Hawaii kept its focus on the middles in a sweep of Cal State Fullerton in tonight’s Big West women’s volleyball at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH middle blocker Amber Igiede put away six of her 15 kills in the first set and fellow middle Tiffany Westerberg added eight kills on 13 error-free swings in UH’s 25-18, 25-18, 25-18 win before a crowd of 4,701.
A night after combining for eight kills on 23 attacks in UH’s sweep of Long Beach State, Igiede and Westerberg hit .538 on 39 swings to help UH (16-6, 13-1 Big West) remain alone atop the conference standings.
UH outside hitter Riley Wagoner finished with 10 kills and 11 digs and Caylen Alexander landed three aces to go along with five kills. Opposite Braelyn Akana added six kills and setter Kate Lang distributed 37 assists for a UH attack that hit .353.
UH trailed 12-8 in the first set before a kill from Westerberg triggered an 8-0 run and the Wahine outscored Fullerton 17-6 over the remainder of the set. They controlled the next two sets and remained undefeated in the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton at 47-0
Lolo Fonua led Cal State Fullerton (12-10, 6-8) with 11 kills and Kamehameha graduate Nadia Koanui had a match-high 13 digs.
The Rainbow Wahine play at UC San Diego (12-14, 5-9) on Friday and at UC Irvine (15-9, 8-6) the following day.
Cal State Fullerton took advantage of a ragged start for UH and built an 8-6 lead on back-to-back aces by Koanui. The Titans’ lead grew to 12-8, prompting a UH timeout. The Wahine went straight to the middle with kills for Westerberg and Igiede.
Igiede added two more kills and capped an 8-0 UH run with a solo block. The Wahine outscored the Titans 17-6 to finish off the set, closing it out with an ace from Alexander.
UH led throughout the second set and Westerberg had three kills in a 5-1 UH run that pushed the Wahine ahead 14-8. Fullerton got no closer than three the rest of the way and Wagoner’s fourth kill of the set gave UH a 2-0 lead in the match.
Cal State Fullerton stayed in striking distance in the third set until Kendra Ham went on a five-point service run capped by an ace. Igiede gave UH match point with a kill on an overpass and ended the night by finishing a rally extended by Wagoner’s dig in the back row.
