University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine get swept by Cal Poly on the road

Going five sets is never ideal, but on Friday, No. 19 Hawaii would have given anything to have had the chance to do so for the third consecutive match. Instead, the Rainbow Wahine were swept on the road in conference play for the first time since 2014, falling to Cal Poly for a third straight season in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Freshman middle Amber Igiede had a team-high eight kills, but struggling Hawaii (13-3, 3-2) had little else going inside a sold-out Mott Athletics Center. A crowd of 3,032 watched for 104 minutes as the Mustangs (13-5, 6-0) extended the nation’s longest active home winning streak to 28 via a 25-22, 26-24, 25-15 victory.

>> Click here to see photos of the match between Hawaii and Cal Poly.

Junior hitter Maia Dvoracek, the reigning conference player of the week, put down 16 kills and sophomore middle Meredith Phillips was in on four of the team’s six blocks. Cal Poly hit .311, while Hawaii hit a season-low .150.

The Wahine, still without two injured key players in juniors Jolie Rasmussen and Brooke Van Sickle, don’t have much time to dwell on their second loss in three matches. Hawaii faces a rested UC Santa Barbara squad today, the only match of the week for the Gauchos (15-1, 5-0).

If there was a highlight from the night it was the play of senior Norene Iosia, who was at both setter and hitter. She had 18 assists and 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the season and became the 15th Wahine to reach the 1,000-dig career mark (now at 1,006).

“Cal Poly is a good team and they kept the pressure on us,” Iosia said in a telephone call. “I think it was a matter of us staying focused.

“It will be tough (at UCSB), but it’s another chance for us to compete and get a win.”

Hawaii had its chances at the end of Set 2. Behind the serving of Iosia, the Wahine used a 5-0 run to reach the first of two set points at 24-22.

As has happened several times this season — most notably when up in Set 2 17-10 at Baylor — Hawaii couldn’t close. Dvoracek put down three straight kills and Cal Poly went up 2-0 on a hitting error by freshman Braelyn Akana, who was making her first start, moved from middle to outside hitter.

“We had three chances to close out the game, and it didn’t feel like we had an urgency to finish,” Iosia said. “It got a little panicky and chaotic.

“(Winning Set 2) would have given us more confidence. Everyone would have been playing more loose. At the end, it was more about our side of the net, knowing that (Dvoracek) was their go-to hitter and that the ball was going to go to her in that moment.”

Hawaii also had its chances in Set 1, tying it as late as 19-19 and closing to 23-22. The Wahine got no closer as the Mustangs came out of timeout to finish it off on a kill by Phillips and a hitting error by UH senior McKenna Ross.

After tying Set 3 1-1, the Wahine chased the rest of the way. It was 16-6 before Hawaii made a mini run that included the first ace of the season from Ross, cutting the lead to 16-10.

At 21-14, Cal Poly finished it out 5-1, Hawaii’s lone point coming on a Mustangs service error.

It was the first time since Oct. 10, 2014, at Cal State Northridge, that the Wahine lost in straight sets to a conference opponent on the road. Friday also was the first time since Hawaii was swept by UCSB at home last Oct. 27 that the Wahine didn’t have a player reach double-figure kills.

Freshman hitter Hanna Hellvig had a season-low six kills; she had eight straight matches in double digits prior to Friday.