SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (11-6, 8-1 Big West) dropped their first Big West match of the season at UC Santa Barbara in straight sets, 25-16, 25-16, 25-23 on Friday night at the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, Calif.
 
Brooke Van Sickle and Amber Igiede both recorded double-digit kills in the loss. Her 11 kills tied her with UCSB's Rowan Ennis for the match-high. Van Sickle finished one dig shy of her eighth double-double of the season. It is the 14th time this season and eighth-straight match with at least 10 kills. Igiede has now put down double-digit kills in five of the last six matches. She also was in on two blocks.
 
Freshman setter Kate Lang had a match-high 32 assists and had six digs, two kills and a block. For the 12th time this season, and sixth-straight match, rookie libero Tayli Ikenaga tallied double-digit digs with 10.
 
Hawai'i took an early 2-1 lead to start match, but UC Santa Barbara responded with a 5-to-0 run to take control and never looked back. The Gauchos extended their lead to as many as nine points at 24-14. UCSB closed out the frame taking Set 1, 25-16. UCSB hit .394 (15-2-33) while the 'Bows hit just .103 (11-7-39) in the first set. The Gauchos had a side out percentage of 88.2% as UH was only able to convert one natural point in the set. UCSB out-blocked the 'Bows 5-to-1.
 
The Rainbow Wahine got off to a sluggish start in the second set. Once again, UH led early at 3-2, but UCSB won the next seven of eight points to overtake UH for a 10-3 lead. The Gauchos would eventually extend their lead to eight points. UH was not able to score a point on their own serve until midway through the set to go on a 6-to-2 run that trimmed their deficit to four points at 18-14 which forced UCSB to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Gauchos went on a 4-to-1 run to see-saw back in front, 22-16. UCSB ended the set on a 6-to-1 run. Through two sets, UCSB had an 8-to-1 advantage in blocks and the Gauchos were dominant on offense with a hitting percentage advantage, .379-to-.098.
 
The third set was a much closer battle, the two teams traded several side outs to start the frame. There were 15 ties and five lead changes in the final set as UH tried to battle back. Hawai'i was able to go on a 3-to-0 run to take its largest lead of the match at 10-7. The Gauchos however were unfazed and quickly erased their deficit, tying and then taking the lead at 12-11.
The score was last tied at 22-22 as UCSB scored three of the last four points. UH was able to stave off one match point, but UCSB ended the match on Rowan Ennis' match-high 11th kill.
 
The Gauchos had three players with double-digit kills, led by Ennis. Mehana Ma'a dished out a team-high 23 assists while Macall Peed and Deni Wilson led all players with 23 digs and eight blocks respectively.
 
The loss snapped several streaks for the Rainbow Wahine, including its eight match win streak; 19 conference match win streak (dating back to 2019); and a nine match conference road win streak (dating back to 2019). It also marked UH's first loss on the road at UCSB since rejoining the Big West Conference in 2012 and it halted a 10 match UH win streak at the Thunderdome dating back to 1993. Hawai'i had not been swept since the second week of this season against then-No. 22 San Diego in the Utah Classic.
 
The Gauchos thoroughly defeated the Rainbow Wahine in all facets. On offense UCSB had a 44-to-42 advantage in kills and a .359-to -.174 edge in hitting percentage as UH committed 21 hitting errors to just seven for UCSB. On defense, UCSB out-dug UH, 52-to-45 and out-blocked Hawai'i 11-to-3. 

Up next, the Rainbow Wahine have a quick turn around as they stay on the road to take on CSUN in Northridge, Calif. on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021 at the Matadome.