MALIBU, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (16-7, 12-2 Big West) stayed on the road to take on Pepperdine in a crucial non-conference match on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 4:00 p.m. HT. Last weekend, Hawai'i notched a pair of conference wins at CSUN and Long Beach State to start their last roadtrip of the season.
 
Hawai'i rose six spots to No. 55 in this week's RPI. But, the Waves are currently just one spot ahead of the 'Bows, ranked at No. 54. Pepperdine (16-8, 10-4 West Coast) is in third place in the West Coast Conference behind No. 1 BYU and San Diego. Both teams are fighting to keep their chance at a possible post-season bid alive.

It is the first non-conference match played in the middle of the conference season since Nov. 8, 2012 when UH played BYU-Hawai'i. It's the first non-conference Division I opponent during the conference season since Oct. 17 and 18, 2011 when Notre Dame came to Honolulu for a two-match series when the 'Bows were still a member of the Western Athletic Conference. UH last played a non-conference road match on Oct. 21, 2007 at Nebraska.
 
Last week, the Rainbow Wahine swept the Matadors on Friday night, 25-23, 25-19, 25-20 and then came back from being a set down to defeat Long Beach State in four sets, 19-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19 on Saturday night. Senior McKenna Granato led UH on both night with 12 and 11 kills respectively. At LBSU, she became just the 20^th Rainbow Wahine to record 1,000 kills and also tallied her 700^th career dig in the same match. She also notched her 10^th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 12 digs.
 
Hawai'i's modified 6-2 offense has led the Big West in nine of 11 weeks in assists per set (13.00) as well as attacks per set (37.18). The Rainbow Wahine are second in conference with 13.71 kills per set.
 
In UH's balanced offensive attack, Granato continues to lead the 'Bows with 275 total kills. She is also averaging a team-high 3.27 kill/set and has a team-best 34 service aces which ranks her at No. 3 in the Big West. She also is third on the UH squad with 211 digs and she has 24 total blocks in her senior campaign.
 
The 'Bows' double-double machine this season has been Norene Iosia, UH's hybrid setter/outside hitter. She is the lynchpin to UH's success. She is No. 2 on the team in every category with 177 kills, 406 assists, 24 service aces, 255 digs, 44 total blocks and 223.0 points. For the season, she has four triple-doubles (which ranks her at No.2 in the NCAA) and 12 double-doubles.
 
Natasha Burns has come on strong as the season has gone along. She is third on the team with 162 kills and a .329 hitting percentage. Burns leads Hawai'i with 78 total blocks while averaging 1.08 blocks/set. She has been in on a team-high 65 block assists while rejecting opponents with at team-high 13 solo blocks.
 
Match #24: Hawai'I (16-7, 12-2 Big West) vs. Pepperdine (16-8, 10-4)
Date/Time: Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. HT
Site: Firestone Fieldhouse – Malibu, Calif.
Radio: ESPN 1420 am will be broadcasting the match live with Tiff Wells handling the play-by-play.
Audio Stream: Fans can listen online at www.espn1420am.com -or- on the Sideline Hawaii app
Livestats: Live in-game stats will be available at PepperdineWaves.com.
Series History: Hawai'i holds a 31-3 all-time record against Pepperdine. UH last played the Waves in a two-game series in 2016. The last meeting was a 3-1 UH win on Sept. 17, 2016. The last match between the two schools played in Malibu was on Oct. 28, 1998.