HONOLULU ? Amber Sutherland recorded 16 kills and Mallori Gibson added 14 as the University of Colorado fell to the University of Hawai'i 30-32, 23-30, 20-30 in front of 7,071 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu Saturday night as UH head coach Dave Shoji recorded his 900th career victory.
Colorado was once again plagued by errors as the Buffs racked up nine in the first, eight in the second and 11 in the third game as the Buffs tallied 28 errors for the second straight night.
Sutherland added six digs and Gibson notched seven in the loss. Alex Buth earned her first career double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs while hitting .238. Kristen Karlik tallied a team-best 14 digs. Ashley Nu'u handed out 47 assists, including 20 in the first game, to lead the Buffs to a .181 attack percentage.
The Buffs got out of the gate fast in the first game and led the Wahine till midway through the game. Hawai'i took its first lead at 16-15 and increased it to 22-18. Colorado went on a 7-2 to retake the lead at 25-24. Both teams went back and forth and Hawai'i was forced to take a timeout with a Buffalo lead at 28-27 of a kill from Buth. The Wahine took the next two points and CU called a timeout. Colorado took the next two points, but were unable to close out the game as UH took the following two points for the win at 32-30.
The Wahine got out to an early lead in the second game with an 11-7 advantage. UH continued to hold its lead and increased its lead to 20-14. Colorado got back within three at 19-22, but UH once again pulled away with a 4-1 run. The Wahine took the set 30-23 and attacked at a match-high .389 percentage with 17 kills, three errors and 36 attacks.
UH took the lead to begin the third game and even had a four-point lead at 7-3, but CU tied up the game at 11. The Wahine pulled away from the Buffs with four straight points, making the score 15-11. Colorado came back with four consecutive points of its own with kills from Austin Zimmerman, Gibson and Buth and an ace from Karlik. This time Hawai'i responded with nine points to lead 24-15. The Wahine finished the game 30-20 to claim the match.
Colorado (1-2) will wrap up the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic tomorrow night with a contest against the fifth-ranked Florida Gators. Florida enters the match with a 2-1 record and is 1-1 in the classic with a win against Hawai'i and a loss to UCLA.
