Wahine reach new heights in win over UC Irvine

IRVINE, Calif. >> Seeds planted in frustration nearly a year ago bloomed vigorously for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team Tuesday night.

The Rainbow Wahine, ranked eighth nationally, secured their first outright Big West Conference championship in three years by defeating UC Irvine 26-24, 25-21, 25-14 at the Bren Events Center.

After finishing second last season, UH (24-1, 14-0) won its 19th match in a row for its fifth conference title in seven seasons and coach Dave Shoji’s 24th of his career.

“All of our hard work has paid off,” said opposite hitter Nikki Taylor, who finished with a match-high 20 kills while adding three block assists and four digs. “We put a lot of hard work into winning the season in the preseason.”

The memory of a disappointing season ignited that hard work. Last year, the Wahine finished second at 13-3 after being picked to win the Big West.

“We dropped a few matches in conference and didn’t win the conference,” Shoji said. “I think it was a wake-up call for all of us. We didn’t want it to happen this year. It’s been pretty much the theme of the whole year to win the conference.”

Taylor viewed that commitment as a personal challenge.

“For me, I definitely had that in the back of my head,” Taylor said about a Big West title. “I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to last season.

“I’ve been working on being consistent in all aspects of my game. I’m becoming more consistent in digging and more productive hitting and blocking. I’ve definitely improved in being more of a power force on the court.”

Taylor demonstrated that power in Set 2. With the scored tied 17-17, the former Kaiser High standout pounded four kills during a 5-1 spree that put UH ahead 22-18. Taylor amassed eight kills during the second set.

Before Taylor’s outburst, Irvine (12-14, 6-8) exploited the Wahine’s tendency toward rough starts. The teams were tied 10 times in the first set and exchanged the lead five times.

“It’s fairly typical where we struggle, especially in the opening set,” Shoji said. “We weren’t smooth. We had a few breakdowns. But as the match went along, we seemed to take charge and carry out our responsibilities.”

The Anteaters held a 20-18 lead in Set 1 when UH used a 5-1 surge to move ahead, 23-21. Taylor had a kill and a solo block, with Olivia Magill adding a tip and another solo block.

Irvine forced a 24-24 tie on Harlee Kekauoha’s kill. But Emily Maglio’s kill off Tayler Higgins’ quick set put UH ahead, then Maglio and Kendra Koelsch combined on a block to win the set.

“We sided out really quickly,” Taylor said. “We did a nicer job in this game than in most of our games in the beginning part of conference. We didn’t let them get on too many runs. If we were down, we came back right away. We might have let only two or three points slip.”

Magill became the force during the third set after UH took a 7-2 advantage. The senior middle hitter amassed five of her 10 kills in the match, all resulting from Higgins’ quick sets. Higgins finished with 45 assists.

As one of two seniors on this year’s team, Magill impressed Shoji with contributions beyond numbers.

“If you look at her stats, they’re just unbelievable,” Shoji said. “But ‘Liv’ has taken a lot more responsibility in the locker room this year,” Shoji said. “She’s quiet, but now she feels a little more sense of responsibility.”

With two matches left in Big West play, the Wahine will try for their 20th successive win Thursday night at Cal Poly.

“I’m not sure what our mental state will be,” Shoji said with a smile. “I think it’ll be a little more relaxed. But we still want to be undefeated.”

No. 7 Hawaii def. Uc Irvine 26-24, 25-21, 25-14

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 — Hawaii 6 (Higgins 2, Taylor 2, Greeley, Granato). UC Irvine 2 (Rosenfeld, Kekauoha). Service errors — Hawaii 4 (Taylor 2, Higgins, Ponce). UC Irvine 4 (Frost, Kekauoha, Taylor, Tsujimoto). Assists — Hawaii 51 (Higgins 45, Koelsch 3, Taylor, Ponce, Kahakai). UC Irvine 34 (Anderson 30, Tsujimoto 2, Blair 2).
T — 1:31. Officials — Maile Jewkes, Kaili Kimura. A — 639.

Big West Volleyball

Tuesday
Hawaii def. UC Irvine, 26-24, 25-21, 25-14

Thursday
Hawaii at Cal Poly, 2 p.m.

Friday
Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State
UC Riverside at CSUN

Saturday
Long Beach State at UC Riverside
UC Davis at UC Irvine
Hawaii at UC Santa Barbara
CSUN at Cal State Fullerton