Story links
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team defeated host Long Beach State 26-24, 25-15, 25-10 in the championship game of the inaugural OUTRIGGER Resorts Big West Championship tournament on Saturday at the Walter Pyramid. It is Hawaii’s fourth straight Big West title under head coach Robyn Ah Mow.
Second-seeded Rainbow Wahine (23-8) didn’t drop a set in the tournament and earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. UH will be making its 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 41st all-time (excluding the 2021 season, in which UH and the Big West did not participate due to the pandemic). The win marked Hawaii’s 12th Big West title and the program’s 27th overall conference title.
Middle blocker Amber Igiede was named the tournament’s most valuable player after leading the Rainbow Wahine with 16 kills and hitting .522 with two aces and five blocks. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native was unstoppable, averaging 4.67 kills and 1.17 blocks per set and hitting .490 with four service aces in the tournament.
Riley Wagoner had eight kills, four digs and two blocks, while Kennedi Evans finished with seven kills in nine clean attempts and three blocks. Kendra Ham added seven kills and scored. 500 with two aces and four blocks. Setter Kate Lang led a UH offense that hit .330. Lang’s 36 assists edged her past Norene Iosia and placed her ninth on the career assist record list.
The win over fourth-seeded Beach (21-10) was UH’s second in the last week after Rainbow Wahine won in four sets on UH’s Senior Night to close out the regular season in Honolulu. After surviving Set 1 with a 26-24 win, UH continued to roll in Sets 2 and 3, hitting a combined .404 while limiting the Beach to .059. Hawaii recorded five of its six aces in the final two sets and eight of its 11 team blocks.
UH built a 16-11 lead in the first set after a 6-1 run. The Beach got within two points at 22-20, but a kill by Igiede and an LBSU net violation gave the Bows the point. LBSU erased three set points to tie the game at 24. After a service error from Beach, Wagoner’s fifth kill gave Rainbow Wahine the set.
An early three-point run by UH led to a 7-4 lead. Hawaii continued to hold the lead but couldn’t shake off Beach as it got within one at 14-13. But the Bows turned on the afterburners, scoring 13 of the final 15 points to take the second set 25-15.
Hawai’i started Set 3 brightly, sprinting to a 7-0 lead and forcing Beach to call both timeouts before they scored a point. Hawai’i hit .667 in the deciding third set. UH was effective from the service line throughout the game with six aces and did not commit any service receiving errors. While UH’s offense was humming, the Bows’ defense didn’t drop a ball.
In the 97-minute sweep, the Rainbow Wahine dominated in almost every statistical category. UH had the advantage in kills (44-29), assists (39-28), service aces (6-0), digs (29-22) and blocks (11.0-3.0).
Long Beach State had just a .123 batting average for the game. The Beach was led by Elise Agi, who had eight kills. Zayna Meyer had 23 assists and Jenna Giambi had a team-high six digs.
Hawaii now awaits the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. HT on ESPN. The tournament begins with the first and second rounds from November 30th to December. 3.
#HawaiiWVB