The Hawaii women’s volleyball team received its greatest test of the season Friday night, a meeting with two-time defending national champion Texas in Austin.

UH had its moments, especially in a nervy second set, but the Longhorns were too good at home in a 25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19 win over the Rainbow Wahine in a packed Gregory Gymnasium.

National kills leader Caylen Alexander put down 20 balls on 45 swings, hitting .267, and supplied four blocks, while Stella Adeyemi supplied 11 kills.

In an unexpected development, the Wahine (6-3) outblocked the larger Longhorns 8-4 in front of an announced crowd of 4,521 in the middle match of a three-game road trip. No. 20 Baylor (7-3), which got swept at home by Texas (5-3) on Wednesday, plays host to UH at 2 p.m. Hawaii time Saturday in the final leg of the trip.

Coming off of a five-set loss to UNLV on Tuesday, UH appeared a bit shellshocked by the task of matching up with the Longhorns of the SEC in Set 1 and allowed the hosts to put down 12 kills against just one error (.611) in the frame compared to UH’s .130.

UH’s offense improved as the match progressed as it found ways to minimize its attack errors, while Alexander probed the Texas defense from all angles. UH could not, however, get consistent offense from its starting middles, as Miliana Sylvester and Jacyn Bamis combined for only eight kills. They each got in on four blocks.

UH's third primary pin hitter, Tali Hakas, was limited to five kills.

After taking a 20-15 lead in Set 2, UH allowing a 7-0 Texas run but the visitors recovered with Alexander putting down three kills over the next six points to even the match at 1-1.

Texas came back hard in Set 3, hitting .417, and was even better offensively in Set 4 at .500 as the Wahine failed to reach the 20-point mark in all three sets that they dropped.

For the match, the Longhorns hit .395 to UH’s .278. Senior setter Kate Lang, a native of Keller, Texas, tallied 32 assists with six digs, a block assist and a kill.

Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott, a UH men’s volleyball player in 1990, is attempting to make his program the first to three-peat in NCAA women’s volleyball championships since Penn State strung together four from 2007 to 2010.

Kailua native Devin Kahahawai showed Friday she has stepped out of her reserve role of the last two years and into one of importance. The 2022 Kamehameha graduate and 6-foot-4 hitter recorded a career-high 12 kills on 21 swings, hitting .476. Kahahawai had her previous best of seven kills last season.

She is one of three Hawaii high school graduates on the Longhorns’ roster. Kamehameha alumna and Honolulu native Keonilei Akana, a senior defensive specialist and who was also part of Texas’ back-to-back title teams, dug six balls against her hometown university. Her mother, Joselyn Robins, is a former Wahine standout.

Freshman setter Rella Binney, a 2024 Punahou graduate from Lanikai, did not see action Friday.

Jenna Wenaas led four Texas players in double-figure kills with 15 against just two errors.

Saturday is UH's nonconference finale. Big West play begins next Friday at home against UC Irvine.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.