HONOLULU — The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team's two-match homestand against fellow Big West contenders ended with a 25-17, 29-27, 28-26 loss to conference leader UC Santa Barbara in front of a season-high attendance of 7,515 on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
A night after a five-set loss to Cal Poly, the Rainbow Wahine struggled to gain any traction in the first set against the Gauchos which was followed by two marathon, see-saw sets that tipped to the Gauchos for the win. Hawai'i fell to 17-8 overall and 10-4 in Big West play.
 
UH senior middle blocker Kennedi Evans led the Rainbow Wahine with 10 kills in 22 attempts. Senior middle Amber Igiede added nine kills and passed Diana Jesse (1984-87) to move into 13^th in program history with 1,267 career kills. Igiede had three blocks in the homestand to pass Juliana Sanders (2004-07) for fifth place with 497 career total blocks list.  

Outside hitter Tali Hakas provided a spark off the bench with seven kills on 19 swings in the second and third sets. 
 
UH hit a collective .139 with 26 attack errors while UCSB hit .202 with 13 errors. McKnight led UCSB with a match-high 14 kills.
 
The second set included 14 ties and four lead changes and UCSB fought off three UH set points before taking the set. The Gauchos appeared to be cruising to the sweep after they took command in the third with an 11-1 run to take a 22-14 lead. The Rainbow Wahine responded with an 8-0 surge to tie the set at 22-22. UH earned a set point at 25-24 and survived two match points before Brianna McKnight ended the match with her third ace and UCSB's fifth of the match.
 
UH slipped into a tie with Cal Poly for third place in the Big West and dropped three games behind UCSB (23-3, 13-1) with four matches left in the regular season.
 
UH lost consecutive home matches for the first time since dropping a series to Oregon in 2018. The 'Bows fell in back-to-back conference matches for the first time since 2014, and the weekend marked the first time UH lost consecutive conference matches at home since two losses to Long Beach State in 1993.
 
UH's four conference losses is the most since the 1993 team went 13-5 in Big West play in 1993.
 
In the first set, UH committed 10 attack errors, four on UCSB blocks, to hit .116 while the Gauchos hit .355 with one error.
 
UH coach Robyn Ah Mow altered the lineup for the second, inserting Hakas and outside hitter Kendra Ham into the rotation. UCSB took a 15-14 lead into the technical timeout and led 20-17 before UH surged ahead with a 6-0 run with Tayli Ikenaga on the service line. The 'Bows took the lead on a block by Igiede and Ham, UH's first of the night, followed by kills from Igiede and Paula Guersching.
 
Igiede hammered a kill in the middle to give UH set point at 24-22, but UCSB fought off both to force deuce. The Gauchos survived a third UH set point before moving ahead at 26-25. Two kills by Hakas extended the set, but UCSB converted on its third set point when McKnight's serve hit the tape and dropped on UH's side of the net for an ace
 
Looking to extend the match, UH went up 10-5 in the third set and led 13-11 before UCSB scored the next seven straight for an 11-1 run.
 
Kills by freshman Stella Adeyemi and Igiede slowed the momentum and after two UCSB errors, Igiede's kill on a slide cut the UCSB lead to 22-19. A review overturned a UCSB kill, Hakas followed with a kill and UH tied the set when a UCSB attack sailed long.
 
There would be four more ties before McKnight's final kill gave UCSB an third match point and she ended the night with UCSB's fifth ace.
 
The Rainbow Wahine will head back to Southern California for their final road trip of the regular season to play at UC Irvine on Nov. 10 and at Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 11.