BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (19-6, 16-1 Big West) held off CSU Bakersfiel (16-9, 9-8 BWC) in four sets, 26-24, 24-26, 25-22, 25-19 in UH's first ever match at the Icardo Center. For the second-straight game, Hawai'i's middle blockers--Amber Igiede and Skyler Williams--powered the 'Bows past the Roadrunners, accounting for 35 of UH's 62 kills while hitting a combined .536 on Friday night. It was a battle in Bakersfield as the two teams had 45 ties in the match with 15 lead changes in the first three sets. With Hawai'i's eighth-straight win, the 'Bows remain atop the Big West standings, two games ahead of UC Santa Barbara. 
 
UH's dynamic middles both recorded career-highs in kills to lead Hawai'i. After setting a new career-high of 17 kills last week vs. UC Irvine, Igiede pounded 20 kills while hitting .531 (20-3-32). It is the first time that Igiede has hit the 20-kill plateau. She is the first middle to post 20 kills since Emily Maglio had 27 as a senior in five sets at Cal Poly on Oct. 27, 2017. She was also in on two blocks and had six digs. Williams put down a career-best 16 kills with a match-high (tied with Brooke Van Sickle) .538 hitting percentage (16-2-26) and was in on a team-high three blocks.
 
Freshman setter Kate Lang fed the middles and dished out a match-high 53 total assists. UH hit for a combined .346 hitting percentage and she had a .491 setting percentage. Lang added five digs, a block and a kill. Fellow rookie libero Tayli Ikenaga had a match-high nine digs. It was the second-straight game and just the third time this season, UH did not have a player post double-digit digs.
 
The Rainbow Wahine shuffled their starting line-up to start the match with Braelyn Akana and Mia Johnson getting the start on the left. Without Van Sickle and Riley Wagoner in the lineup, UH's passing struggled on serve-receive as CSUB had seven service aces in the first two sets and forced the 'Bows out of system early in the match. After Van Sickle and Wagoner entered the match in Set 3, the defense settled down and gave up just one more ace in the match. Van Sickle snapped her 32-straight start streak but gave the 'Bows a boost in the final two sets, hitting .583 with eight kills and one error on 12 swings. She added a pair of aces, four digs and a block.
 
The lead see-sawed back and forth to start the match. After tying each other 11 times, CSU Bakersfield was able to get some traction, taking a three-point lead at 14-11. The 'Bows came right back and took the lead, 15-14 via a 4-to-0 scoring run going into the media timeout. After a couple more lead changes, CSUB went on a four point run to take a 20-17 lead which forced UH to call their first timeout. Hawai'i would rally on a 6-to-2 run to leap-frog past the Roadrunners to take a 23-22 lead. A UH net violation tied the game and CSUB's fifth ace of the set gave them match-point at 24-23. But a kill by Williams knotted the score at 24-24. A "Runner hitting error gave UH a set point opportunity at 25-24 and they were able to convert on an Igiede tip shot to steal Set 1, 26-24. Igiede had seven of her 20 kills in the first set to pace UH.
 
The second set started the same as the first with seven tie scores before CSUB would take a three-point lead, 11-8. UH was able to tie the score at 13-13 on a three-point run that started with a Williams kill followed by two CSUB hitting errors. The Roadrunners however would not relinquish the lead. UH was able to tie the score at 19-19 and four more times after that, but the CSU Bakersfield eventually captured Set 2, 26-24 to even the match at a set apiece.
 
Set 3 began with the two team being tied 13 times. UH would hold the lead until CSUB went ahead, 12-11.  Hawai'i rallied to take a 15-14 lead into the media timeout. UH would inch out to a four point lead behind the serving of Van Sickle, 20-16. The Roadrunners would rally to close to within one point at 20-19, but UH responded. A pair of Igiede kills would give UH a 24-22 lead and Wagoner terminated the set with her first kill of the night that gave UH a 25-23 win in Set 3. The Rainbow Wahine took a 2-1 set lead into the fourth.
 
Hawai'i led the fourth set from start to finish with only two ties at 1-1 and 2-2. A 6-to-1 run by the 'Bows gave UH an early 8-3 lead. Hawai'i would slowly pull away, going up by as many as seven points at 21-14. Eventually Hawai'i won the match with a 25-19 Set 4 win.
 
After out-blocking their opponents last week 22-to-7, UH was out-blocked by the Roadrunners, 6.0-to-5.0.
 
On their Senior Night, CSU Bakersfield had four players hit in double-figures, led by Hana Makanova's 15 kills. Paige Calvin stymied the 'Bows with four of CSUB's eight service aces while Seleisa Elisaia had a team-high 45 assists.
 
Up next, the Rainbow Wahine will travel westward to battle Cal Poly on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 6:00 p.m. HT.