Women’s volleyball triumphs in three-game Hawaii tournament

The No. 25 UCLA women’s volleyball team travelled to Hawaii looking for a chance to recover from their loss against then-No.1 Penn State just a week before. They found their redemption and more, taking home the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge title after a three-match, unbeaten run.

A week removed from a win against an experienced No. 12 Illinois team that was followed by a lopsided 0-3 defeat against defending national champion Penn State, another disappointment may have seemed like a possibility.

This weekend, UCLA came back with a victorious performance in its final tournament match against Utah State. It escaped with narrow victories in the first two sets, then a third set loss led to a crucial fourth set needed to guarantee UCLA’s victory. Up 20-15, the Bruins rallied off five of the final six points in the match and transformed the team’s road trip into a dream Hawaiian vacation.

A final service error by the Aggies ultimately handed UCLA its third consecutive win of the week and allowed the Bruins to claim the 2014 Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge title.

It concluded a successful weekend for the Bruins, who traveled some three thousand miles to the island of Oahu in Hawaii to partake in the tournament.

A first-day victory over the University of San Francisco (5-3) catapulted UCLA into its second round match up hometown favorite, No. 22 University of Hawai’i (6-3), the Rainbow Warriors now becoming the third top-25 ranked team the Bruins faced in their past four games.

Although they did not win any set by more than two points, the Bruins, led by senior Karsta Lowe, outlasted a close contest that saw each team’s point total tied on 39 separate occasions.

Lowe, an outside hitter, recorded 17 kills in the matchup with Hawai’i alone and a total of 55 kills over the course of the three-game tournament.

The Bruins’ Hawaiian tournament showcased another senior standout in setter Julie Consani. With a weekend team-high 44 assists in the championship match, Consani finished averaging just over 38 assists per game in the Bruins’ victorious weekend.

This upcoming weekend, UCLA will travel much closer to home as it heads to Cal State Fullerton to compete in its final three non-conference matches before entering Pac-12 Conference play the following Tuesday.

Compiled by Erik Kaye, Bruin Sports contributor.