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A career night for Hawaii freshman Martyna Leoniak fueled a bounce-back win for the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team Saturday.
Leoniak put down a career-high 15 kills and served up five aces to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a four-set win over Cal State Northridge at The Matadome in Northridge, Calif.
Her final ace of the night closed out UH’s 25-15, 22-25, 25-15, 25-21 win over the Matadors and the Wahine (12-6, 9-1 Big West) closed the first half of the Big West season tied with UC Santa Barbara for first place in the conference standings.
A starter to open the season, Leoniak had seen limited action as a serving substitute for most of the Big West season before returning to the front-row rotation last weekend in a win over Cal State Bakersfield. The outside hitter from Poland made her fifth start of the season and first since Sept. 2 on Saturday and hit .469 with no errors in 32 attempts firing from the right side. She also contributed 10 digs and four blocks to help UH rebound from a loss at UCSB on Friday.
“During the match my confidence was going higher and higher,” Leoniak said in a phone interview. “It was also because of my teammates, good passes and good sets.”
UH middle blocker Skyler Williams added 10 kills in 18 attempts to hit .333 and was in on five of UH’s 13 total blocks a night after posting just three blocks at UCSB. Setter Kate Lang finished with 43 assists and tied Tayli Ikenaga for team-high honors with 14 digs.
UH allowed six aces to CSUN, but coach Robyn Ah Mow noted improved passing after the Wahine struggled in serve receive while hitting .174 against UCSB. UH hit .304 as a team against CSUN with 13 errors after committing 21 in three sets Friday.
“We passed a lot better than last night, which allows the setter to have one-on-ones,” Ah Mow said.
“(Friday’s sweep by UCSB) was a little devastating, even as a coach … and to come back after that mentally, I think they did great.”
Nicole Nevarez led CSUN (4-16, 3-7) with 13 kills, Taylor Orshoff finished with 10 and the Matadors hit a collective .169 with 27 hitting errors.
UH led throughout the first set, starting with an ace by Lang, and pulled away late with a 6-0 run capped by back-to-back aces by Leoniak that gave UH a 23-13 lead.
“That’s a given, that’s why I put her in the back,” Ah Mow said of Leoniak’s serving prowess. “People are probably like, ‘She subs the other girl out and puts a 6-foot-3 girl in to do what? Serve and play defense?’ Yeah, because she can. There was never a doubt for me from the service line.”
After running away with the first set, Ah Mow said the Wahine played “too loose” in the second. CSUN hit .364 in the set to UH’s .244 and closed with a 5-2 burst to tie the match.
Ah Mow altered the lineup for the third set, with freshman Mia Johnson entering the match in place of senior Brooke Van Sickle, who had played in all 60 sets this season and led UH with 3.93 kills per set entering the match. Van Sickle finished the night with five kills in 19 swings and Johnson posted four kills in 10 attempts.
Johnson played in the front row in her first action since Sept. 11 and defensive specialist Janelle Gong handled back-row duties. Ah Mow stuck with the combination as the Wahine raced out to 21-8 lead after Williams was in on back-to-back blocks.
“The chemistry and everything that was flowing on the court was just better,” Ah Mow said of the third set.
There were 11 ties and four lead changes in the fourth set and UH led 22-21 when a CSUN hitting error and a double-contact call gave UH match point. Leoniak’s serve was sent into the crowd to end the match.
“It was a lucky ace, but it was a really nice feeling,” Leoniak said.
UH returns home to face UC Davis on Friday and UC Riverside on Saturday, with fans allowed into SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center for the first time this season.
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