Wahine dominate UC Santa Barbara

That was one heck of a mulligan.

Throw out Set 2 and it appears Hawaii simply dominated its Big West volleyball match with UC Santa Barbara Sunday evening at the Stan Sheriff Center. But put it back into play and what it showed was the Rainbow Wahine’s ability to rebound and refocus after coming out of the locker room tied with the Gauchos in a critical contest for both teams.

Sophomore hitter Nikki Taylor — sans protective elbow brace — put down a career-high 22 kills and Hawaii got career nights on the defensive end from senior libero Sarah Mendoza (25 digs) and junior hitter Ginger Long (13) in defeating UC Santa Barbara 25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-16 in front of 4,080. Junior middle Olivia Magill and freshman hitter Kalei Greeley added 10 kills each for the Rainbow Wahine (14-5, 6-2 Big West), who will take a modest two-match winning streak on the road this week at UC Irvine (15-7, 5-3) on Friday and Cal State Fullerton (7-15, 1-8) on Saturday.

Sunday was the first time that Hawaii went exactly four sets in conference play this season. The matches had either gone three (seven times) or five (once).

"After Set 2, we said let’s get it done in four," said Taylor, who had three of the team’s four aces. "We came out with more intensity. We were able to focus on our side of the court and get it done.

"I was given a lot of good opportunities from (setter Tayler Higgins) and tried to be as strategic as possible. Higgins gave me those opportunities."

As for the brace that she had worn since spraining her right elbow during summer, Taylor had two choices: Wear it with extra padding to cover the metal or go without it, wearing a sleeve over heavy taping.

Big West official Kevin Cull, who was the up referee for both Friday’s and Sunday’s matches, had questioned the legality of the brace with the metal exposed. Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said he was told just prior to Sunday’s match that it would have to be padded or taken off.

"I found out about 45 minutes before the match," Taylor said. "Adding the padding would have just added to the weight and what I’ve disliked about it is that it’s already heavy. We decided to go without it."

"I think it freed her up," Shoji said. "She felt looser. She was tentative at first, but you could see her confidence grow, was able to hit a variety of shots.

"Nikki stepped up tonight, Ginger stepped it up tonight, made some great defensive plays, passed solid. We needed those career highs tonight."

Long was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Sept. 12 and was replacing junior Tai Manu-Olevao, who sat out Sunday for religious beliefs. Shoji said Long had earned her way back up the depth chart after a very good practice week.

"We knew Sunday (without Manu-Olevao) was coming and we needed someone to step it up," Long said. "Nikki was huge and I knew I had to step up, too. I’m not the big terminator."

Long, hitting negative most of the night, finished with seven kills and hit .000. The one that was most emphatic was late in Set 4 on a service overpass that she hesitated on, thinking about yielding to Magill, but took it instead for a 20-15 lead.

That kill came during the Wahine’s 6-0 decisive run that pushed the margin to 23-15. The Gauchos ended Savanah Kahakai’s 5-0 stint at the service line with a kill from freshman hitter Chantal Hoffman, but Hawaii answered with an overpass kill by senior middle Kalei Adolpho and Magill’s final kill to end it after 2 hours and 5 minutes.

Hawaii, the leading blocking team in the conference, outblocked UCSB 10-5, Higgins was in on seven and Adolpho five. Hawaii also won the dig war 84-74, with Kahakai finishing with 15.

Sophomore libero Ali Spindt led three Gauchos in double-digit digs with 25. Junior hitter Ali Barbeau had a team-high 16 kills and Hoffman 10.

The key adjustment Hawaii made after Set 2 was letting Taylor serve — she had been subbed out for Kahakai in the first two sets — and have Kahakai serve for Greeley. It gave the Wahine another back-row attack option with Taylor and it was a huge difference.

Shoji credited his associate coach Scott Wong for the change. It worked also with Taylor’s serving with her second service rotation in Set 3 quite an extended one. Her kill gave Hawaii a 15-13 lead and, when she was done from the service line, she had two aces and the Wahine were up 22-13.

HAWAII DEF. UC SANTA BARBARA 25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-16

GAUCHOS (9-10, 4-4)

RAINBOW WAHINE (14-5, 6-2)

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — UCSB 2 (Hoffman 2). Hawaii 4 (Taylor 3, Higgins). Service errors — UCSB 5 (Hoffman 3, Villanueva, Barbeau). Hawaii 8 (Long 3, Higgins 3, Greeley, Ponce). Assists — UCSB 41 (Nielson 24, Santi 16, Hoffman). Hawaii 56 (Higgins 49, Mendoza 3, Koelsch 2, Long, Kahakai). T — 2:05. A — 4,080. Referees — Kevin Cull, Dickson Chun.

BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL

Sunday
Hawaii def. UC Santa Barbara 25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-16
Friday
Hawaii at UC Irvine, 4 p.m.
Saturday
Hawaii at CSU Fullerton, 4 p.m.