HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (17-7, 14-1 Big West) returned home to swept UC Irvine (15-11, 8-8 BWC), 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 on Friday night in front of an enthusiastic crowd. It was the first match for the Rainbow Wahine in front of a full crowd at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Middle blocker Amber Igiede pounded a career-high 17 kills while tallying a match-high five  blocks to lead UH to its sixth-straight win. With the win, the Rainbow Wahine remain atop the Big West standings a game in front of UC Santa Barbara. 
 
For Igiede it was her 12th double-digit kill match and the 18th time this season that she has led UH in blocks. She accounted for four of UH's last five points of the match—including ending the last three-straight points with a kill. Eight of her 17 kills came in the third set alone and after hitting a career-high .786 this past Sunday, she followed with a .630 hitting percentage on Friday with zero errors on 27 swings.
 
Outside hitter Riley Wagoner notched her fourth straight match with 10 or more kills ending the match with 11 kills. She added five digs and a service ace.
 
Fellow outside Brooke Van Sickle was dialed in in all facets of the game. She not only posted her 13th double-digit dig match with a match-high 17 digs. But she added eight kills, was in on four blocks and dealt out three service aces.
 
Setter Kate Lang's double-double streak was snapped at five, but she issued out a match-high 39 assists with six digs. With Lang at the controls of the UH offense, the 'Bows tallied their eighth match with the team hitting over .300 with a .340 hitting percentage.
 
The first set was close early with 11 ties as both team trading leads. The Rainbow Wahine had a 17-15 lead, but the Anteaters leap-frogged past UH scoring three-straight points to go up, 18-17. But Wagoner picked up her fifth kill of the set to tie the score at 18-18. She then served out the set, as UH scored the final eight points consecutively to take Set 1, 25-18.
 
UH used a 15-to-5 run in the middle of Set 2 to take an 18-8 lead. Hawai'i led by as many as 10 points late and would go on to win Set 2, 25-15. UH out-hit the Anteaters .344-to-.055 with 16 kills to UCI's six in the set.
 
The Anteaters went on a 7-to-2 run early to take an 8-4 lead to start Set 3. Hawai'i however scored five of the next six points to knot the score at 9-9. Hawai'i was able to take a 12-11 lead, but the teams would be tied four more times before UH was able to go up by two causing UCI to call their first timeout. UCI would rally to tie the score at 19 and again at 20. From that point, UH would score five of the last six point of the match--four of those points coming off Igiede kills.
 
Hawai'i had 50 kills to UC Irvine's 31 and the 'Bows had a 41-to-35 advantage in digs. The Mānoa Roofing Company out-blocked the Anteaters, 7.0-to-4.0.
 
UC Irvine was led by Onye Ofoegbu's 12 kills. Bailey Darnell had a team-high eight digs and Ellen Veargasson had three blocks.
 
Up next, the Rainbow Wahine host UC San Diego on Sunday night at 5:00 p.m. at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.