HONOLULU – Competing in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic, the American University volleyball team dropped a three-set match to 17th-ranked host Hawaii, 22-25, 18-25, 20-25.

With the loss, the Eagles fall to 3-3 on the season, while the Rainbow Wahine improved to 5-0 on the year.

Senior Allison Cappellino led the Eagles with 10 kills, while freshman Aleksandra Kazala added eight kills and a team-leading eight digs.

In addition, senior setter Monika Smidova, who hit .571 with four kills on seven attempts, became the sixth player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs.

Nikki Taylor led UH with 15 kills, while Kalei Greeley added 10 kills.

In the first set, the Eagles fell into an early 9-2 deficit, but went on a 9-1 run to gain the lead. The two teams began to trade points, but after a pair of UH kills broke a 14-14 tie, AU was unable to recover.

In the final two sets, Hawaii hit over 50 percent and the Eagles never took the lead, despite battling back from large deficits.

"It was a good battle with a very good team," said American head coach Barry Goldberg. "I was proud of our players for battling like they did and keeping their composure and making big plays at times. We're never happy with falling down, but if we can tighten up our game a little bit, I think we have a chance to be a really good team still. I think we're headed in the right direction, but we're not completely there."

The Eagles conclude this weekend's tournament tomorrow, when they face Iowa at 2:30 p.m. (HT). The Hawkeyes dropped a 3-1 decision to Hawaii on Friday, while falling in straight sets against No. 25 UCLA on Saturday.

"We're going to have a big match tomorrow," said Goldberg. "We're looking forward to our match with Iowa. They're a Big Ten team that is vying for a place in that conference to be an NCAA-qualifying team. It should be a good battle for us."