HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (11-5, 8-0 Big West) overcame slow set starts and held off a scrappy CSU Bakersfield team (10-6, 3-5 Big West) for its second sweep of the weekend. The Rainbow Wahine won, 25-18, 25-20, 25-18 on Saturday night at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Hawai'i's middle attack accounted for 18 of UH's 46 kills while Brooke Van Sickle was able to finish with double-digit kills for the seventh-straight match. The Rainbow Wahine are the only unbeaten team left in the Big West.
 
Igiede and Van Sickle led Hawai'i with 10 kills apiece. Igiede hit .667 (10-0-15) to tie her season high. She and fellow middle Skyler Williams and Van Sickle recorded a match-high four blocks each. Igiede also added six digs and an assist to fill her stat line.
 
Van Sickle recorded her eighth double-double of the season as she had a team-high 13 digs to go with her 10 kills. After a slow start, the senior outside hitter raised her hitting percentage to .259. Van Sickle came through down the stretch, burying five of her 10 kills in the third set.
 
Setter Kate Lang also notched a double-double, matching Van Sickles 13 digs with a match-high 30 assists. Freshman libero Tayli Ikenaga logged 10 digs for the 10^th time this season.
 
Two key players came in off the bench and made an impact. Freshman outside Martyna Leoniak came in and posted eight kills with nine digs, two blocks and an assist. Leoniak had played the last few matches as a server and through the back row, but this was her first significant action in the front since the preseason. The other player was Janelle Gong. With a tough CSUB server behind the line and CSUB leading 17-15, senior defensive specialist Gong came in and made a good pass on serve receive while led to block by Williams and Leoniak to tie the score at 17-17. That one point started an 8-to-0 run with Lang serving allowing UH to pull away for the sweep.
 
In the first set, the Roadrunners raced out to an early 6-1 lead forcing UH to call a timeout. CSUB would lead by as many as six before UH was able to trim their deficit to 7-6 behind the serving of Ikenaga. UH was finally able to catch the Roadrunners at 8-8 and leapfrogged past CSUB to take the lead via an 11-to-1 run for a 12-8 lead. Hawai'i extended its lead to eight points at 22-14. CSUB tried to rally late, scoring four in a row, but the 'Bows scored the last three points on a Bakersfield serving error and a pair of Igiede kills to take Set 1, 25-18.
 
In a carbon copy of the first set, CSU Bakersfield got off to another hot start, scoring the first six points to force UH to call its first timeout. The Roadrunners started to pull away, leading 12-6, but the Rainbow Wahine started to gain traction going on a 5-to-0 run with Igiede serving to trail by just one point at 12-11. Hawai'i was finally able to knot the score at 15-15. But Bakersfield would not back down as both teams traded a few sideouts. The 'Bows would pull away, scoring six out of the last seven points down the stretch to take Set 2, 25-20.
 
The Roadrunners continued their fast starts in the third set. They held the lead until Hawai'i was able to tie the score at 11-11. UH took the lead at 14-13. UH and CSUB would see-saw back and forth. The Roadrunners took their final lead at 17-15. But behind the serving of Lang, Hawai'i went on a quick 8-to-0 run and finished the match winning 10 of the last 11 points for the sweep.
 
CSU Bakersfield's Milica Vukobrat led the Roadrunners with nine kills and Paige Calvin recorded a match-high 14 digs. Three players had three blocks each to lead CSUB.
 
UH out-hit CSUB, in kills (46-to-36) and hitting percentage (.270-to-.109). Defensively, Hawai'i had the edge in blocking, 9.0-to-6.0 and in digs (60-to-56).
 
Hawai'i has now won 19-straight conference matches dating back to 2019. With UC Santa Barbara falling tonight to UC Davis, Hawai'i is the lone unbeaten team in the Big West.
 
Next up, the Rainbow Wahine will return to California to take on UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Oct. 22 and CSUN on Saturday, Oct. 23.