BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (9-5, 6-0 Big West) embarks on its third roadtrip of the season to take on CSU Bakersfield (5-14, 2-5 BWC) and Cal Poly (9-8, 6-1 BWC). Reigning Big West Offensive Player of the Week Riley Wagoner and Freshman of the Week Caylen Alexander helped lift the Rainbow Wahine to a pair of conference wins last week to remain atop the Big West standings with a 6-0 record)
 

RAINBOW WAHINE VOLLEYBALL - WEEK #8
Date | Time | Opponent				at CSU Bakersfield  |  Friday, Oct. 14, 2022  |  3:00 p.m. HT at Cal Poly  |  Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022  |  4:00 p.m. HT
Location				Friday - Jimmie and Marjorie Icardo Center (3,497) - Bakersfield, Calif. Saturday - Mott Athletics Center (3,032) - San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Live Video Stream				ESPN+:  FRIDAY  |  SATURDAY
Radio				Friday - ESPN Honolulu - 1420 AM / 92.7 FM | Tiff Wells (play-by-play) Saturday - CBS 1500 - 1500 AM | Tiff Wells (play-by-play)
Live Audio Stream				Friday: ESPNHonolulu.com  | Sideline Hawaii App Saturday: CBSSportsHawaii  | Sideline Hawaii App
Game Notes				Hawai'i | CSU Bakersfield | Cal Poly
LIve Stats				FRIDAY  |  SATURDAY
Social Media				@HawaiiWVB  | #HawaiiWVB #GoBows | @HawaiiWVB  | Facebook

HAWAI'I VS. CSU BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS (5-13, 2-4 Big West)Series vs. CSUB: UH leads series, 4-0
Streak: UH has won four.
Head Coach: Giovana Melo (Ninth Season)

• Last season in CSUB's first official year in the Big West, UH swept the 'Runners in Honolulu, 25-18, 25-20, 25-18. In Bakersfield, the 'Bows won in four, hard fought sets, 26-24, 24-26, 25-13, 25-19.'
• This past Tuesday, the 'Runners and Mustangs clashed in a five-set thriller with Cal Poly coming out on top in five, 25-21, 21-25, 25-14, 21-25, 13-15.

HAWAI'I VS. CAL POLY MUSTANGS (8-8, 5-1 Big West)Series vs. Cal Poly: UH leads series, 43-8
Streak: UH has won last five.
Head Coach: Caroline Walters (Third Season)

• Last season, UH swept Cal Poly at home, 25-19, 25-19, 25-22, and UH won in three on the road 25-22, 25-18, 25-20.
• The last time Cal Poly defeated Hawai'i was on Oct. 6, 2018 in San Luis Obispo in four, 25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 27-25.
• This past Tuesday, the 'Runners and Mustangs clashed in a five-set thriller with Cal Poly coming out on top in five, 25-21, 21-25, 25-14, 21-25, 13-15.
• *The Mustangs started the 2022 season falling in their first seven matches, but have since been on a roll, winning nine of their last 10, including going 6-1 in conference matches. Their lone Big West loss came to UC Santa Barbara in four on the road.

HAWAI'I HEAD COACH ROBYN AH MOWOverall record: 95-34 (Fifth season)
At Hawai'i: Same
Big West: 66-8 (Fifth Season)
UH head coach Robyn Ah Mow is in her fifth season (sixth overall - BWC did not play in 2020 due to COVID-19). Overall she has an 95-34 record and a 66-8 mark in the Big West Conference. She was voted BWC Coach of the Year the last two seasons (Co-Head Coach in 2019) and was named the 2019 AVCA Pacific North All-Region Coach of the Year. The two-time first team AVCA All-American and three time Olympian setter took over the program following legendary head coach Dave Shoji. Ah Mow has led her alma mater to back-to-back Big West titles. Last year, the 'Bows upset SEC runner-up, No. 24 Mississippi State in the NCAA First Round (in Seattle, Wash.) in a five set thriller, 17-25, 25-14, 25-13, 21-25, 15-11. Ah Mow led UH to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, extending UH's streak to 28-straight and 39 overall NCAA appearances.

