The Hawaii women’s volleyball team restored order after a rough start in running past 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 the Titans in Fullerton, Calif.
“Our team wasn’t the same as when we played them the last time,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “We didn’t play the way we wanted to play. Credit Fullerton for the way they played. They kept the ball up and made plays.”
On Oct. 6, Hawaii defeated Cal State Fullerton 25-18, 25-10, 25-14.
The Rainbow Wahine (19-8, 12-4 Big West) are in a three-way tie for second with Long Beach State and Cal Poly. UC Santa Barbara (15-1) clinched the Big West regular-season title.
Kate Lang recorded 40 assists and Tali Hakas finished with 11 kills for the Rainbow Wahine on Saturday in their final regular-season road match.
Igiede, Riley Wagoner and Tayli Ikenaga each had three aces for Hawaii. Hakas had two and Talia Edmonds had one.
“That’s what we need to do,” Igiede said. “It’s a lot easier defensively if we can put pressure on from the service line.”
Igiede moved past Emily Hartong (2010-13) into 12th place on the UH all-time kills list with 1,290.
Ikenaga had a season-high 18 digs and Hakas equalled her career high in kills for the second consecutive match.
“She’s dialing in passing, hitting and defense. We definitely need that,” Ah Mow said of Hakas.
The Rainbow Wahine improved to 49-0 all-time against the Titans (1-24, 0-16).
The Titans’ only victory of the 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.
“We didn’t come out with enough energy,” said Igiede, who hit .343 for the match.
Paula Guersching and Igiede each had five kills in the set as the Rainbow Wahine hit .186.
Beaver put down six kills for Cal State Fullerton, which hit. 289 in the set.
The Titans took a 3-2 advantage in the second set before the Rainbow Wahine took control. Hawaii’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 outhit 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.
“We had the momentum from the beginning of the set with Riley leading us to a 6-0 lead,” Ikenaga said.
The Rainbow Wahine had seven aces and four blocks, and hit .348 in the set.
Ah Mow said her team’s performance in the first and fourth sets were “like night and day.”
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 Saturday.
The Big West Tournament starts Nov. 22 in Long Beach, Calif., with the top two seeds receiving byes into the semifinals.
“I’m just happy it’s a win coming off two losses at home,” said Ah Mow, whose team also won at UC Irvine on Friday. “We’re looking to gain momentum going into conference tournament play.”
