Box Score HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (3-5, 0-0 Big West) ended their non-conference season with a bang as they rallied for the five-set, reverse sweep win over Southern California, 22-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 15-8. Junior outside hitter Riley Wagoner bounced back and stepped up downing a team-high 17 kills on Saturday night at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on the final night of the Hawaiian Airlines Volleyball Series.
 
Wagoner came through with timely kills and hit for a season-high .389 hitting percentage (17-3-30) after hitting -.022 the previous night. In the final three sets, she put the 'Bows on her back and pounded 12 kills with no errors in 19 swings for a .631 hitting percentage. In the fifth set alone, Wagoner had five kills with no errors in six attacks (.833). She finished the match with eight digs, two blocks and two service aces.
 
Amber Igiede added 15 kills while hitting a match-highs of a .400 hitting percentage (15-3-30) and six blocks. Igiede has recorded 10+ digs in seven of UH's eight matches this year. The junior middle blocker also contributed with eight digs and two assists in the win.
 
As a team, after hitting .155 on Friday night, sophomore setter Kate Lang led the UH offense with 41 assists as the UH offense out-hit USC, .278-to-.197. The 'Bows cut down their errors almost by half from the previous night with 17 errors in five sets on Saturday. Lang had a pair of aces and was in on three blocks.
 
UH libero Tayli Ikenaga recorded a team-high 12 digs for her sixth double-digit dig match of the season, while Kendra Ham came off the bench to post her third 10+ dig match finished with 11. She also had a kill, an assist, and an ace, but it was her eight-point serving run in the third that turned the tide for UH in that set and the match. Her service ace in the middle of the run put UH up 13-12. From that point forward, Hawai'i never trailed again in the match.
 
In the fourth set, with UH leading 7-4, Caylen Alexander sparked the 'Bows from the service line as they scored five straight extending their lead to 12-4. During that run, Alexander racked up three aces as UH rolled to tie the match at 2-2. Alexander ended up with eight kills, two digs, and a block.
 
USC overtook UH and seized the lead for good in the first set at 16-15. They closed out the frame, 25-22. After one set, Wagoner led UH with three kills and Igiede and Westerberg had two blocks apiece to lead UH.
 
Southern California started out hot in the second, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Hawai'i answered right back, going on a 5-to-0 run of their own with Wagoner serving to see-saw in front at 6-5. Hawai'i held the lead until the Trojans went on a 9-to-2 run to lead by four at 17-13 which forced a UH timeout. USC would lead by as many as seven at 21-14. UH went on a 6-to-2 run to come within three points at 23-20, but USC would win the set, 25-21 to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Both teams were not able to gain much traction early in Set 3. But UH went on an 8-to-0 run with Ham serving leapfrog USC to an 18-12 lead. With UH leading 22-16, USC kept fighting and went on a 5-to-1 run to close to within two points at 23-21. The 'Bows were able to close out the set, finishing with a double-block by Igiede and Akana at 25-22.
 
Hawai'i took their momentum into the fourth frame. UH jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead and didn't take their foot off the gas pedal leading from start to finish. An overturned point after a UH challenge changed the score from 7-5 to 8-4 which seemed to allow the Wahine to keep rolling. UH led 12-4 after a five point scoring run—which included Alexander's three service aces. Hawai'i would lead by as many as 10 at 22-12 and eventually won Set 4, 25-16 to tie the match at two sets apiece.
 
The race to 15 began with both teams trading blows. An Igiede kill gave UH an 8-7 lead going into the media timeout as they switched sides. Coming out of the timeout, UH would score five straight with Ham serving for a 12-7 lead. Overall UH scored seven of the last eight points to cruise to a 15-8 Set 5 win to record their first five-set match in three tries this year.
 
Hawai'i had the advantage vs. the Trojans 8-to-3 in service aces while out-blocking USC, 10.0-to-6.0 after being out-blocked on Friday, 12.5-to-5.0. USC had 59 assists to UH's 49 and they out-dug UH, 52-to-50. The Trojans (5-3, 0-0 PAC-12) were led by Skylar Fields who put down a match-high 25 kills. Mia Tuaniga had a match-high 53 assists while both Emilia Weske and Kalyah Williams  and Jordan Wilson had two blocks each.
 
Next week, the Rainbow Wahine will renew their annual Alumnae Game after not hosting it for two seasons due to Covid-19. The Rainbow Wahine will honor the 50^th Anniversary of both Title IX and Rainbow Wahine athletics on Friday, Sept. 16 beginning at 4:45 p.m.. The current Rainbow Wahine will follow with a Green/White scrimmage beginning at 7:00 p.m.