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A five-set duel between Hawaii’s next two opponents on Tuesday gave the Rainbow Wahine coaching staff an extended scouting opportunity ahead of this week’s Big West road trip.
But the team’s focus remained predominantly internal before facing the two early contenders in the conference race.
“I think this whole season is going to be about taking care of what we can take care of on our side,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said prior to the team’s departure. “Again, I’m going to say everybody comes to play Hawaii. They bring their ‘A’ game against us.”
After fending off a threat to their conference winning streak on Sunday, the Rainbow Wahine (7-5, 4-0 Big West) face Big West newcomer UC San Diego today at 4 p.m. in their first visit to the Tritons’ RIMAC Arena. They’ll then drive north to Orange County to close the road trip Saturday at UC Irvine (11-4, 4-1) in a 2 p.m. match at the Bren Events Center.
The Wahine won their first 11 sets in Big West play before Cal State Fullerton rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set in Sunday’s match at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Wahine managed to regroup and led throughout the final set to win their 15th straight Big West match and remain tied with UC Santa Barbara atop the standings.
“I know it’s a five-setter, but things (were) learned from that,” Ah Mow said of surviving the scare. “I think that’s a good thing that happened now instead of late in the season.”
The Wahine will take the lessons from the close call into today’s meeting with Big West newcomer UC San Diego.
The Tritons entered the week tied with UC Irvine but saw a three-match winning streak end on Tuesday when the Anteaters rallied for a 25-15, 14-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-11 win at RIMAC Arena.
Despite the loss, UC San Diego has put together a solid start to its debut season in the Big West after moving up to Division I in 2020.
The Tritons dropped their first seven matches before posting the program’s first Division I win on Sept. 10 against Southeastern Louisiana. They opened the Big West season with a loss at UC Santa Barbara before stringing together wins over Cal State Northridge, UC Riverside and UC Davis.
The Tritons’ lineup includes a couple of Hawaii ties. Libero Naya Dong, an ‘Iolani graduate, ranks third in the conference with 4.21 digs per set. Senior opposite Trinity Castaneda began her college career at Hawaii in 2018 and has picked up her production in conference play with 11 kills in three of the last four matches to raise her season average to 2.11 per set.
Sabire Karacova, a freshman from Turkey, leads the Tritons with 2.82 kills per set overall and 3.19 in Big West matches.
UC Irvine has already exceeded its 2019 overall and conference win totals, led by outside hitter Joy Umeh, a high school teammate of UH middle blocker Skyler Williams.
Umeh put away a match-high 17 kills against UCSD on Tuesday and leads UC Irvine with 3.53 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the conference. Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, leads the Big West with 1.35 blocks per set and ranks second with a .429 hitting percentage while averaging 3.20 kills per set.
The Anteaters went 5-23 in 2019 and 2-14 in conference play. But one of their conference wins was a stunning five-set comeback against then-No. 11 UH in Manoa.
BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL
At RIMAC Arena, San Diego
Hawaii (7-5, 4-0 BWC) vs. UC San Diego (6-10, 3-2)
>> When: Today, 4 p.m.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1420-AM/92.7-FM
>> Online: ESPN+
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