IRVINE, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team finished the 2017 regular season with an emphatic sweep at UC Irvine, 25-20, 26-24, 25-16 on Saturday night at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif. The Rainbow Wahine concluded the year with a 20-7 overall record and finished second in the Big West with a 14-2 conference record. UC Irvine fell to 21-7 overall an 9-6 in the Big West with one match remaining on their schedule next week. UH's middle hitters led the 'Bows on offense accounting for half the team's kills with senior Emily Maglio putting down with 11 kills and sophomore Natasha Burns adding 10 kill. Savanah Kahakai became just the third Rainbow Wahine in UH history to record over 1,400 career digs. With the victory, Hawai'i hit the 20-win mark for the 24th-consecutive season and the 39th time in UH history.
 
Maglio hit .250 with 11 kills, four errors in 28 attacks with a match-high six total blocks (one solo). She also had a match-high 14.5 points. Maglio finishes the season with career-highs of 337 kills, 3.34 kills per set, 151 total blocks, 1.50 blocks per set average, and 425.0 total points this year. For her career, Maglio has 769 kills, 397 total blocks and 990.0 points.
 
Burns recorded double digits in kills for just the second time in her two-year career. She finished the season strong with 81 kills and 30 blocks for the season while started the last nine straight matches for the 'Bows.
 
Kahakai recorded 15 kills against the Anteaters for her 22^nd double-digit match as a senior. She finished the season with 1,403 career digs to join only Kim Willoughby and Elizabeth Kaaihue as the only three Rainbow Wahine to ever record 1,400 digs in their careers. She concludes the regular season just 13 digs shy of tying Ka'aihue for No. 2 in the UH career dig record book. On Thursday at UC Davis, Kahakai moved into No. 3 alone on the all-time dig list, passing former UH great Reydan "Tita" Ahuna's 1,384's career digs. 
 
Sophomore setter Norene Iosia posted her team-best 15^th double-double of the season with 19 assists and tied her season-high with a team-high 18 digs. She also tallied three kills and three total blocks.
 
In the first set, the Anteaters led by as much as five points at 13-8. But the 'Bows would battle back with a 6-0 run with Faith Ma'afala serving which left UH with a 14-13 lead. From that point, the two teams tied three more times before the 'Bows were able to slowly pull away to capture the first set, 25-20.
 
The second set saw Hawai'i take a five point lead early at 14-9, but the Anteaters would flip the script from the first set as they went on a 6-1 run to knot the score at 15-15. The teams would tie the score four more times. But with the score knotted at 23-23, McKenna Granato tested the limits of the court, diving to chase down a UCI attack as Kahakai was able to free ball it back over. In the same point, Kahakai later made a diving save off another Anteater swing which led to an Iosia tip shot that gave the 'Bows its first set point opportunity. Later, Granato ended the second set with a solid solo block to give UH a 2-0 lead at 26-24.
 
In the third set, the two teams kept things close early on. But with the score tied at 7-7, UH went on a 6-0 run with Granato serving. That run gave the 'Bows a 13-7 lead from which the Anteaters could not recover from.
                    
Hawai'i ended up out-hitting UC Irvine, .180-to-.136 with a 5-to-0 advantage in serve aces. The Anteaters committed 10 service errors to UH's four. UH out-dug UCI, 64-to-55 and tied the Anteaters in blocks at 8.0 each.  
 
It was the final regular season match of the season for Hawai'i's six seniors—Clare-Marie Anderson, Kalei Greeley, Gianna Guinasso, Savanah Kahakai, Kendra Koelsch, and Emily Maglio.
 
Hawai'i finished the season on a five game win streak, winning the last four in three-set sweeps. The Rainbow Wahine will now have to wait to see what the future holds for them as they are on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. The 'Bows will find out if they will advance to its 25^th consecutive post-season when the 64-team bracket is revealed on the NCAA tournament selection show on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 4:00 pm HT on ESPNU.