HONOLULU—Senior middle blocker Amber Igiede put down a season-high 20 kills, but it was not enough as the 23rd-ranked University of Hawai’i volleyball team came up short in five sets against unbeaten Liberty, 25-17, 17-25, 25-23, 19-25, 13-15. With the loss, the Rainbow Wahine dropped to 4-2 overall on the opening night of the 27th OUTRIGGER Volleyball Challenge.
For Igiede, it marked the fourth time in her career that she’s recorded at least 20 kills. She also led UH with seven blocks.
Senior outside hitter Riley Wagoner recorded her fourth double-double of the season and 17th of her career with 16 kills and a team-high 15 digs.
Junior setter Kate Lang posted her third double-double with a season-high 50 assists and 12 digs to go with three blocks and two kills.
In Set 1, UH held an early lead, but Liberty rallied on a 5-to-1 run to see-saw in front, 12-11. Hawai’i regained the lead at 14-13.Later, a four-point scoring run behind the serving of Caylen Alexander gave UH some breathing room to lead 19-15. UH won 10 of the last 12 points to pull away in Set 1, 25-17.
Hawai’i led Set 2 early on, but Liberty took a lead at 8-7 and never looked back. The Flames went on a 5-to-1 run for a 14-10 advantage. Hawai’i rallied to within one point at 16-15, but a three-point run by the Flames put the set away as they rolled to win Set 2 going away, 25-17, knotting the match score at 1-1.
The Flames took their momentum into Set 3, jumping out to a 6-3 lead which later extended to 15-10. With Talia Edmonds serving, UH scored seven-straight to tie and then overtake the Flames to take a 20-18 lead. Hawai’i would hold off the Flames to win Set 3, 25-23 to take a 2-1 match lead.
Liberty shook off the Set 3 loss and jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start Set 4. UH was able to knot the score at 10-10 and 11-11, but Liberty did not back down and never trailed the rest of the way, holding off the ‘Bows down the stretch to win Set 4, 25-19 to tie the match at 2-2.
UH led Set 5 early, but the Flames fought back to take their first lead at 12-11 off an overturned challenge call on a touch off the block. The Flames would score three of the last four points to knock off newly-ranked Hawai’i, 15-13.
Two Liberty players—Kamryn Bacus and Kate Phillips—put down 20+ kills. Bacus had a match-high 25 kills while Phillips added 20 kills and 20 digs.
The Flames out-hit Hawai’i in kills (70-to-58), percentage (.233-to-.214), assists (63-to-56), digs (77-to-66) and blocks (9.5-to-9.0). It was Liberty’s first win over a Top 25 team in program history for Liberty.
The OUTRIGGER Volleyball Challenge continues on Friday, Sept. 8. In the first match, Liberty will take on UCLA, followed by Hawai’i playing Pepperdine at 7:00 p.m. HT.
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