.73 kills pet set, while Barry paves the way defensively with 3.80 digs per set.
Utah Valley dropped its first four matches of the season, including ranked losses to Marquette and BYU, before picking up back-to-back wins against Portland State and UC Davis at the La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Invitational last weekend. The Wolverines are averaging 11.9 kills per set, hitting .182 as a team. Sophomore outside hitter Kazna Tarawhiti leads the team and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) with 4.04 kills per set.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will return to Morgantown for a three-match tournament from Sept. 20-21, at the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia welcomes Duquesne, Eastern Kentucky and Navy to the Mountaineer Invitational, as the squad squares off with the Duquesne Dukes on Sept. 20 before facing the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Sept. 21. Saturday evening's finale will be a showdown between the Mountaineers and the Navy Midshipmen, a team that qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
WVU (4-2) opens play against host No. 18 Hawai'i (6-0) at 1 a.m. ET on Friday before taking on UCLA (3-2) in a 10:45 p.m. ET tilt that evening. West Virginia will conclude the three-day tournament on Saturday, as it takes on Utah Valley (2-5) in a 10 p.m. ET matchup. All three matches will be played inside the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Mountaineers match against the Rainbow Warriors will be streamed live on BigWest.TV, and live stats for all three matches can be found on WVUsports.com.
Fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara boasts strong ties to Hawai'i, as he hails from the Big Island. Sunahara competed for the men's volleyball team at UCLA and was a two-time All-American and three-time NCAA Champion. He also started his coaching career with the Bruins. The Hawaiian native will compete against his alma mater in his home state on Friday, Sept. 13.
"It's great to bring my team to Hawai'i and show them how I grew up," Sunahara said. "I love sharing the Aloha spirit with all of them, and I can't wait to play three quality teams in this atmosphere, in front of the Hawaiian crowd. It will be amazing for our program, and I hope this experience creates life-lasting memories for them."
Of note, the Mountaineers will compete against all three teams at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Volleyball Challenge for the first time in program history. Hawai'i qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament, while Utah Valley earned a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
West Virginia most recently dropped two-of-three matches at the SDSU/USD Tournament, held in San Diego, California, last weekend. WVU opened the three-day tournament with Arkansas on Sept. 5, defeating the Razorbacks in three sets for its third consecutive sweep of the season.
West Virginia then captured the first two sets against host San Diego State on Sept. 6, but it wasn't enough, eventually dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 match to the Aztecs. WVU also suffered a 3-1 loss to Arizona in its final contest of the tournament on Sept. 7.
Sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Kristina Jordan, a native of San Diego, paved the way for WVU, posting a career-high 30 kills vs. San Diego State on Friday. Jordan's 30-kill performance marked the first time a Mountaineer scored 30 or more kills in a game since Morgan Montgomery posted 31 kills vs. Marshall on Sept. 15, 2015. For her efforts, Jordan was named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 9. In all, she notched 49 kills in 12 sets to rank inside the top five of the Big 12 Conference in kills per set last week, averaging 4.08.
As a team, West Virginia is hitting .223 and holding its opponents to a .179 clip. Redshirt junior middle blocker Audrey Adams leads the team's blocking efforts with 1.15 blocks per set, while junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting averages 4.36 digs per set.
Hawai'i, ranked at No. 18 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 Poll, holds a 6-0 record for the first time since 2004, as it most recently topped Army West Point, Sacramento State and Denver at the Heineken Rainbow Wahine Invitational last weekend. Junior middle blocker Skyler Williams, who leads the team with 3.12 blocks per set, earned Big West Women's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week honors after being named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament on Sept. 8.
UCLA went 3-0 at the Long Beach State Mizuno Classic last weekend, defeating Georgia, Texas State and Long Beach State for a trio of sweeps. Junior outside hitter Mac May was listed as the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while senior outside hitter Savvy Simo and sophomore defensive specialist Kelli Barry were named to the All-Tournament Team. May leads the team with 4.73 kills pet set, while Barry paves the way defensively with 3.80 digs per set.
Utah Valley dropped its first four matches of the season, including ranked losses to Marquette and BYU, before picking up back-to-back wins against Portland State and UC Davis at the La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Invitational last weekend. The Wolverines are averaging 11.9 kills per set, hitting .182 as a team. Sophomore outside hitter Kazna Tarawhiti leads the team and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) with 4.04 kills per set.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will return to Morgantown for a three-match tournament from Sept. 20-21, at the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia welcomes Duquesne, Eastern Kentucky and Navy to the Mountaineer Invitational, as the squad squares off with the Duquesne Dukes on Sept. 20 before facing the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Sept. 21. Saturday evening's finale will be a showdown between the Mountaineers and the Navy Midshipmen, a team that qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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