HONOLULU—The middle blockers of the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (18-6, 15-1 Big West) were on fire from the get-go combining for 13 blocks, 24 kills and a .536 hitting percentage as Hawai'i swept UC San Diego (9-17, 6-10 BWC), 25-14, 25-21, 25-20. Amber Igiede was dominant, posting her first double-double of the season with match-highs of 13 kills and 10 blocks, while Skyler Williams added 11 kills and three blocks on Sunday night at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
Hawai'i's offense out-hit UCSD, .337-to-.156 even though the Tritons had 43 kills to Hawai'i's 41. UH had just eight errors on 98 attacks, while UCSD committed 24 errors in 122 swings. The 'Bows hit  over .300 for the ninth time this season finishing with a .337 hitting percentage against UC San Diego. The 'Bows have hit over .300 in five of the last seven matches. Forty-one of UH's 98 attacks (46%) were taken by the middle blockers.
 
On defense the Mānoa Blocking Company out-blocked the Tritons, 15.0-to-3.0 to record its seventh double-digit block match this season. All six front-row starter had at least two blocks each. In addition to the blocks by Igiede and Williams, Tiffany Westerberg added five. Brooke Van Sickle led UH with nine digs while tallying four blocks, a service ace and six kills.
 
Igiede followed her career-high of 17 kills in UH's last match, by tying her career-high with 10 blocks on Sunday. She flirted with recording a triple-double, ending four digs shy. It marked her third straight double-digit kill match and 13^th of the season. It was just the second time of her young career to record 10 blocks. Her first came against Cal State Fullerton as a freshman in 2019 with 10kills and 10 blocks.
 
Williams notched her fourth double-digit kill of the season and eighth of her career as she hit .526 for the night with just one error on 19 swings.
 
Freshmen Kate Lang and Tayli Ikenaga continued their stellar play. Lang issued out 37 assists with seven digs and two blocks while Ikenaga had six digs with a pair of aces.
 
After UC San Diego won the first point, UH scored 10 of the next 12 to take an early 10-4 lead. During the run, UH had a couple of four-point runs with Brooke Van Sickle and Janelle Gong behind the service line. Williams got off to a hot start recording three kills in the first five points and accounted for five kills in the first set alone. UCSD rallied to go on a 9-to-4 run to close their deficit to just two points at 14-12. But from that point, UH finished out the set on an 11-to-2 run to capture Set 1, 25-14. Hawai'i won the last three points on three consecutive UCSD errors to end the set.
 
The Tritons took an early lead to start Set 2, as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. But the Rainbow Wahine quickly erased the UCSD lead, knotting the score at 4-4. The score would be tied twice more before the 'Bows were finally able to get a little traction as they took an 11-8 lead. Hawai'i would use a four-point run to get some breathing room and take a seven point lead at 20-13. UC San Diego would score seven of the next eight points to trim their deficit to just two points, but Hawai'i held the Tritons off, taking Set 2, 25-21 to go up 2-0.
 
In the third set, with the score tied at 5-5, UH scored five consecutive points to take a 10-to-5. An 8-to-2 run extended their lead to 19-9. The Tritons would mount a furious rally to close to within two points. But Brooke Van Sickle came through with back-to-back kills to set up match point in which Van Sickle and Williams combined for UH's 15^th block to end the game, 25-20.
 
Ava Mcinnes led UC San Diego with 13 kills and former Rainbow Wahine Trinity Castaneda added 12. Naya Dong had a match-high 14 digs  while Isabella Dobra had 36 assists.

With Hawai'i's seventh-straight win and UC Santa Barbara falling in four at Long Beach State on Saturday, the Rainbow Wahine remain alone atop the Big West standings with a two match lead.
 
Up next, Hawai'i will head to California for their final Big West roadtrip of the season. The Rainbow Wahine will battle CSU Bakersfield on Friday, Nov. 19 and Cal Poly on Saturday, Nov. 20. The match against the Roadrunners will start at 3:00 p.m. HT, while the match vs. the Mustangs will be at 6:00 p.m. HT.