Balanced attack helps Hawaii women’s volleyball team sweep UC Davis

Hawaii senior Brooke Van Sickle put away 14 kills and the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team finished off a dominant opening weekend in conference play with a sweep of UC Davis on Saturday in Davis, Calif.

Van Sickle had no errors in her 23 attempts to hit a career-best .609 and the Rainbow Wahine put together their most efficient hitting performance of the season in the 25-18, 25-13, 25-19 win over the host Aggies at the University Credit Union Center.

Freshman setter Kate Lang ran a balanced UH attack that hit a season-high .396 and the Rainbow Wahine improved to 5-5 overall and 2-0 in the Big West with the program’s 14th straight win in the series with UC Davis.

“She’s distributing the offense,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said in a post-match telephone interview. “She’s taking the middles a little more and it was a pretty even offense today.”

UH’s passing allowed Lang to feed middle blockers Amber Igiede and Skyler Williams and the duo combined for 19 kills while hitting .471. Igiede finished with 11 kills in 17 attempts and was in on five of UH’s nine blocks. Williams added eight kills in 17 swings and had three blocks while UC Davis finished with a total of two blocks.

“(The Aggies) were loading up on the middles,” Ah Mow said. “They had two (blockers) up almost all the time and Sky had a couple times with three people up and she’s still killing it.”

Janelle Gong popped up a career-high 11 digs to match Van Sickle for match-high honors and lead the UH defense. Riley Wagoner finished with 10 to go along with eight kills.

“When we do our jobs it makes volleyball a lot more fun,” Van Sickle said. “We’re converting stuff we’re working on in practice to the court now. We’re covering (hitters) more, we’re passing better, we’re running our middles more. Day by day I think we’re increasing our skills.”

Lang had a career-high 38 assists, eight digs and three blocks. She made her first career start in UH ‘s sweep at UC Riverside and the Wahine posted a .359 hitting percentage over the road trip after a .182 showing in nonconference play.

“In the preseason (Lang) wasn’t starting, but no matter what, she had a good attitude. She came in the gym and worked hard,” Van Sickle said. “She came in completely calm, ran the court very well, was able to spread out our offense well.”

Lana Radakovic led UC Davis (5-8, 1-1) with 12 kills and the Aggies hit .208 after a .398 performance in a win over UC Riverside last Tuesday. UCD kills leader Amara Aimufua finished with eight kills on 26 attempts.

Coming off its own sweep at UC Riverside, UH led throughout the first set and took control with a 5-0 run capped by a block by Igiede and Lang to give the Wahine a 21-12 lead. UC Davis closed to 23-18 with a four-point run, but UH finished the set with a kill by Braelyn Akana and a Van Sickle ace.

The Wahine went on an 8-0 run with Igiede on the service line to take command of the second set and her ace pushed the UH lead to 13-4. A solo block by Van Sickle to end a long rally gave UH set point and Williams ended it with a kill in the middle.

“We know she can do that and go in and play some defense, so it’s not surprising,” Ah Mow said of Igiede’s extended serving turn.

UH raced out to a 13-5 lead in the third set, but UC Davis went on a 7-0 run to take a 16-15 lead. Tiffany Westerberg, making her first appearance since the season’s opening weekend, put away back-to-back kills to break the momentum and give UH the lead again.

“Made a little sub with Tiff to slow the pace of the game and she came in and did great,” Ah Mow said.

Igiede took over late with three kills and a block and UH surged to a 22-18 lead. Lang got a solo block after a UH overpass and kills from Williams and Van Sickle ended the match as the Wahine closed with a 6-1 run.

UH returns home to face Long Beach State (6-7, 0-2) on Friday and Cal State Fullerton (4-5, 1-1) on Sunday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.