Rainbow Wahine make Senior Night special with sweep

When Tali Hakas walked out of Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center after senior night festivities last year, there were not any more chances to cheer on her team.

Not only is there plenty of volleyball left to be played this season, but Hakas is right there on the court in the middle of it.

The Hawaii women’s volleyball team celebrated Hakas and seniors Panna Ratkai and Leilani Lopez after throttling Air Force 25-13, 25-20, 25-18 on Friday night.

A crowd of 6,378 watched the Rainbow Wahine for the final time on the island but know there is so much more to play for.

Hawaii (23-4, 15-1 Mountain West) has already improved on last season’s win total by 11 games. It is the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which begins in 10 days after Hawaii closes the season next Wednesday and Thursday at UTEP.

“I feel like (this final year) makes me understand that everything happens for a reason,” said Hakas, who had six digs and put down all four of her kill attempts. “Even though some things can happen in one season, there’s always going to be another opportunity to punch back or fight your way back into something. That’s what it should be. Some things are going to try to take you down in life and you get up and fight.”

Ratkai ended the night with her match-high 15th kill to lead Hawaii on offense. Cha’lei Reid added 14 kills and hit .344 for the Rainbow Wahine, who dropped only one set at home in conference play.

Ratkai hit .382 and added eight digs. She spent only a year in Hawaii but has said this experience has brought back her love for the sport.

“Just all these people coming to support us,” Ratkai said. “Like every single game, not just today, every single game they are here to support us or join us over the television. I’m extremely grateful for them welcoming me the way they have and I will always be grateful for this place.”

Junior middle blocker Miliana Sylvester had 10 kills and Rachel Purser had seven kills and hit .467 without an error.

Hawaii hit .331 for the match and had nine aces. Setter Adrianna Arquette, who finished the first set with three consecutive aces, had four total to go along with 42 assists and nine digs.

Freshman Cameron Holcomb led Hawaii with 13 digs and Victoria Leyva added 12.

Hawaii held the Falcons (10-17, 6-10) to a .098 hitting percentage with only 21 kills.

Hawaii coach Joshua Walker, who has participated in senior night events as both a player and an assistant coach on the men’s side, went through his first as the man in charge of the women’s program.

“It’s always special,” Walker said. “For sure just the trust that they put into you and they could have a senior night with a win and have a great season, I’m just glad to be a part of their senior year.”

Walker put Lopez in the starting lineup for the match and she managed to contribute two aces and two digs.

“It really is a representation of all the love, you know, from the fans, my family, my best friends are already here because they are my teammates, so (tonight) is really just an emphasis of all the love that I knew was here,” Lopez said. “It’s just cool to see everyone and kind of be surrounded by them.”

Hawaii started the match with eight kills before the Falcons recorded their first. Hawaii hit .279 with 18 kills in the opening set and had three players put down more balls than the entire Air Force team, which finished with only three kills.

Lopez, who got the start in the match, had an ace and Arquette closed the set with three consecutive aces.

Hawaii closed out the second set from behind the service line as well as Ratkai put down her team-best 43rd ace for a five-point set win.

UH put up similar numbers across the board in the second set, hitting .277 with 17 kills.

Purser had a kill and a block on opposite ends of the media timeout to help UH close out the match on a 11-4 run after it was tied at 14-all.

Ratkai had seven of her kills in the third set without an error.

“We know there’s more, but once again we placed our set (in the third) and hit .450 in the last set, so just continuing to find ways to win and keep improving,” Walker said. “Can’t complain to get another sweep.”