Hawaiin Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic (Shotgun Spratling)

The All-American junior outside hitter for No. 4 Hawai’i was in disbelief as the fifth set of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic finale ended in a win for No. 10 USC (23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 15-7) Sunday night. Each of the past two seasons, Danielson led the Rainbow Wahine in knocking USC out of the NCAA tournament, but this was a completely different Trojan squad.

Sweat sat in beads upon Danielson's brow. Her back arched with each deep inhalation as she watched USC coach Mick Haley make yet another substitution.

The Women of Troy (6-0) continually cycled in waves of fresh legs while Danielson saw only one four-point rest throughout the entire five-set match in front of a near capacity crowd at the Stan Sherriff Center in Honolulu.

“We had a bench that was available, and we had a lot of performances that were really good,” Haley said, noting the play of freshmen Kirby Burnham and Sara Shaw. “When you have people coming off the bench like that and playing well, it wears down the other team.”

In the fifth set, the presence of 6-foot-5 freshman Alexis Olgard in the middle gave Hawai’i (5-1) fits.

“She gave us size, which they couldn’t handle,” Haley said. “I brought [Olgard] in at 6-foot-5, and [Hawai’i] just lost their minds saying how can he keep bringing them in. Alexis just kept getting better and in the fifth set she had a monster match.”

Olgard contributed to each of USC’s final five points in the set. She blocked three shots, caused another to be mishit and spiked an errant Hawai’i set attempt as the Women of Troy dominated a tired home team.

The first two sets were back-and-forth with Hawai’i taking the first set despite falling into a 12-7 deficit early. Sophomore Katie Fuller hit an impressive .625 on eight attempts but overall the Women of Troy only managed a .194 hitting percentage after committing seven attack errors and four service errors. USC bounced back in the second set 25-22 by limiting their errors (4) and turning up the defense (five blocks). 

In the third set, the Women of Troy used a 6-2 run to push ahead and finish the set on a 5-1 run to capture an impressive 25-17 set win. But the Rainbow Wahine responded in the fourth set, showing why they were national semifinalists last season. They opened up a 9-3 lead that USC could never catch.

Junior Alex Jupiter earned tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, capping a stellar weekend with a 22-kill, 16-dig double-double. She also received Pac-10 honors as Player of the Week and was named Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week.

Haley said Jupiter needed a solid early season tournament after ending last year on a low note when she finished with nine errors and only five kills against Hawai’i.

“She’s felt bad about that and wanted to improve her game,” Haley said. “The real test will be can she play up to that level every weekend, and when she can’t, can she still be effective without a big dip in her game?”

Jupiter was helped by fellow outside hitter Katie Fuller. The sophomore carried the Women of Troy through the first three sets, hitting .500 with 14 kills and adding six blocks. She finished with a career-high 17 kills.

Fuller also hit well against Michigan State (8 kills, .312 hitting percentage) on Saturday night, showing a depth that Haley believes will be a strength once the rugged Pac-10 schedule begins.

“I think that’s going to make a difference because everyone that’s been playing seven people pretty much has trouble at the end [of the season] now. We’ve tried to convince the kids that the only way to do this is to be deep and hopefully three deep at every position.”

USC looks to stay undefeated when they host Virginia Friday night at 7 p.m.

The first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a free "White Out The Cavs" t-shirt.

To reach reporter Shotgun Spratling, click here.

Sign up for Neon Tommy's weekly e-mail newsletter.