MANOA, Hawaii – The University of Hawai'i defeated Utah Valley, 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-17), on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center's Bank of Hawaii Arena. Hawai'i (1-4) was led by Stella Adeyemi, who had 17 kills and seven digs, while Cha'lei Reid added 15. The Wolverines (3-3) were paced by Sami Blackett, who recorded 12 kills and hit .310.
 
The Wolverines battled through the opening set behind Blackett, who tallied nine kills on 15 swings for a .467 hitting percentage. Fellow outside hitter Avery Page hit .444 with four kills on nine attempts. UVU fought back from an early deficit to take a 15-14 lead at the media timeout after three kills from Blackett, followed by a service ace from Natalie Riggs. The ace moved Riggs past Abbie Medeiros for sixth all-time in career service aces.
 
Alyssa Erickson added a pair of kills off the bench, including one that gave Utah Valley a 19-18 lead. Hawai'i responded, regaining the lead at 23-22. The Wolverines had two chances to close out the set, but a successful challenge for the Rainbow Wahine and a service ace sealed the frame for Hawai'i.
 
Utah Valley could not slow down Hawai'i's attack in the second set, as the Rainbow Wahine hit .462 while limiting UVU to under .200. Still trailing 17-10, the Wolverines began to rally with kills from Erickson, who also added a block assist during the run to make it 18-13. Middle blocker Alyvia Jaffa chipped in a pair of kills, and Riggs notched her second ace of the night, with the rally capped by an Olivia Gloeckner kill to cut the deficit to 21-17. The comeback attempt ultimately fell short.
 
UVU opened the third set by scoring the first three points, starting with a block assist by Bella Wooden and Gloeckner, followed by a block from Blackett and Wooden. Riggs' ace capped the run at 3-0, but Hawai'i answered by scoring eight of the next nine points to take an 8-4 lead. UVU closed within one on an ace from Evalyn Chism at 11-10, but Hawai'i quickly responded and extended its lead to 14-9. The Rainbow Wahine closed the match with a 6-0 run.
 
Wooden's two solo blocks moved her into sixth place all-time at UVU, passing Kazna Tanuvasa and Kristen Bell, who each finished with 26 in their careers. Riggs recorded her 116th career ace and now has 17 for the season. Her career high is 36, set in 2022-23.
 
Up next: The Wolverines return to Utah to face No. 21 Utah on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m. MT in the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.