By Tiff Wells.

November 27, 2002. Fresh off their WAC Tournament Title at Nevada on the 24th, Hawai‘i stayed on the mainland and headed to the Beehive State for two matches. A sweep at BYU in Provo on the 26th, second-ranked Hawai‘i headed north to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Utes to end the regular season. Eighteen kills and nine digs from Kim Willoughby. Lauren Duggins had herself a match (13 kills, seven digs, eight blocks and hit .478). Lily Kahumoku added 14 kills, Maja Gustin hit .400 and Melissa Villaroman led the defense with 13 digs. The Rainbow Wahine trailed 29-28 in set 1 before a 3-0 run closed out the set 31-29, including back-to-back blocks by Duggins. UH went on to sweep the Utes (31-29, 30-16, 30-18), ending the regular season with a record of 30-1. The win also gave head coach Dave Shoji the 800th win of his career. The win in Salt Lake City was UH’s fifth over a six-day span.

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