HONOLULU—The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team (12-5, 5-1 Big West) held off UC Irvine to record its third-straight sweep, 25-19, 25-23, 25-20. Amber Igiede paced the Rainbow Wahine with 11 kills and Kate Lang noched her seventh double-double of the season on Saturday night at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Igiede put down double-digit kills for the 14th time this season while hitting .320. She popped up six digs and was in on one block. She remains the only Rainbow Wahine this year to record at least one kill, one block and one dig in all 17 matches this season.
Setter Kate Lang dished out 30 assists and was tied with Kendra Ham with a team-high 11 digs. Lang also recorded a season-high three kills. Hamfinished with seven kills and two aces. Guersching was a kill shy of recording a double-double with nine kills and a UH career-high 10 digs.
A 5-2 run gave UH an early 6-2 lead in Set 1. The Anteaters continued to chip away and trailed by just one point at 10-11, but with Wagoner serving UH went on a 6-0 run—powered by six-straight UH kills—to extend their lead to 17-10. UC Irvine kept fighting, going on a 7-to-1 run to trail by just one point at 19-20. Hawai’i then reeled off five-straight points with Talia Edmonds serving to closeout the frame, 25-19.
UCI took its first lead of the match at 3-2 to start the second set. Hawai’i would quickly seesaw into the lead two points later at 5-4. Hawai’i could not shake off the scrappy Anteaters as the set was tied three more times, the last coming at 18-18. With Ham serving, UH went on a 4-to-0 run to go up, 22-18. Later UH served for the set at 24-19, but UC Irvine would erase four set points before an Igiede tip shot fell in for her 11th kill as UH took Set 2, 25-23.
In Set 3, the Anteaters led by two early once again at 8-6. But a 4-0 run by the ‘Bows deleted their deficit as they leapfrogged into the lead via a 7-to-1 run as UH took a 13-9 lead. As they did all night, UC Irvine would rally back tying the score at 16-16. In the third set, there were six ties and four lead changes. UH and UCI were neck and neck going down the stretch of Set 3, but four costly UCI serving errors allowed the ‘Bows to maintain their slim lead. Hawai’i would score the final three points to end the sweep winning Set 3, 25-20.
Hunter Riedl and Marianna Bertolone led the Anteaters with eight kills apiece. Cambpell Jensen had a match-high 14 kigs and Nicole Feliciano was in on a match-high four blocks.
Hawai’i will embark on its longest roadtrip of the season, as they will play in three tough road matches in five days. The Rainbow Wahine will start off at UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Oct. 13 followed by Cal Poly on Saturday, Oct. 14. Hawai’i will stay on the road to face UC Davis on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
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