Hawaii women’s volleyball beats Fullerton after dropping first set

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii outside hitter Paula Guersching (8) and middle blocker Kennedi Evans (12) go to block against the UC Irvine Anteaters on Oct. 7.

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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM

Hawaii outside hitter Paula Guersching (8) and middle blocker Kennedi Evans (12) go to block against the UC Irvine Anteaters on Oct. 7.

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The Hawaii women’s volleyball team restored order after a rough start against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

Amber Igiede had 17 kills and Hawaii finished with 12 aces in a 23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-14 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Saturday in Fullerton, Calif.

Kate Lang recorded 40 assists and Tali Hakas finished with 11 kills for the Rainbow Wahine (19-8, 12-4 Big West) in their final regular-season road match of the season.

Igiede, Riley Wagoner and Tayli Ikenaga each had three aces for Hawaii. Hakas had two and Talia Edmonds had one.

Ikenaga also had a season-high 18 digs.

The Rainbow Wahine improved to 49-0 all-time against the Titans (1-24, 0-16). On Oct. 6, Hawaii defeated Cal State Fullerton 25-18, 25-10, 25-14.

The Titans’ only victory this season was a five-setter over American on Sept. 8.

In the first set, the Titans went on a 5-0 run to take a 13-9 lead. The Rainbow Wahine tied it at 15-15, but the Titans went on a 7-2 run to take a 22-17 advantage. Ikenaga’s ace got Hawaii within 23-22, but the teams sided out the rest of the way with Aubrey Beaver ending it with a kill from the right side.

Paula Guersching and Igiede each had five kills for the Rainbow Wahine, who hit .186 in the set.

Beaver put down six kills for the Titans, who hit. 289 in the set.

Cal State Fullerton took a 3-2 advantage in the second set before Hawaii took control. The Rainbow Wahine’s lead reached 22-13. Igiede had five kills in the set.

Cal State Fullerton hit .000 in the set on nine kills and nine hitting errors.

In the third set, the Rainbow Wahine took the lead at 6-5 on an Igiede kill and stretched the advantage to 19-14. Hawaii got to set point at 24-21 on a hitting error. After a hitting error by the Rainbow Wahine’s Wagoner, Kennedi Evans put down a kill in the middle to end it.

Cal State Fullerton actually out-hit Hawaii .310 to .212 in the third.

Hawaii got out to a 6-0 lead in the fourth set with Wagoner recording three aces. The lead reached 12-2, which prompted Cal State Fullerton to take its second timeout of the set.

The Rainbow Wahine had seven aces and four blocks, and hit .348 in the set.

Beaver had 15 kills and Kamehameha graduate Nadia Koanui had 12 digs for Cal State Fullerton.

The Rainbow Wahine will conclude the regular season at home against UC San Diego on Friday and Long Beach State on Nov. 18.

Hawaii can finish as high as second in the conference standings. The Big West tournament starts Nov. 22 in Long Beach, Calif., with the top two seeds receiving byes into the semifinals.