IRVINE, Calif.--The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (17-8, 10-4 Big West) heads to Southern California for its final regular season roadtrip to take on UC Irvine on Friday, Nov. 10th at 4:00 p.m. HT. Friday's match against the Anteaters has been moved to UCI's Crawford Hall from the Bren Events Center. The Rainbow Wahine will then head up the I-5 to battle Cal State Fullerton on Saturday Nov. 11th at 2:00 p.m. HT.
| HAWAI'I vs. UC IRVINE (8-17, 6-8 BW) |
| Date | Time |
Friday, Nov. 10, 2023 | 4:00 p.m. HT |
| Location |
Crawford Hall (800) - Irvine, Calif. |
| Live Video Stream |
ESPN+ |
| Radio |
ESPN Honolulu: 1420 AM / 92.7 FM - Tiff Wells (Play-by-play) |
| Live Audio Stream |
espnhonolulu.com | Sideline Hawaii App |
| Live Stats |
ucirvinesports.com |
| Game Notes |
Hawai'i | UC Irvine |
| Social Media |
|
| HAWAI'I vs. CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD |
| Date | Time |
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 | 2:00 p.m. HT |
| Location |
Titan Gym (4,032) - Fullerton, Calif. |
| Live Video Stream |
ESPN+ |
| Radio |
CBS 1500 - 1500 am - Tiff Wells (Play-by-play) |
| Live Audio Stream |
cbssportshawaii.com | Sideline Hawaii App |
| Live Stats |
fullertontitans.com |
| Game Notes |
Hawai'i | Cal State Fullerton |
| Social Media |
|
HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (17-8, 10-4 Big West)
Head Coach: Robyn Ah Mow (Seventh Season)
Record at UH: Overall: 125-44 | Big West: 87-13
Overall Record: Same
UC IRVINE ANTEATERS (8-17, 6-8 Big West)
Head Coach: Ashlie Hain (Seventh Season)
Series Record: UH leads, 45-1
Streak: UH has won last six
Last meeting: Earlier this season in Honolulu, swept the Anteaters, 25-19, 25-23, 25-20. Senior middle
Amber Igiede put down a match-high 11 kills while junior setter
Kate Lang notched a double-double with 31 assists and 11 digs. Two other Rainbow Wahine--
Kendra Ham and
Paula Guersching--also popped up 10+ digs in the three-set win. Ham also dealt a season-high three service aces and had seven kills.
CAL STATE FULLERTON TITANS (1-22, 0-14 Big West)
Head Coach: Nicole Vargas Polster (Third Season)
Series Record: UH leads 48-0
Streak: UH has won 48
Last meeting: Hawai'i defeated Cal State Fullerton in straight sets, 25-18, 25-10, 25-14. Fourteen UH players played against in the Titans with 11 recording at least one kill and 12 scooping up at least one dig. UH was led by
Kennedi Evans and
Caylen Alexander who both tallied seven kills each. Igiede added six kills and five total blocks.
LAST TIME OUT...The Rainbow Wahine lost back-to-back home conference games for the first time since 1993 after falling in five to Cal Poly on Friday followed by a three-set loss to league-leader UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
- UH's match against the Mustangs was a roller-coaster ride, winning Sets 1 and 3 handily, but were unable to sustain their momentum in Sets 2 and 4. In the fifth set, Cal Poly held a 9-4 lead, but UH rallied their way back to tie the score at 12-12. Cal Poly would score the final three-straight points to hold off Hawai'i for the first time at the Stan since 2017. Sophomore pin-hitter Caylen Alexander put down a match-high 18 kills and a pair of aces, while Igiede added 11 kills and two blocks.
- Hawai'i was then swept at home by league-leader UC Santa Barbara in three, hard fought sets, 25-17, 29-27, 28-26. Kate Lang recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 36 assists and 16 digs--both match-highs. Senior middle Kennedi Evans led UH with 10 kills and Igiede added nine. Even though as a team UH led UCSB in kills (46-to-38), assists (45-to-34) and digs (66-to-62), it was not enough to overcome Hawai'i's 26 hitting and 11 service errors.
NEWS & NOTESBIG WEST STANDINGS
- Currently, Hawai'i is in a tie for third place with Cal Poly in the Big West standings.
- Last week, UH was one of three teams to secure a spot in the inaugural Big West Championships later this month.
- UC Santa Barbara continues to be a match ahead of second place Long Beach State
LOOKING TO REBOUND
- Hawai'i is looking to bounce back after a tough couple of home losses last week. 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.
IGIEDE CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS
- In UH's loss to UC Santa Barbara, senior middle Amber Igiede added nine kills to pass UH All-American Diana Jesse (1984-87) to move into 13th 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 on UH's career total blocks list.
- Igiede is 10 kills away from tying UH All-American Emily Hartong for No. 12 with 1,277 career kills
- Currently, Igiede has 497 total blocks. She is now just three blocks away from becoming just the fourth Rainbow Wahine to record 1,000 kill and 500 blocks. If she can reach that milestone, she will join her previous indoor assistant coach and beach volleyball head coach Angelica Ljungqvist who is the all time leader with 1,570 kills and 733 blocks. Suzanne Eagye (1,553 kills/743 blocks) and Deitre Collins (1,385 kills/500 blocks) round out the only three-members of Hawai'i's 1,000 kill/500 Block Club. Igiede would be the first player since Ljungqvist, who played from 1993-96, to join the elite list. If she records three more blocks, she will also become just the fifth Rainbow Wahine to ever be in on 500 career blocks.
LANG LEAGUE LEADER IN ASSISTS
- Junior Kate Lang continues to lead the conference averaging 10.36 assists per set and 932 total assists.
- With Talia Edmonds and Tayli Ikenaga tag teaming as UH's libero, Lang currently leads Hawai'i with 221 digs.
- Lang is 65 assists from becoming just the10th setter in UH history to reach the 3,000 assist milestone.
- She is ranked seventh averaging 10.33 assists per set in the UH record books.
- Last week, Lang earned her sixth BW Setter of the Week award this season, the ninth of her career.
- In UH's last two losses, Lang notched her ninth and 10th double-doubles. She dished out 44 assists with 16 digs against Cal Poly and followed that with 36 assists and 16 assists against the Gauchos.
THE PERCENTAGE
- Hawai'i is 12-0 when hitting above .250 this year and5-8 when hitting below .250. On the flip-side, defensively UH saw their streak of holding their opponents' to a .200-or-below hitting percentage 15-straight matches snapped as UCSB hit .202 in UH's most recent match. UH is 12-3 during the streak.
EVANS SOLID IN THE MIDDLE
- Senior middle Kennedi Evans has been on a tear lately. Overall, she has put down 149 kills, hitting .354 and averaging 1.67 kill/set and 73 total blocks. But in conference, she has raised her game, averaging 2.02 kills/set while hitting a hot .338 with 95 kills. She has been in on 38 total blocks to average .81 blks/set.
- Last season, Evans saw limited playing time after transferring from Utah last season, while still recovering from an injury that curtailed her career at Utah.
- At both UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, Evans put down a career-high (for both UH and Utah) 13 kills.
- Evans and Igiede are the only UH players to have been in on at least one block in every match this season.
