SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (16-6, 13-1 Big West) travels to southern California for its fifth roadtrip of the season. The Rainbow Wahine will take on UC San Diego on Friday, Nov. 11 at 5:00 p.m. HT followed by UC Irving on Sat., Nov. 12 at 3:00 p.m. HT. Hawai'i which is 13-1 in The Big West, currently is a game ahead of UC Santa Barbara to lead The Big West.
 

RAINBOW WAHINE VOLLEYBALL - WEEK #12
Date | Time | Opponent				UC San Diego  |  Friday, Nov. 11, 2022  |  5:00 p.m. HT UC Irvine | Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022  |  3:00 p.m. HT
Location				Friday - Main Gym (San Diego, Calif.) Saturday - Bren Events Center (Irvine, Calif.)
Live Video Stream				ESPN+ | UC San Diego | UC Irvine
Radio				CBS 1500 (1500 AM) - Tiff Wells (Play-by-Play)
Live Audio Stream				cbssportshawaii.com -or- Sideline Hawaii app
Game Notes				Hawai'i (PDF) | UC San Diego (Link) | UC Irvine (Link)
LIve Stats				Thursday - UC San Diego Saturday - UC Irvine
Social Media				@HawaiiWVB  | #HawaiiWVB #GoBows | @HawaiiWVB  | Facebook

 HAWAI'I VS. UC SAN DIEGO (12-14, 5-9 Big West)Overall series record: UH leads 4-0
Streak:UH has won last four.
Head Coach: Ricci Luyties (12th Season)

• The Tritons split their matches last week, falling at home to UC Davis, 3-0 then sweeping UC Riverside in San Diego, 3-0. Zaria Henderson led UCSD with 20 killswhile Emily McDaniel had a team-high six blocks.
• On Oct. 8th, UCSD gave the Rainbow Wahine everything they could handle. The 'Bows won in four, but the match could have easily gone the other way, as the first two sets went to extra points. UH held off three Triton set points in the first set but fought back to eventually edge out UCSD, 27-25, 30-28, 23-25, 25-19.
• In 2021, UCSD officially played as a member of the Big West Conference. After dropping the first set at UCSD last year, Hawai'i recovered to win the next three (10/8/21), 22-25, 25-14, 27-25, 25-21. In Honolulu, UH swept the Tritons, 25-14, 25-21, 25-20.
• The Tritons are led on offense by Ava McInnes who leads The Big West with 381 kills and is second in the BW averaging .374 kill/set. McInnis was unstoppable in UH's first meeting with the Tritons, putting down 22 kills with four blocks and two aces.
  UCSD and UCI will face each other this Thursday, prior to both facing Hawai'i
• Hawai'i's match at UCSD will be the Tritons' Senior Night match.

 HAWAI'I VS. UC IRVINE (15-9, 8-6 Big West)Head Coach: Ashlie Hain (Seventh Season)
Overall series record: UH leads 44-1
Streak: UH has won the last four against the Anteaters. UCI snapped their 40-match losing streak vs. Hawai'i in five sets at the Stan on 10/4/2019 (25-11, 25-21, 23-25, 16-25, 13-15).

• Last week, the Anteaters split their matches, falling at UC Davis in five sets, but UCI bounced back two days later to sweep UC Riverside. 
  Joy Umeh led UCI with 33 kills, with 17 vs. UCR and 16 vs. UCD. Campbell Jensen had 31 digs while at the net, UCI came up with a combined 15 blocks.
• On Oct. 7, Hawai'i swept UC Irvine in Honolulu, 25-17, 25-19, 25-13. UH's middle blockers—Amber Igiede, Tiffany Westerberg, and Kennedi Evans combined for 30 kills on 41 errorless swings as Hawai'i as a team hit a season-high .471 (56-8-102).
• Last year UH defeated the Anteaters in four on the road (20-25, 25-20, 27-25, 25-15) on 10/9/21. In Honolulu, UH swept UCI on 11/12/21, 25-18, 25-15, 25-21.

