LONG BEACH, Calif. >> The Hawaii women’s volleyball team had to wait a day before practicing inside Walter Pyramid this week.
The site of the inaugural Outrigger Big West Championships welcomed UH on Wednesday for the first time since the Rainbow Wahine were swept by Long Beach State in their first conference road match of the season.
That match was the first sign that this season might not be quite like the previous three, in which UH lost just five times in conference play en route to three straight Big West championships.
Hawaii finished 14-4 in league play, which included the first back-to-back losses in conference play at home in 30 years.
UH bounced back to defeat the Beach in four sets Saturday on senior night, but now needs to duplicate that performance in an arena that was not very kind to to the Rainbow Wahine just two months ago.
“I think we were very frustrated in that game just because we obviously didn’t perform how we wanted to and kind of let them dictate the game,” senior outside hitter Riley Wagoner said. “I think we’re hoping to play a little bit better in here this week.”
With an RPI in the low 60s entering the tournament, Hawaii’s quest to reach the NCAA tournament for the 30th consecutive season rests on getting wins over Cal Poly and then either host Long Beach State or No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara, which went 17-1 in conference play and lost just three matches all season.
All four of Hawaii’s losses in the Big West this season came against those three teams.
“I’m going to keep sticking to our side and doing what we need to do on our side,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “It starts with serve, pass game and then our blocking. I think we can be a lot better in really all aspects, but whoever is winning the serve, pass game pretty much should win the game.”
The next loss will mean the final match for six Hawaii seniors, including four-time, All-Big West first-team selection Amber Igiede.
As heavy a load as Igiede carries on offense, it is all needed. In five matches the Big West leader in hitting percentage has been held to less than .300 hitting UH is 1-4.
Igiede enters the tournament ranked fourth in school history in total blocks and 12th in kills. She’s one of only four players to reach 1,000 kills and 500 blocks in a career.
“I think it’s going to take the same level of play and trust,” Igiede said. “We trust we can come up and I think it’s going to take a lot of trust within our teammates this weekend.”
The team enjoyed a Thanksgiving brunch on Thursday before another three-hour practice, with the last two hours held inside of the Pyramid.
“I think we’ve learned a lot from every loss we’ve had this season,” Wagoner said. “I think we’ve had a lot of things that we’ve been working on and hopefully we’ve changed a lot of things since that (LBSU) loss. I think we’re hoping we can apply even stuff that we’ve been changing this week in practice to the game this weekend.”
The tournament began Wednesday with two five-set matches, with the top four teams ultimately making it to the semifinals.
After winning its first two five-set matches early in nonconference play, Hawaii has lost the past three to go the distance, including both matches in Big West play.
There’s a good chance UH will need to pull one out this weekend in order to extend the season another week.
“I think it’s going to take a lot of grit and just kind of execution on our side,” Wagoner said. “Taking care of the easy plays and not having mental lapses like we’ve had in the past and finishing the whole set and moving on to the next one as quick as we can.”
Hawaii plays in the second semifinal tonight at 5 p.m.
BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
At Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, Calif.
FRIDAY
>> Hawaii (21-8) vs. Cal Poly (21-10), 5 p.m.
>> Long Beach State (21-9)
vs. UC Santa Barbara (27-3), 2 p.m.
SATURDAY
>> Championship match, 3 p.m.
>> TV: ESPN+
>> Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM / 97.5 FM (Friday’s UH
match); KHKA, 1500-AM (Saturday if UH plays)
