IRVINE, Calif. — The University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team opens defense of its conference title in The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2024 Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship on Friday at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif.
 
The Rainbow Wahine (19-8, 13-5 Big West) enter the championship as the second seed in the six-team bracket. They earned a bye into the semifinal round on Friday, Nov 29 and will face third-seeded UC Davis, the winner of Wednesday's first-round match against host and sixth-seed UC Irvine. UH's semifinal match is scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific Time (4 p.m. Hawai'i Time) and will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Cal Poly will face fourth-seed Long Beach State, which eliminated fifth-seed UC San Diego. The semifinal winners meet on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT (3 p.m. HT) for the title and the Big West's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 

THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS PRESENTS THE 2024 OUTRIGGER BIG WEST WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Schedule				First Round — Wednesday, Nov. 27 No. 4 seed Long Beach State def. No. 5 seed UC San Diego, 3-1 No 3. seed UC Davis def. No. 6 seed, UC Irvine, 3-1 Semifinals — Friday, Nov. 29 No. 1 seed Cal Poly vs. Long Beach State, 3 p.m. PT (1 p.m. HT) No. 2 seed Hawai'i vs. UC Davis, 6 p.m. PT, (4 p.m. HT) Final — Saturday, Nov. 30 Championship Match, 5 p.m. PT (3 p.m. HT)
Location				Bren Events Center | Irvine, Calif.
Television				None
Live Stream				ESPN+ — Rob Espero, Madison Fitzpatrick
Radio				ESPN Honolulu (1420 AM / 92.7 FM) — Tiff Wells (PxP)
Audio Stream				espnhonolulu.com
Live Stats				bigwest.org
Game Notes				Hawai'i
Social Media				@HawaiiWVB  | #HawaiiWVB | #GoBows | @HawaiiWVB  | Facebook

  
HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE (19-9, 13-5 BIG WEST)Head Coach: Robyn Ah Mow (Seventh Season)
Record at UH: 151-54
Big West Record: 106-18
 
UC DAVIS AGGIES (19-9, 13-5 BIG WEST)Head Coach: Dan Conners (151-143, 10th season)
Series record: UH leads 21-2
Streak: UH won 1
Last meeting: Hawaii 3-1 (26-24, 21-25, 25-9, 25-18); Nov. 9, 2024,, Davis, Calif.

'BOWS NOTES

• The Rainbow Wahine enter the Big West Championship as the second seed for the second straight year. UH swept through last year's inaugural event at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif., with wins over Cal Poly and host Long Beach State to earn the program's 30^th straight NCAA Tournament berth and 41^st overall.
• UH has placed in the top two in the Big West regular-season standings each year since rejoining the conference in 2012 and finished first seven times in that span. UH won three straight regular-season titles from 2019 to 2022. 
• The 'Bows are seeking to claim a fifth straight Big West championship. UH captured the conference regular-season crown in 2019, '21 and '22 before winning the Big West Championship title last year.
• The 'Bows split their final road trip of the regular season with a sweep at Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 22 and a four-set loss at UC Irvine the following day. The team returned to Honolulu on Sunday then had a quick turnaround to head back to Irvine for the Big West Championship.
• UH split its regular-season series with UC Davis with each team winning in four sets on the road.
• UH and UC Davis finished the regular season tied at 13-5. The 'Bows earned the tiebreaker for the second seed by virtue of its sweep of the series with regular-season champion Cal Poly.
• As a team, UH closed the regular season leading the Big West and ranked 21^st nationally with 13.95 kills per set. The 'Bows also lead the conference in assists per set (13.04) and digs per set (15.79), and ranks second with a .244 hitting percentage.
• Six UH players earned All-Big West honors on Tuesday led by conference Player of the Year Caylen Alexander, Setter of the Year Kate Lang and Libero of the Year Tayli Ikenaga. Alexander and Lang made the All-Big West first team and Ikenaga was voted to the second team. Jacyn Bamis and Tali Hakas were honorable mention selections and Miliana Sylvester represented UH on the All-Freshman Team.
• Alexander enters postseason play as the NCAA Division I leader in total kills (566) and ranks second in total points (626.0). She also ranks third nationally in kills per set (5.24), fifth in points per set (5.80), and 17^th in attacks per set (11.88).
• Lang leads the conference and ranks 11^th nationally with 1,195 total assists and is 23^rd in Division I with 10.58 assists per set.
• Ikenaga has posted double-digit digs in 25 of 28 matches and went over 20 digs in six matches, including a career-high 33 against Pepperdine on Sept. 7. She ranks second in the conference with 454 total digs and 4.02 digs per set and twice was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Week.