 HAWAI'I HEAD COACH ROBYN AH MOWOverall record: 102-35 (Fifth Season)
At Hawai'i: Same
Big West: 73-9 (Fifth Season)

• With Hawai'i's two home sweeps last week over Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, head coach Robyn Ah Mow record improved to 102-35 overall and73-9 in conference.
• Ah Mow, who is in her fifth season (sixth overall - BWC did not play in 2020 due to COVID-19) 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...

• Last week, the Rainbow Wahine swept both Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton to improve to 16-6 overall. For her efforts, sophomore Kate Lang earned her second Big West Setter of the Week award after orchestrating UH's offense to a combined .307 hitting percentage. In the sweep over the Beach, Lang recorded her seventh double-double of the season, dishing out 29 assists with 11 digs. She had a .408 set percentage while putting down four kills, a pair of service aces and a block. Against the Titans, Lang posted a match-high 37 assists with a .481 set percentage while leading the Hawai'i offense to a combined .353 hitting percentage. The sophomore added two kills and six digs, tallying career dig No. 400 in the sweep of Cal State Fullerton. Lang averaged 11.00 assists and 2.83 digs per set in six sets played. She currently averages 10.23 assists per set on the season, second in The Big West.    
• Hawai'i got off to a slow start and staved off a set point before overtaking Long Beach State to win Set 1. The 'Bows then held Long Beach State at bay the rest of the match, 26-24, 25-18, 25-18. Caylen Alexander led UH with 11 kills and had two service aces with four digs.
• Hawai'i's middles provided the power in UH's sweep over Cal State Fullerton as Amber Igiede and Tiffany Westerberg combined for a .538 while putting down 23 kills and posting seven blocks between the two juniors. As a team, The Rainbow Wahine hit .353 (46-10-102) which propelled the 'Bows to their 10th sweep of the season. Igiede led UH with 15 kills and four blocks, while Rile Wagoner notched her fourth double-double with 10 kills and a team-high 11 digs.

WHERE HAWAI'I RANKS

• In the sixth RPI of the season, UH rose 19 spots up to No. 39 from being at No. 58 last week after sweeping both The Beach and the Titans. Long Beach State dropped six to No. 65. This week three Big West teams remain in the Top 100 with UC Santa Barbara coming in at 91. Cal Poly is right outside at No. 101. Three of UH's pre-season opponents are in the RPI's Top 20—#6 Pitt, #9 San Diego, and #20 USC.
• As a team, UH leads The Big West with 12.73 assists/set; 13.73 kill/set; and a .257 hitting percentage.
• Individually, Amber Igiede leads league and is ranked No. 5 in the NCAA with a .428 hitting percentage. She also leads The Big West averaging 4.62 points/set which ranks her at No. 40 in the NCAA. In The Big West, Kate Lang is ranked second averaging 10.23 assists/set and third with 829 total assists.

