HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (2-0) upset 13^th-ranked San Diego (0-2), 27-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-22 on the second night of the 33rd Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic. Senior middle blocker Amber Igiede was dominant in the win, pounding a match-high 18 kills—eight in the first set alone—on Saturday at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
Igiede hit .417 for the match (18-3-36) with eight digs and four blocks—including a one-handed, solo block that ignited the team and the crowd in the second set.
 
Sophomore pin-hitter Caylen Alexander tallied her second, double-digit kill match, putting down 15 to go with three blocks, while senior Riley Wagoner and junior setter Kate Lang both recorded double-doubles. It marked Wagoner's second-straight double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs to go with three service aces. Lang dished out 49 assists for the second-straight night while scooping up 19 digs. Four Rainbow Wahine came up with 10+ digs in total with freshman pin-hitter Tali Hakas with 14 and senior libero Edmonds with a team-high 17 digs. Senior middle Kennedi Evans was a presence at the net, rejecting a match-high six blocks as she tallied eight kills on the night.
 
Hawai'i got off to a much better start on Saturday. An early four-point service run by Riley Wagoner gave UH a 6-1 lead. But a 6-2 run by the Toreros would close the gap to trail by two points at 11-9. Later with Wagoner again serving UH scored four-straight to extend their lead to 17-11. San Diego however would come all the way back to knot the score at 19-19 on six-consecutive points. USD would take a 21-20 lead on a UH hitting error and would serve for the set at 24-22. But UH staved off a pair of USD set points then see-sawed back into the lead on a cross-court slam by Alexander as UH came back to win Set 1, 27-25. Igiede powered the 'Bows with eight kills with Alexander added five.
 
San Diego flipped the scrip in Set 2, jumping out to an 8-5 lead off a five-point scoring run and would extend the lead to four at 16-12. Hawai'i fought their way back to knot the score at 19-19 on an Alexander ace. UH tied it again at 21-21 on a monster, one-handed block by Igiede that helped spark the crowd of 5,826 and provide the momentum that carried the 'Bows to win six of the last seven points to pull away, 25-22.
 
An early four point run by Hawai'i gave UH an early 6-3 lead, but San Diego quickly erased the deficit and quickly leapfrogged past UH into the lead at 9-8 and extended its lead to eight points on an 11-1 run--including eight-straight with Olivia Bennett serving which gave the a 19-11 lead. Although Hawai'i tried rally, the deficit was too much to overcome as USD would cruise win Set 3 25-18.
 
Set four started with seven ties and four lead changes. Behind the serving of Hakas, and Wagoner, UH went on a 9-to-2 run to take a 17-11 lead which forced USD to call timeout. San Diego scored seven of the next 10 points to close to within two points at 20-18, causing UH to call timeout. A USD service error gave UH match point. Evans and Lang combined for the game winning block that ended the match winning 25-22 in Set 5.
 
San Diego was led by Kylie Pries' 13 kills while Leyla Blackwell was in on five blocks. Alex Hoglund had 38 assists and Annika Hester came up with 16 digs.
 
It marked UH's first win over a ranked team since UH defeated #24 Mississippi State in the NCAA First Round in 2021.
 
Hawai'i will face No. 9 Oregon (2-0) in the championship match of the 33^rd Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic on Sunday in the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center at 5:00 p.m. HT.