Wahine volleyball defeats Gauchos for fifth win in a row

Nothing worth having comes easy. Hawaii proved that on Friday night when the Rainbow Wahine kept alive their dreams of a Big West volleyball title — as well as their postseason hopes — in Goleta, Calif.

The Rainbow Wahine (9-5, 5-0) grinded out their fifth consecutive victory, defeating UC Santa Barbara for a 10th straight time, 19-25, 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 15-10. The 2-hour, 20-minute win set up tonight’s crucial showdown 100 miles up the road in San Luis Obispo against No. 13 Cal Poly (15-1, 5-0).

“Obviously I’m happy we came out with a win, but I’m not happy with the play,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said after her team hit just .138 with 31 hitting errors and 14 service errors. “We had 51 errors and that’s the points that make up the two sets (the Gauchos) won.

“We can’t have that tomorrow. We’ll get smoked if we do. We’ll get swept.”

The defending conference champion Mustangs are waiting, having had the entire week to prepare for Hawaii. It’s “Blackout Night” in Mott Gym for Cal Poly, which has several impressive winning streaks on the line: 14 matches, 22 Big West matches and 16 home matches.

“We’ve got a lot to work on for this one,” said senior libero Tita Akiu, whose ace ended Friday night’s marathon. “We need to take care of our jobs, take care of our side, play our game and go big.

“Tonight, we just didn’t take care of our side, we created the situation that allowed it to go to five.”

Hawaii needed career nights from several players to turn back the Gauchos (12-7, 4-3) in the Thunderdome.

Besides Akiu having her UH career high in digs (26), senior middle Sarah Liva had her best match with 11 kills and sophomore defensive specialist Rika Okino added 13 digs.The Wahine also had a season-high 12 blocks, led by junior middle Natasha Burns’ eight.

Three Wahine turned in double-doubles, led by senior McKenna Granato’s 16 kills and 14 digs. Senior setter Faith Ma’afala had 19 assists and 16 digs, while junior setter-hitter Norene Iosia had 10 kills and 23 assists, and was one dig away from her third triple-double of the season.

For the most part, Hawaii was able to contain UCSB’s Lindsey Ruddins, ranked No. 2 nationally in kills and points. The junior hitter, who was playing with an injured (non-hitting) wrist, finished with 16 kills, nearly 10 off her average. She had nine through Set 3, got away for six in Set 4, then just one in the deciding fifth.

Ruddins hit .043 while taking 70 of the Gauchos’ 173 swings. Senior Emilia Petrachi had 29 digs for UCSB, which hit .081.

“I thought our block did a good job on keeping (Ruddins) contained,” Akiu said. “They were able to block her or get touches to slow her down.”

As for the match-ending ace that landed inside the back line, Akiu said: “I was just trying to get the ball in and give our team a chance to end it. When they called it in, I was like, ‘We’ll take it.’”

Hawaii dominated Set 2 but had to chase for much of Set 3. The Wahine tied it at 14 on Burns’ first kill of the night.

Granato’s 3-0 service run included two of her three aces, pushing the Wahine ahead 17-14. The Gauchos rallied, blocking McKenna Ross twice to tie at 19.

Granato was aced, giving UCSB what would be its last lead at 21-20. Liva tied it with her eighth kill, sending Okino to the service line. She never left, with Hawaii using a block of Ruddins and three UCSB errors to end it at 25-21.

The Wahine never found a rhythm in Set 4 and faced set point down 24-16 before a mini rally made the score respectable when they held off three set points. Hawaii opened Set 5 by jumping out to an 8-2 lead at the changeover.

UCSB made runs to close to 8-4, 12-9 and 13-10. Hawaii held, using a block of Nicole Omwanghe and Akiu’s ace to finish it.