Hawaii regains its edge against Cal State Northridge

It was a night of happy returns in Manoa.

Coming off a grueling road trip and back at full strength, the University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team overpowered Cal State Northridge in its return to SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Friday.

The Rainbow Wahine welcomed libero Tayli Ikenaga back to the starting lineup following a three-match absence and were led by a bounce-back performance by outside hitter Riley Wagoner in a 25-15, 25-18, 25-18 sweep of the visiting Matadors.

After grinding through the previous three matches, dropping a four-set duel at Cal Poly a week ago today, the Rainbow Wahine trailed for just five points in the 80-minute rout on Friday before a crowd of 3,859.

“I told them in the locker room I thought they were dialed,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “Coming off that loss against Cal Poly, not really having the energy and not taking care of what they needed to care of, I thought they did a great job today with that, moving into gaining momentum for (today).”

The Rainbow Wahine (11-6, 8-1 Big West) made it an early night with their fastest finish of the season heading into today’s “White Out” showdown with co-leader UC Santa Barbara (12-7, 8-1) to close the first half of the conference schedule.

UCSB edged ahead in the standings with a four-set win over CSUN on Tuesday and was rejoined at the top by UH and Cal Poly (11-8, 8-1) on Friday.

The Gauchos swept the season series with UH last season, handing the Wahine their lone two losses in conference play. But the two-time defending Big West champions made sure they didn’t get caught looking ahead on Friday.

“CSUN was going five with a bunch of teams … we have to focus on every game,” Ah Mow said. “There might be a little extra because of (last year’s losses to UCSB) … but we still have to come in dialed on what we need to do on our side.”

Wagoner returned with a vengeance on Friday after posting a negative hitting percentage against Cal Poly. The junior put away eight of her match-high 16 kills in the first set and went on to finish at a career-high .467 in her 30 attempts. The UH floor captain also had two aces, five digs and a solo block in a bounce-back performance.

“She is executing the same mindset every game,” UH setter Kate Lang said. “Riley has such great leadership on the court, I don’t even pay attention to how many kills she gets. She comes out every single time and I know I can expect the same things from her, with words, with effort, all of that.”

Ah Mow concurred: “She’s going to look at (the Cal Poly match) and the girl’s just going to be better the next game, that’s just how she’s working right now.”

Ikenaga was limited to watching the online stream of last week’s matches at CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly while rehabbing an ankle injury that kept her out of action for three matches.

The sophomore announced her return with a one-handed stab for a dig that Talia Edmonds turned into a bump set to Wagoner for the first kill of the match. She then served up the first of UH’s six aces and finished the night with nine digs.

“I was itching to come back already. I just wanted to get my treatment over with and just be fully back,” Ikenaga said. “I felt this week’s practice has been really helpful for me to be more dialed after staying home and watching the games at home. Not being there, it’s really hard but at the same time using it as motivation to come back and do better.

“I wish I got to be up there to support my team, but at the same time we knew it was going to be a rough road trip and it would be better if I stayed home and got my treatment done. But being able to watch it from outside … it was a different perspective for me and I think it helped me personally and I can give that to my teammates as well.”

Middle blocker Amber Igiede added 11 kills with one error in 18 swings (.556), was in on three blocks (two solo) and had an ace. The Wahine hit .381 as a team, with Lang distributing 38 assists, including a back set to give opposite Braelyn Akana an open net for one of her six kills in seven attempts.

“It was definitely fun tonight because I felt flowy, but at the end of the day I’m putting a ball in air and they’re hitting it,” Lang said. “A lot of the game tonight was points that don’t always get this crazy energy, like tips and rolls, but those are still kills. The hitters are making those points just by being smart and having that mindset of it’s not all about power.”

CSUN (7-15, 2-8) hit .168 as a team and outside hitter Taylor Orshoff led the Matadors with nine kills on 20 attacks.