LAST TIME OUT...

• After sweeping UC Irvine and defeating UC San Diego in four sets this past weekend, currently Hawai'i is the lone unbeaten team to stay atop The Big West standings with a 6-0 conference record.
• Against UCI, UH's middles—Amber Igiede, Tiffany Westerberg and Kennedi Evans, combined for 30 kills on 41 errorless swings for a combined .732 hitting percentage.  As a team, Hawai'i hit for a season-high .471 (56-8-102) hitting percentage.
• Hawai'i out hit the Anteaters 56-to-35 in kills and .471-to-.272 in hitting percentage. UH had a 54-to-36 advantage in assists, 5-to-1 in service aces, and 37-to-29 in digs while out-blocking UCI, 6.0-to-5.0.
• On Saturday, the 'Bows edged out UCSD in a hard fought, four-set victory that could have easily gone the other as a sweep for the Tritons. UCSD gave UH all they could handle. Hawai'i rallied late in Sets 1 & 2 to steal the first two frames. The 'Bows eventually downed the Tritons 27-25, 30-28, 23-25, 25-19.
• On Saturday, as the 'Bows were winding down their warmups just minutes before the National Anthem, UH starting libero Tayli Ikenaga (who had started all 45 UH matches during the sophomore's career) suffered an injury and had to be helped off the court. With only a couple of minutes before the introductions, Talia Edmonds ran back to the lockerroom to don the libero jersey. Edmonds, a junior transfer from Michigan State, did not disappoint, recording UH career-highs of 28 digs, six assists, and two service aces. Her 28 digs were the most for a UH player since Tita Akiu logged 34 against Baylor in the 2017 NCAA First Round.
• Junior outside hitter Riley Wagoner led Hawai'i with a career-high 25 kills (the most for a Rainbow Wahine since Emily Maglio had 27 at Cal Poly in 2018). Wagoner hit .319 (25-9-51) for the night while adding four digs, an assist an ace and a block.
• Rookie Caylen Alexander recorded her third double-double of the season with 16 kills and a career-high 14 digs. With Ikenaga going out, Alexander played all six rotationa and only had one serve-receive error in 20 chances.
• For the fourth time in conference action, the trio of Aleander, Igiede, and Wagoner all recorded 10+ kills in each game.

WHERE HAWAI'I RANKS

• In the second RPI rankings of the 2022 season, Hawai'i rose four spots to No. 37 to lead all Big West teams. Close behind, Long Beach State comes in at No. 72 followed by UC Santa Barbara who is at No. 109 (for full listing of RPI rankings, see page 10 of game notes).
• Overall, Hawai'i leads The Big West in team hitting percentage (.252); kills (13.78 k/s); and Assists (12.80 ast/set).
• Overall, individually, middle blocker Amber Igiede leads all Big West players in both hitting percentage (.431, 180-29-350) and in points (4.44 points/set). Setter Kate Lang is tops in the conference averaging 10.04 ast/set). Igiede also comes in at No. 4 with a 3.53 k/set average and at No. 8 averaging 1.12 blk/set.

WAGONER, ALEXANDER EARN BIG WEST WEEKLY HONORS

• Riley Wagoner and Caylen Alexander both earned Big West weekly honors after helping lift UH to a pair of conference wins this past week. Wagoner was tabbed the Big West's Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in her career, while Alexander received her third-straight and fourth overall Freshman of the Week award.
• Wagoner pounded a career-high 25 kills on a career-high 51 swings in the Rainbow Wahine's 3-1 win against UC San Diego on Saturday. The kill count was the most for a Hawai'i player since 2017. Wagoner also added four digs, an ace and a block against the Tritons. She opened up the weekend with 10 kills, seven digs and four blocks in a sweep of UC Irvine on Friday. Wagoner has recorded double-digit kills in the last eight consecutive matches and 10 times overall this season. Last season, Wagoner earned her first BWC Offensive Player of the Week award on Oct. 11, 2021. She is the first Rainbow Wahine to earn BWC Offensive POTW honors this season.
• In UH's 3-1 win over UCSD, Alexander posted her third double-double with 16 kills and a season-best 14 digs. For the weekend, she produced 23 kills, 18 digs, four assists and two service aces. She recorded seven kills, four digs, one ace and a season-high three assists as host UH swept UC Irvine on Friday. Alexander has appeared in all of UH's 14 matches, compiling 10-plus kills in eight of them, including in four of UH's six Big West contest. She has amassed 61 kills over the past five contests, attacking at a .326 (61-16-138) rate. Alexander continues to lead the 'Bows with 19 service aces.

