HONOLULU—The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team (3-1) turned back Southern California's bid for a reverse-sweep to come out victorious in a five set battle, 25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 17-25, 17-15. Hawai'i won the first two sets and was serving for the match in Set 3, but USC had other ideas and rallied for force a fifth and deciding set. Things were looking a little bleak as the Trojans served for the match at 14-13, but back-to-back blocks by the Mānoa Roofing Company pumped new life into the Rainbow Wahine. USC was able to stave off one match point, but Caylen Alexander's 13^th kill ended the match on Thursday night at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
Senior Amber Igiede was solid, leading UH with 16 kills and eight blocks while scooping up seven digs and serving and ace. She also led UH with a .367 hitting percentage. She is now just nine kills away from reaching the 1,000 kill milestone.
 
Alexander tied her career-high with five service aces. She finished a digs shy of a double-double. She finished with nine digs three blocks and an assist. She is the only Rainbow Wahine to record 10+ kills in every match thus far.
 
Riley Wagoner posted her third double-double of the season with 12 kills and 13 digs and an ace. Libero Talia Edmonds came up with a match-high 26 digs—just two shy of her career high of 28 set last season. Kate Lang dished out 44 assists and dealt three service aces in the win.
 
Set 1 saw UH go on an early 5-to-0 run with Tali Hakas behind the service line to take a 6-2 lead. But the Trojans came right back to knot the score at 6-6 off a 4-0 run of their own. UH never trailed from that point. An 8-to-1 scoring run—which included back-to-back service aces by Lang followed by three-consecutive aces by Alexander—gave UH a 17-9 lead. UH would coast to a Set 1 win, 25-19 to take a 1-0 match lead.
 
In Set 2, UH showed their resiliency. Scoring runs by both teams swung the momentum back and forth resulting in eight ties and five lead changes in the frame. Hawai'i led by as many as five points at 11-6 and held the lead until the Trojans went on a 5-to-1 scoring run to take a 17-14 lead which UH to call timeout. Hawai'i would rally to score five of the next seven points to knot the score at 20-20 and went on to score four of the last five points to capture Set 2, 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
A 6-to-1 scoring run early in Set 3 resulted in a 9-4 lead. UH would go on to lead by as many as six points. Later, a three-point run gave Hawai'i a 20-16 advantage, but USC charged back with a 7-to-2 run which allowed USC to leapfrog into the lead at 21-20.  The Trojans would stave off match point to tie it at 24-24. USC then got an ace that tickled the tape and fell in for an ace and a UH attack sailed long as USC  took Set 3, 26-24.
 
Set 4 was all USC. A 7-0 run put the Trojans up, 14-8 and although Hawai'i tried to rally, the 'Bows could not string points together to gain any traction. USC, who led by as many as six, cruised to take Set 4, 25-17 to force a fifth and deciding set with match tied at 2-2.
 
Hawai'i led early in Set 5, but the Trojans scored four-straight to take a 10-9 lead. USC then scored three-consecutive points to go up 13-11. After a UH timeout, Igiede rotated back into the front row just in the nick of time. Paula Guersching and Igiede both buried kills to tie the score at 13-13. USC went up 14-13 on a Lindsey Miller kill and served for match point. But back-to-back blocks by Igiede/Guersching and Igiede/Lang pushed UH to a 15-14 lead. USC staved off one match point, but kills by Igiede and Alexander ended the dramatic match, 17-15.
 
USC's Skyler Fields had a career-high 80 attempts while putting down a match-high 26 kills. She added seven blocks and four digs. Miller recorded a match-high 11 blocks in the loss.
 
The Trojans had more kills 61-to-53, more assists 59-to-49, and more blocks (12.0-to-11.0), but UH had 10 aces to USC's four and out dug the Trojans, 87-to-82. USC committed 19 service errors to UH's seven.
 
Thursday night was "Hawaiian Heritage" night and parts of the match were announced in 'Ōlelo Hawai'i for the first time ever in the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
Hawai'i will face Southern California once more on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. HT at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Saturday is a WHITEOUT and fans are encouraged to wear white UH apparel to support the Rainbow Wahine.