Wahine save season

It wasn’t win or go home.

It was win or likely stay home.

Hawaii’s postseason hopes were on the line Saturday night with Cal State Northridge in the way of the Rainbow Wahine not just remaining in second place in the Big West but remaining in contention for a berth in the NCAA tournament. Friday’s win by Long Beach State all but clinched the conference title and automatic bid into the postseason for the 49ers. Hawaii, with its current Rating Percentage Index of 30, knew it could ill afford a loss to anyone ranked lower in the RPI.

"For those who understand how the RPI works, we knew this was a very, very important game," Wahine junior middle Olivia Magill said. "This game meant a lot to us, especially for the seniors.

"I think everyone realized it was do or die and picked up their game."

Hawaii’s middle did its part, Magill finishing with 12 kills, hitting .611 with one error, and senior middle Kalei Adolpho was in on 10 of Hawaii’s 14 blocks in a 25-16, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18 victory. A vocal Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,037 saw sophomore hitter Nikki Taylor put down a match-high 15 kills and the Wahine avoid losing two conference matches at home for the first time since 1993, when the contests were held in Klum Gym.

"We knew we were playing for our posteason tonight," Adolpho, the senior captain, said. "We talked about it before the game, but we didn’t want to blow it up too much so as to add too much pressure. We needed to stay positive and stay together.

"Losing wasn’t an option."

The victory sent Hawaii (17-6, 9-3) into a bye week feeling very relieved. The loss sent CSUN (14-8, 5-5) home with its fourth loss in five matches and hopes of a second straight NCAA tournament appearance likely gone, snuffed by the top blocking team in the Big West.

Hawaii had six blocks in Set 3 in closing out the match in two hours, five of them by Adolpho, including a solo on Sam Kaul in the middle of a 6-0 run that gave Hawaii match point at 24-17. Highlighting that closing spurt was a slam of an overpass by freshman setter Kendra Koelsch.

The Matadors, who swept the Wahine back on Oct. 10, were led by Cieana Stinson’s 14 kills and 12 from Casey Hinger. Libero Kelcie Randazzo finished with a match-high 18 digs and Danetta Boykin had half of the team’s six aces to go along with 10 kills.

"I’m pretty happy right now; it was probably the best we’ve played all season," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We talked about how it was a very important match and I think everyone understood that. We wanted them to have a sense of urgency without freaking anyone out.

"I think we have hope (for the postseason) and we have a week to work on things before a tough road trip (to UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 21 and Cal Poly on Nov. 22). All we can do is control what we can control, and that’s to go and win out."

After controlling Set 1, things got away from Hawaii in Set 2.

Helped by a 7-1 run midway through set and a late controversial call, the Matadors evened the match. Leading 19-18, it appeared that CSUN’s attack by Boykin never cleared the net, but up official Patsy Malta called a touch on the Hawaii block, making it 20-18.

Magill’s first hitting error in 12 sets made it 23-20. Magill had not had a hitting error since midway through Set 3 eight days ago at UC Irvine, with 28 kills in that span. Hawaii held off one set point but not a second, with Casey putting down her eighth kill to finish it.

The critical Set 3 was tight through 20, with the Wahine gaining separation at 23-21 on a block by Taylor on Stinson and two attack errors by the Matadors.

Adolpho put down her slide attack to give Hawaii set point at 24-21, but CSUN didn’t fold and — shades of Long Beach State’s rally in Set 1 from Friday — the Matadors closed to 24-23. This time it was the Wahine who held, with Stinson hitting long to put Hawaii up 2-1.

BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL

Saturday
Hawaii def. Cal State Northridge 25-16, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18
Cal Poly def. Cal State Fullerton 29-27, 26-28, 25-16, 26-24
UC Davis def. UC Riverside, 25-16, 25-16, 25-22
UC Santa Barbara def. UC Irvine, 25-23, 25-16, 15-25, 25-17

HAWAII DEF. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 25-16, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18 MATADORS (14-8, 5-5)

RAINBOW WAHINE (17-6, 9-3)

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 — Cal State Northridge 6 (Boykin 3, Hinger, Conati, Allen). Hawaii 2 (Higgins, Ponce). Service errors — Cal State Northridge 9 (Hinger 2, Allen 2, Boykin 2, Randazzo 2, Conati). Hawaii 8 (Higgins 3, Manu-Olevao 3, Mendoza 2). Assists — Cal State Northridge 47 (Miller 23, Conati 20, Randazzo 3, Hinger). Hawaii 47 (Higgins 45, Koelsch, Mendoza). T — 2:00. A — 5,037. Referees — Patsy Malta, Dickson Chun.