Peeking through lei stacked to her eyes, Skyler Williams provided a reminder of the main takeaway of her final Hawaii homestand.
“We’re going dancing,” the Hawaii middle blocker shouted after a final set of team photos following Saturday’s senior night match at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UC Santa Barbara saw to it that the evening didn’t go exactly to script for the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, pouncing on its chance to play spoiler with a five-set victory in the final match of the Big West season.
But there was still a celebratory mood in the traditional postgame sendoff for Williams, outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle and Janelle Gong knowing the conference champion Wahine still have a trip to the NCAA Tournament awaiting later this week.
“Prior to walking out and seeing my teammates I felt a little upset — I hate losing,” Williams said after the presentations. “But now I feel loved. All day I felt loved, all week I left loved by the whole island.
“Despite today’s outcome it’s not over. We’re going to use this as fuel. The last time we took an L it was a scary team that came back. I’m really excited for what’s to come next for us.”
Hawaii will learn of its next destination when the 64-team bracket is revealed today at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU and appeared primed for a triumphant sendoff into the NCAA Tournament after rolling through the first set and leading for much of the second.
But the Gauchos rallied late to take the set and held off UH in the third. The Wahine forced a decisive fifth set, but UCSB protected an early lead to finish off an 18-25, 25-21, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12 win before a season-high crowd of 3,305.
The outcome magnified the significance of UH’s four-set win over Cal State Northridge on Friday, when the Wahine (21-7, 18-2 Big West) clinched the conference title and a bid into the NCAA Tournament.
UCSB (21-11, 17-3) finished a game behind UH and earned a sweep of the season series with the Wahine as a consolation prize.
“It’s OK, this night is for the seniors,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “Definitely a bummer that we couldn’t come out (with the win). They fought all the way through. Hats off to Santa Barbara for playing a great game and we’re going to move on. We’re going to take this as a learning experience like the last one and we’re going to move on.”
Prior to Saturday, UH’s last loss was a sweep on Oct. 22 at UCSB’s Thunderdome. The Wahine responded with 10 straight wins while the Gauchos faltered twice and UH secured the title with a match to spare.
“This just adds more fuel to the fire,” UH senior Brooke Van Sickle said after putting away a match-high 21 kills on 55 attempts. “It showed us what we need to work on. When we lost to them the last time, we bounced back, it was a turning point for us. This is going to be another turning point. We’re not done yet.”
UCSB freshman Abrielle Bross led four Gauchos in double figures with 16 kills. Middle blocker Rowan Ennis added 12 kills on 17 attempts for a .706 hitting performance and was in on eight of UCSB’s 16 blocks. Deni Wilson finished with 11 kills on .318 hitting and seven blocks as UCSB controlled the middle for much of the match.
Van Sickle and Riley Wagoner carried the bulk of the UH attack on the pins, with Wagoner finishing with 18 kills in a season-high 64 swings. Setter Kate Lang finished with 46 assists, 13 digs and five blocks and libero Tayli Ikenaga posted 18 digs.
Hawaii’s work in the first set was about as efficient as that of the Stan Sheriff Center crew that converted the court from basketball configuration to volleyball mode and back on Friday and Saturday.
The Rainbow Wahine hit .342 and allowed just one natural point to the Gauchos and converted sideouts on 94.7% of UCSB’s serves in the set. UCSB hit at a high clip for much of the set as well, but UH opened up an 18-13 lead on a Van Sickle ace and pulled away.
The hitting percentages dropped dramatically in the second set, but UH maintained a slim lead deep into the set. But UCSB went on a 6-0 run with Punahou graduate Mehana Ma’a (30 assists, 10 digs) on the service line to catch and pass the Wahine and evened the match on a kill by Bross.
UCSB’s block set the tone in the third set, with Wilson in on two solo stuffs as the Gauchos took a 20-16 lead. Down 22-19, UH rallied and tied it when Ikenaga’s dig of a hot shot crossed the net and landed just inside the left sideline for a dig-kill. But UCSB edged away to earn set point and Ennis and Tasia Farmer teamed up on UCSB’s sixth block of the set and 12th of the match.
UH opened the fourth set with a block and the Wahine added five more with Lang on two that gave UH a 22-19 lead. UH earned set point at 24-20 and Lang was there with Williams for UH’s seventh block of the set to send the match to a fifth set.
UCSB jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the decisive set before UH put together a 4-0 run and closed to within a point on a Wagoner kill out of the back row. But the Gauchos managed to protect the lead and ended the match on Michelle Ohwobete’s 13th kill.
