LONG BEACH, Calif.—The No. 11 University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (11-1, 1-0 Big West) opened their Big West season with a four set win at Long Beach State, 25-16, 21-25, 25-21, 25-16. Freshman outside hitter Hanna Hellvig recorded a match-high 17 kills while senior setter Norene Iosia led UH with her fifth double-double of the season with 20 assists and 15 digs at the Walter Pyramid on Friday night.
 
For Hellvig, the 17 kills tied her career high. She hit .268 for the match with six errors in 41 attacks. It was the ninth time this season and the fifth-straight match that Hellvig has recorded double-digit digs. She also recorded three blocks, two digs and a service ace.
 
Iosia is now just one service ace from tying Tita Ahuna (who played from 1984-87) for 10^th place in the UH career record books at 108. Iosia recorded her 106^th and her 107^th service ace of her four-year career. For Iosia it also marked the 49th double-double of her career.
 
Tiffany Westerberg came in off the bench to lead UH with four blocks (including two solo). The rookie middle blocker added six kills, an assist and a dig for the match.
 
Overall, the Rainbow Wahine out-high LBSU, .219-to-.152 in hitting percentage and 49-to-45 in kills. The 'Bows out-blocked The Beach, 10.0-to-8.0. For the eighth time this season UH recorded double-digits in block. It was also the 10^th time this year that UH has out-blocked their opponents.
 
Hawai'i got off to a quick start on a 6-to-0 run with five points coming on Rika Okino's serve. UH would extend its lead to as many as 11 points at four different times. Long Beach State staved off three set points, but UH won the frame, 25-16.
 
The second set was much closer. Hawai'i led by as many as four points early at 10-6. But The Beach later went on a 10-to-3 run to take a three-point lead, 16-13. UH was able to knot the score at 18-18. Long Beach State then scored five-straight points to lead, 23-18. LBSU went on to take Set 2, 25-21 to tie the match at 1-1.  After hitting .367 in Set 1, Hawai'i managed to hit just .026 with eight kills and seven errors in 38 overall attacks. Conversely, The Beach hit .194 in the first set and improved to hit .265 in the second set.
 
Hawai'i rallied to take Set 3, 25-21. UH led early by four, 9-5. But The Beach would rally to score four straight-points—three coming on UH miscues to tie the set at 9-9. From there, the score see-sawed back and forth until UH went on a 6-to-0 scoring run with five points coming on Iosia's serve which included her second service ace of the match, which gave UH a 23-18 lead. The Beach scored three points to close to within two, 23-21. The 'Bows would close out the set, scoring the final two points on a LBSU hitting error and a kill by Hellvig.
 
In Set 4, Hawai'i jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead and never looked back. The 'Bows led by as many as nine points twice and scored four of the last five points to seal the match with a 25-16 win.
 
It will be a quick turnaround for the Rainbow Wahine as the 'Bows head to Northridge to take on CSUN on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4:00 p.m. at The Matadome.