NEWS & NOTES

• Igiede continues to lead Hawai'i in kills (180); kills/set (3.53); hitting percentage (.431); blocks (57.0); blocks/set (1.12) and total points (226.5). She has had double-digit kills in 13 of 15 matches including the last 12-straight. She has been in on at least 2.0 blocks in 13-consecutive matches. Igiede has hit over .400 in eight matches this season--highlighted by a season-best .652 (15-0-23) last week against UC Irvine (10/7/22).
• Overall, sophomore setter Kate Lang leads the league averaging 10.04 assists/set. In conference only games, she has raised her game averaging a conference-best 11.65 assists/sest. This past Friday, Lang had the UH offense buzzing, hitting a season-high .471 (56-8-102) while adding six digs, two kills, a career-high three service aces and a block.
• Since the USC series in September, Wagoner has recorded eight-straight 10+ kill matches--including the latest 25-kill match against UC San Diego last Saturday. Overall, she is second on the team with 173 kills with a .200 hitting percentage. In conference matches alone, Wagoner is hitting .302 and leads UH with 85 kills while averaging a team-best 4.25 k/s.
• Alexander has tallied 10+ kills in four of UH's six Big West matches. Overall she has eight double-digit kill matches under her belt and is one of three Rainbow Wahine to have over 100+ kills coming into this week with 143 (2.86 k/s). Alexander continues to lead UH with 19 service aces. In conference play, she has raised her level of play averaging 3.45 kill/set while hitting at a .302 clip (69-21-159).
• Standing tall and holding her own in the middle has been Tiffany Westerberg who after playing at all three front row positions in her first two seasons, has found a home right in the middle. Last week against UC Irvine, she tied her career-high with 12 kills and set a new career-high .800 hitting percentage (12-0-15). Overall, Westerberg is fourth on the team with 95 kills. She has been in on at least one block in every match this season except against UC Riverside and is second on the team with 30 total blocks.
• Sophomore libero Tayli Ikenaga has posted 10 double-digit dig matches. She leads the 'Bows with 161 total digs and is averaging 3.43 digs/set. In her five Big West matches played, Ikenaga has had zero serve-receive errors in 60 chances.
• Junior defensive specialist Talia Edmonds, who transferred from Michigan State, stepped up in a big way in UH's most recent game vs. UC San Diego. At the last second before the match was to start, she was changed from beind a defensive specialist to the starting libero after Tayli Ikenaga went down at the end of warm-ups. She was clutch coming up with a career-high (both at MSU and UH) 28 digs while adding a career-high six assists and her first two service aces of the season.
• Junior Kendra Ham has served primarily as a serving/defensive specialist with appearances in all 14 matches. At Long Beach State, she remained in the rotation all the way around starting at the end of Set 3 providing a different look at the net for UH. Ham was clutch, putting down a career-high (at Hawai'i) four kills and was in on two blocks with nine digs. Overall, Ham has 14 kills--eight of which has come in conference matches, with 93 digs and seven service aces.
• Junior transfer Kennedi Evans recorded her first two kills as a Rainbow Wahine at the end of the UCI match last Friday. Last year, in her final go-around at Utah, her season was curtailed by a season-ending injury that she has worked hard to come back from. Her journey back to the court was against Cal State Fullerton when she dealt a walk-off service aces for the win.