IRVINE, Calif. >> Now the waiting begins.

A week from today, Hawaii will learn whether its most recent performances will result in a trip to the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament. Until then, the Rainbow Wahine can take comfort in maintaining two long streaks.

Hawaii survived two hard-fought sets Saturday night to end Big West Conference play with a 25-20, 26-24, 25-16 win over UC Irvine in front of 1,009 at the Bren Events Center.

With the victory, the Wahine (20-7, 14-2) finished a season with at least 20 wins for the 24th consecutive year. UH also extended its all-time record against Irvine (21-7, 9-6) to 38-0.

UH not only won its final four matches and nine of its last 10 but also captured 13 successive sets.

“We want to get that NCAA bid,” sophomore middle Natasha Burns said. “We were working really hard for it. All the seniors, it’s their last go and we want to give them the best we can.”

Burns finished with 10 kills, one off her career best, with just one hitting error. Senior middle Emily Maglio had a team-high 11 kills, her 21st match this season in double-digit kills, and was in on six of the Wahine’s eight blocks, including one solo stuff.

Senior libero Savanah Kahakai added 15 digs, becoming the third player in program history to have 1,400 digs. At 1,403, Kahakai trails only Elizabeth Ka’aihue (1,416) and Kim Willoughby (1,440) on the career list.

Sophomore setter Norene Iosia recorded her 15th double-double of the year (19 assists, 18 digs).

Hawaii, which had just six errors in Thursday’s sweep at UC Davis, had seven in Saturday’s first set alone. The Wahine finished with 19 errors and hit just .180 — their worst percentage since a four-set loss to Utah on Sept. 3.

The Anteaters fared no better, finishing with a .136 percentage and 19 errors of their own. Junior opposite Harlee Kekauoha kept UCI from an even lower percentage as the only Anteater to hit above .200; she had 12 kills with no errors on 29 swings.

“I don’t think our game was real solid,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said. “Our team has to play catch-up all the time.”

The visitors did just that in the first set. Irvine exploited six of its opponent’s hitting errors to build a 13-8 lead. The Wahine responded with a 6-0 surge to move ahead 14-13. Maglio contributed two kills and two block assists.

Junior Faith Ma’afala’s serving proved pivotal. The reserve setter’s hard floating serve with minimal rotation resulted in one ace during the spurt and three for the match.

“She’s just a huge presence on the court,” Ah Mow-Santos said. “She brings a lot of leadership. Obviously, her serve’s got some muscle behind it and it floats a little bit. She’s got a lot of tempo with the middles.”

Ma’afala demonstrated her presence by ignoring the heckling she received from members of the UCI men’s volleyball team.

“They were hilarious, so funny,” the redshirt junior from Kapolei said. “But that motivates me to just take my time, do what I’ve got to do. It’s just me and the ball at that moment.”

With UH holding a 20-19 lead, the Wahine used a 5-1 spurt to secure the set.

“It’s always great to fight back, but you want to work to stay in front, and that’s what was said in the locker room,” Burns said. “It’s great to come back, but we’ve got to work to have the lead from the beginning.”

The Wahine built a 14-9 advantage in Set 2 before the Anteaters forced a 15-15 tie, one of 12 ties in that set. Tied at 23, Granato kept a rally alive by sliding to the base of the bleachers to make a dig. Iosia’s tip ended that rally and gave UH a 24-23 lead.

UCI tied the score again, but Maglio’s kill off a quick set forced a second set point. Granato’s solo stuff of Makayla Wolfe put the Wahine up 2-0.

Granato registered five kills in the third set, as UH used another 6-0 spree to turn a 7-7 tie into a 13-7 lead. But two points from match point, injury-hampered senior Kalei Greeley fell awkwardly, grabbed her left knee and had to be carried from the court.

Trainers taped an ice bag to her left knee. After the match, all of UCI’s players came over to Greeley to shake her hand, hug her or offer sympathy.

Two other Anteaters finished with match highs. Libero Luna Tsujimoto had 19 digs and setter Ali Koumelis had 32 assists.