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One of Hawaii’s lengthy streaks survived a serious threat Saturday night.
No, it wasn’t the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team’s overall domination of the series with UC Riverside, as UH completed a sweep to improve to 29-0 all-time against the Highlanders.
The program’s run of sets won against UCR did appear in jeopardy midway through the second set when the Highlanders stormed out to a 17-9 lead. But a Wahine comeback preserved the streak and they extended it to 27 sets in a 25-17, 25-23, 25-13 victory before a crowd of 3,505 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (5-5, 2-0 Big West) posted their most efficient hitting performance of the season to reach .500 overall for the first time this season.
“Being down eight points I thought they did a great job coming back, and (then) going out for the intermission, coming back and really focusing in on what they needed to do,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said.
Hawaii freshman Caylen Alexander put away 15 kills without an error to hit .556 on her team-high 27 attacks and the Wahine hit .414 as a team to UCR’s .133.
Middle blocker Amber Igiede also had an error-free night with 12 kills in 21 swings. Tiffany Westerberg added eight kills as the UH middles hit a combined .528. Outside hitter Riley Wagoner posted her second straight double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs.
“My hitters make my job so easy,” said setter Kate Lang, who distributed 39 assists. “Everybody (does), but Caylen tonight was great. She got a fire lit under her butt and she makes me look real good.
“I just put the ball in the air. They’re the ones making the points. I’m really proud of my hitters for not being frustrated because of how Riverside was (playing) defensively tonight. I’m really proud of them and they’re doing their job.”
The Wahine committed a season-low eight hitting errors and the Wahine defense posted 60 digs to UCR’s 35. Libero Tayli Ikenaga finished with 17 digs to give her 30 for the weekend and UH built a 108-65 advantage in sweeps of UC Davis on Friday and UC Riverside on Saturday.
Ikenaga credited UH’s work at the net and from the service line for making life easier in the back row while playing alongside Wagoner, Lang (six digs), defensive specialist Talia Edmonds (11) and Kendra Ham (seven).
“The blocks are doing a really good job getting nice touches and we’re getting them out of system and we’re able to take care of the easy balls and not have to deal with the hard-driven balls,” Ikenaga said.
After winning the final nine sets of a seven-match homestand, the Wahine embark on their first Big West road trip of the season. They’ll play at Cal State Fullerton (7-3 ,1-1) on Friday and then visit the Walter Pyramid to face Long Beach State (6-4, 1-1) on Saturday.
UH, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly — the top three teams in the Big West preseason poll — were the only teams to go 2-0 in the opening weekend of conference play.
UH led throughout Saturday’s 23-minute opening set that the Wahine ended with a 6-1 run capped by a block by Wagoner and Igiede.
UCR hadn’t won a set against UH since taking the first two back on Sept. 30, 2017, in Riverside before the Wahine rallied for a reverse sweep. The Highlanders threatened to break through when they outscored UH 15-5 midway through the second set.
“I don’t think we got complacent or relaxed,” Ah Mow said. “I think the frustration of, ‘This is what we usually do with these other teams, but it’s not happening right now,’ that’s the stuff we have to work on as a team.
“We have to make sure we take care of what we need to take care of on our side, and keep playing at the level that we did in preseason.”
The Wahine charged back into the set with an 8-1 run, with Alexander contributing three kills. She later added an ace to tie it at 21-21. UCR took the lead two more times, but the Wahine closed the set with a 3-0 run on Igiede’s tip block and back-to-back Wagoner kills.
UCR took a 5-1 lead in the third set with University High alumna Makena Tong on the service line, but UH took control with a 12-1 run, with Alexander hammering five kills during Igiede’s eight-point service turn. The Wahine remained in command from there to complete the sweep.
Mylei Vargas-Deason finished with seven kills for the Highlanders (2-9, 0-2), who have won four sets against UH since the Wahine rejoined the Big West in 2012. Tong led the UCR defense with nine digs.
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