NEWS & NOTES

• SETTING FOR SUCCESS - In conference games, Kate Lang leads The Big West averaging 11.00 assists/set. Overall, the sophomore from Keller, Texas has been trading the league-lead with Long Beach State's Zayna Meyer. Currently, Lang is ranked second, averaging 10.23 assists/set. Overall, Lang has dished out 829 assists as UH leads The Big West with a team .257 hitting percentage. She is third on the team with 36 total blocks and 18 service aces and fourth with 170 digs. She has seven double-doubles this season and 19 for her career. Her streak of 10-straight matches with at least one block was snapped in last Saturday's match vs. Cal State Fullerton.
• IGIEDE LEADS THE WAY - Junior middle blocker Amber Igiede not only leads The Big West and UH in hitting percentage and points. Overall the junior from Baton Rouge, La. also leads UH with 294 kills, averaging a team-best 3.63 kill/set, 100 total blocks, 1.23 blocks/set, and 374.5 total points. Igiede has recorded 20 double-digit kill matches and she has been in on at least one block in 80 of 81 career matches played. Igiede also ranks third on the team in service aces and has scooped up 75 digs for this season.
• AKANA'S EFFICIENCY UNLOCKED - In the last six matches since returning to the starting lineup after missing some games due to illness, junior opposite Braelyn Akana has stepped up her game. During that span, she put down 46 kills, averaging 2.19 kills/set while hitting .345. Against CSUN, she hit .714 and at UC Riverside she put down 10 kills with one error on 13 swings for a .695 hit%. Overall, she has registered 104 kills and is hitting .189 for the season.
• SUPER GLUE  - Although Riley Wagoner's offensive production has dipped slightly in the last few games, UH's floor captain more than made up for it in other ways. She has notched double-digit digs in the last five-straight matches and nine matches overall. She also has seven blocks in the last five matches and had nine assists, six blocks and four service aces. Overall, Wagoner is second on the team with 266 kills while averaging 3.28 kills/set. She is second on the team with 19 service aces and 189 digs and third with 32 total blocks. She has 14 double-digit kill matches and nine double-digit dig matches this season. This past weekend, the junior from Dublin, Ohio also recorded her 100th career block.
• ROOKIE ON THE RISE - True-freshman Caylen Alexander continues to be fearless for the 'Bows. She has been named Big West Freshman of the Week five times, tying former Rainbow Wahine Hanna Hellvig for the most for a UH player since the award was created in 2015. Alexander's five weekly awards are the most for a Big West rookie this season. Last week against Long Beach State, Alexander put down a team-high 11 kills to help lead UH to a sweep over the Beach. Alexander is third on the team with 222 kills and a 2.78 kill/set average. She leads the 'Bows with 28 service aces--including five this past weekend.
• DIGGING IT - Sophomore libero Tayli Ikenaga returned to the court against CSUN (10/21/22) after missing the first three matches of her career due to an ankle injury suffered right before UH's match vs. UC San Diego. She is a stabilizing force in the back row and leads UH with 209 digs, averaging a team-best 3.07 digs/set. She has 12 double-digit dig matches under her belt this season and is second on the team with 49 assists. Ikenaga has had at least on e assist in 20 of 22 matches this season and she has added 11 service aces.
• HAM ELEVATING BACK ROW PLAY - In the last seven matches, defensive/serving specialist Kendra Ham has scooped up double-digit digs in five of them. Overall, she has recorded 10+ digs in eight matches. Ham has led UH in digs in three matches this season--including UH's match against Long Beach State last week. She is UH's Swiss Army knife as she has played around the rotations as a right-side hitter in spots. She has 20 kills overall and has five blocks when called upon to play in the front at opposite.
• EDMONDS STEPS UP – During the three-match span of Ikenaga's absence in the lineup, Talia Edmonds stepped right in recording a career-high 28 digs vs. UC San Diego. The 28 digs was the most for a UH player since Tita Akiu had 34 digs against Baylor in the 2018 NCAA First Round. In her three matches wearing the libero jersey, she recorded 50 total digs with 16 assists and all seven of her service aces for the season. For the season, Edmonds has 164 digs overall.
• WESTERBERG AT HOME IN THE MIDDLE - Junior middle Tiffany Westerberg has recorded at least one block in 20 of UH's 22 matches this season. In UH's most recent match vs. Cal State Fullerton, she hit a team-best .615 with 8 kills on 13 errorless swings. She has posted double-digit kills in three matches and against UC Irvine recorded a career-high .800 hitting percentage with 12 kills on 15 errorless swings. This season, her 139 kills is more than she recorded combined in her first two seasons at UH while she was playing both in the middle and on the outside. She is second on the team with 44 total blocks.
• Only five Rainbow Wahine have appeared in all 81 sets this season (Amber Igiede, Riley Wagoner, Kate Lang, Tiffany Westerberg and Talia Edmonds) while just four have started all 20 matches this year (Igiede, Lang, Wagoner, and Westerberg)