Hawaii volleyball coach Robyn Ah Mow hasn’t had much to say lately about the play of senior Norene Iosia, summing it up simply as, “Norene is Norene.”
On Monday, the Big West echoed that when naming Iosia its defensive player of the week. It was the first such honor for Iosia, who has played setter and outside hitter in the Rainbow Wahine’s last five matches, all of them victories.
Iosia had a combined 22 digs and 12 blocks in last week’s sweeps at Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine, including a career-high eight blocks on Friday against the Titans. She recorded double-doubles in assists and digs in both matches, her 12th and 13th of the season and 56th and 57th of her career.
In Friday’s win at Fullerton, Iosia came close to a quadruple-double with 14 assists and 12 digs, as well as eight kills and eight blocks. She also had three aces last week, which moved her to No. 5 on the program’s career list with 121. She ranks 12th on the all-time dig list (1,070).
Iosia was also nominated for player of the week. That award went to UC Santa Barbara senior hitter Lindsey Ruddins for a record-setting 12th time. Ruddins hit a combined .530 with 38 kills and just three errors in 66 swings in last week’s sweeps of UC Davis and UC Riverside, passing Cal Poly’s Kylie Atherstone (11) for most POW honors.
Hawaii (18-3, 8-2), a half-game out of first in the standings, hosts conference co-leaders UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly this weekend in matches that may make the Big West title race clearer. The Gauchos (18-2, 8-1) are at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday at 7 p.m. The Mustangs (15-6, 8-1) visit at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Hawaii handed UCSB its only Big West loss and Cal Poly’s only conference loss is to UCSB. Cal Poly defeated Hawaii on Oct. 11.
Hawaii remains the lone Big West team ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25. The Wahine stayed at No. 21 in Monday’s poll while the Gauchos received 19 points, putting them outside the Top 25 at 29.
Monday’s poll saw a new No. 1, with Texas (14-2, 43 first-place votes) jumping two spots after handing Baylor (17-1) its first loss of the season. Pitt (21-1, 18 votes) moved up a spot to No. 2, while Baylor (one vote), which handed Hawaii its first loss of the season, dropped to No. 3. Wisconsin (14-1, one vote) moved up two places to No. 4 with defending national champion Stanford (14-4, one vote) falling three places to No. 5 after being upset by unranked UCLA last Friday.
Hawaii has wins over three ranked teams: Washington (16-4), Missouri (14-4) and UCLA (12-7). The Huskies dropped three spots to No. 12, the Tigers moved up one place to No. 24 and the Bruins made their first appearance in this season’s poll at No. 25. Last week, UCLA swept then-No. 2 Stanford and defeated then-No. 15 Cal in four sets.
The Wahine also defeated San Diego (16-5), which fell out of the Top 25 for the first time this year. The Toreros received 60 points, putting them at 26 following their loss to unranked Pepperdine.
Also Monday, Hawaii dropped seven spots in the Ratings Percentage Index to 17. It’s the lowest RPI for Hawaii this season in the computer-generated system that rates strength of schedule and is used by the NCAA to seed the postseason tournament. Teams with RPIs between 1 and 16 have usually been awarded hosting duties for the first and second rounds.
