Career-best performances helped University of Hawaii middle blocker Amber Igiede and outside hitter Caylen Alexander claim half of the Big West Conference’s weekly women’s volleyball awards on Monday.

Igiede, a junior, was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in her career after posting 35 kills on .456 hitting in UH’s road wins at UC Riverside and UC Davis last week. She also sent back 15 blocks while averaging 5.63 points per set.

Igiede opened the road trip with 11 kills in 20 attempts in UH’s sweep of UC Riverside. Two days later, she set a career high with 24 kills on 37 swings to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a five-set victory over UC Davis.

Alexander was voted the BWC Freshman Player of the Week for the fifth time this season, tying the school record set by Hanna Helvig in 2019. She matched her career high with 18 kills while hitting .385 in the win at UC Davis. She hit .314 overall on the road trip with 23 kills and seven errors in 51 attempts.

The Big West-leading Rainbow Wahine (14-6, 11-1) remain one game ahead of UC Santa Barbara in the conference standings entering this week’s homestand. UH faces third-place Long Beach State (14-6, 9-3) on Friday and sixth-place Cal State Fullerton (12-8, 6-6) on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Beach take an eight-match winning streak into their match with Fullerton today at the Walter Pyramid.