HONOLULU--The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team held their first practices on Tuesday as they begin the quest to defend their back-to-back Big West titles.

The Rainbow Wahine return eight letterwinners and a redshirt freshman are led by all-Big West first teamers Amber Igiede (Jr., 6-3, MB, Baton Rouge, La.) and Kate Lang (Soph., 5-10, S, Keller, Texas). UH welcomes four newcomers into the fold this season with two freshmen, Caylen Alexander (6-0, OH, Alpharetta, Ga.) and Jackie Matias (5-9, S, Honolulu, O'ahu) and two junior transfers, Chandler Cowell (5-10, OH, Kula, Maui) and Talia Edmonds (5-7, L/DS, Kalamazoo, Mich.).

The 2022 roster is one of the most geographically diverse teams that Hawai'i has had. The squad had players from seven states (Hawai'i, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas) plus three foreign countries (Canada, Hungary, and the Netherlands).

For the first time since 2005 and just the ninth time in program history, the Rainbow Wahine will open its season on the road as they travel to College Station, Texas to compete in the Texas A&M Invitational (August 26-28) taking on host Texas A&M, Pitt, and San Diego. Following their Texas trip, UH will return home to host its only tournament of the year, the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge (Sept. 1-4). Texas State, West Virginia, and UCLA will all head to Honolulu for the tourney. Hawai'i will close its non-conference slate with two matches against USC (Sept. 9 & 10). In all, the 'Bows will take on four teams who punched their tickets to the 2021 NCAA tournament—San Diego, West Virginia, UCLA and Pitt who advanced to last year's national semifinals.

Last year, UH recorded a 22-8 overall record and an 18-2 conference mark. Hawai'i captured its 25th conference title (10 Big West, 15 WAC) and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 39th time overall and the 28th-consecutive season.