University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team alone atop Big West with win at Long Beach State

Hawaii fought off a Long Beach State rally to finish off a four-set road victory today and claimed sole possession of first place in the Big West women’s volleyball standings.

UH outside hitter Riley Wagoner led four Rainbow Wahine attackers in double figures with 15 kills in a 25-21, 25-11, 21-25, 25-19 win at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.

Playing near her hometown, UH middle blocker Skyler Williams had 11 kills and six blocks and teamed with fellow senior Brooke Van Sickle on a block to end the match.

Van Sickle finished with 12 kills and 17 digs and middle blocker Amber Igiede added 11 kills on 14 error-less attempts for a career-high .786 hitting percentage. Igiede and Tiffany Westerberg, who made her first start of the season, were also in on six of UH’s 13 blocks.

UH (16-6, 13-1 Big West) began the day tied with UC Santa Barbara for the top spot in the conference. But the Gauchos dropped a four-set loss to Cal Poly at home to fall a game behind the Rainbow Wahine with three weekends left in the regular season.

Kashauna Williams, the Big West leader in kills per set, led Long Beach State (10-15, 4-10) with 14 kills with 11 errors and hit .081. The Beach hit .133 as a team, while UH finished at .287.

Skyler Williams opened and closed the first set with solo blocks and UH hit .545 to run away with the second set. Long Beach State battled back and closed the third set on a 4-0 run to extend the match.

With the fourth set tied at 15-all, UH went on a 5-0 run with Janelle Gong on the service line. With UH leading 23-19, Williams put away her final kill to give UH match point. Her block alongside Van Sickle closed out UH’s ninth consecutive win in the series with Long Beach State.

The Wahine return home to face UC Irvine on Friday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in their first match of the season without a cap on attendance.