Hawaii’s conference winning streak ended right where it began.
UC Santa Barbara overpowered the Rainbow Wahine in a 25-16, 25-16, 25-23 sweep on Friday at the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif., to hand UH its first loss of the Big West women’s volleyball season and snap the program’s run of 19 consecutive wins in conference play.
UCSB middle blocker Rowan Ennis put away 11 kills, including match point, and the Gauchos (13-9, 9-1 Big West) posted a .359 hitting percentage while edging past UH into first place.
The Rainbow Wahine (11-6, 8-1) ended the match at .174 and will look to rebound today when they close their road trip at Cal State Northridge at 4 p.m.
“The loss is gone, can’t go back, we just have to look forward right now,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said in a phone interview. “We can’t dwell on that, we just have to learn and take some stuff from that and we have to move on, quickly.”
The Rainbow Wahine were coming off a loss at Cal Poly on Oct. 12, 2019, when they bounced back by sweeping UC Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome. UH would win the next 10 matches as well to close the regular season and capture the Big West title.
They entered Friday’s match as the lone undefeated team in conference play this season, but the winning streak appeared in jeopardy from the start.
Ennis hit .714 with just one error in 14 attempts and fellow middle blocker Deni Wilson had four kills in seven attempts and was in on eight of UCSB’s 11 blocks. Hawaii entered the match as the top blocking team in the Big West but finished the night with three as the Gauchos controlled in every facet.
UCSB outside hitter Abrielle Bross put away 10 kills in 23 error-less swings to hit .435 and Michelle Ohwobete added 10 kills on .391 hitting and served three of the Gauchos’ four aces. The Gauchos committed just seven hitting errors to UH’s 21.
UH was swept for the first time since a loss to No. 22 San Diego on Sept. 3 in the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City and Ah Mow saw similarities between the losses.
“Volleyball comes down to who wins the serve-pass game,” Ah Mow said. “I think San Diego was probably the hardest serving team, but somehow we just didn’t pass very well (on Friday). When we don’t pass very well we have to go outside, outside.”
UH outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle led the Rainbow Wahine with 11 kills in 30 attempts and middle blocker Amber Igiede added 10.
Punahou graduate Mehana Ma’a went on a four-point service run early in the first set and had a three-point turn in the second as the Gauchos ran away with both sets. UCSB’s passing helped the Gauchos to sideout at 88% (15-for-17) in the first set and Ma’a and fellow setter Grace Kloss ran an attack that hit .379 over the first two sets while UH struggled to a .098 showing.
The third set was far more competitive, with UH taking a 10-7 lead and later rallying from a 17-14 deficit to tie it at 19-19. After UH tied it again at 22-22, Wilson put down a kill in the middle and a Wahine hitting error gave UCSB match point.
Van Sickle extended the match with a kill, but Ma’a set up Ennis for the final kill of the night.
Ma’a led UCSB with 23 assists, while Kloss finished with 19 assists. Libero Macall Peed had a match-high 23 digs in UCSB’s first home win over the Wahine since 1993. UH had won in its last 10 visits to the Thunderdome.
