HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team added another battle to its storied rivalry with UCLA on Sunday with the Rainbow Wahine falling in four to the Bruins 23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-22 in the finale of the OUTRIGGER Volleyball Challenge at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (5-3) pulled out the first set before UCLA (7-1) ran away with the second and put together late runs in the third and fourth to hold Hawai’i off to take the match and claim the tournament title with a 3-0 record.
No. 23 Hawai’i finished the weekend at 1-2 and placed second in the tournament.
UH outside hitter Riley Wagoner led the Rainbow Wahine with a season-high 17 kills, putting away eight in the first set, and passed the 800-kill mark for her career. Outside hitter Caylen Alexander tied her season high with 15 kills and posted her second straight double-double with 11 digs.
Middle blocker Amber Igiede posted 12 kills, was in on five of UH’s eight blocks and had seven digs. Libero Talia Edmonds led the UH defense with 16 digs.
The Rainbow Wahine jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the opening set and stretched the margin to 13-6 on a block by Igiede and Tali Hakas. UCLA closed to 17-13 before UH middle blocker Kennedi Evans ended an extended rally with a solo block. The Bruins answered with a six-point run to catch and pass the Rainbow Wahine at 19-18. Hakas ended the run by getting a tip to fall and Alexander followed with UH’s first ace of the match. Wagoner broke a 21-21 tie with her seventh kill and Igiede scored on a slide to give UH a 23-21 edge. Wagoner gave UH set point at 24-22 and after UCLA survived the first, Alexander hit high off the UCLA block to give the ‘Bows the set, 25-23.
UCLA raced out to a 12-3 lead in the second set before UH got on track with a 5-1 run that included an ace from Igiede and three Alexander kills. Hawai’i closed to 17-13 but the Bruins pulled away again with a 5-0 run and won Set 2, 25-15 on cruise control to evened the match at 1-1.
The teams remained with a point of each other through the first 21 serves of the third set before UCLA moved ahead 13-10 on an ace from Cheridyn Leverette and the Bruins led 15-11 at the media timeout. UH closed to within two points, trailing 17-19 on an ace served up by Edmonds and Wagoner’s roll shot capped a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to 19-20. The Wahine tied the set at 22-22 on a solo block by Alexander, but Olson put down two consecutive kills to go up 24-22. UH fought off a set point before Iman Ndiaye pounded her ninth kill of the match to thwart UH’s rally taking Set 3, 25-23 to give UCLA a 2-1 lead in the match.
There were 11 ties early in the fourth set and UH moved ahead 15-13 on Alexander’s kill out of the back row and Evans’ solo block in the middle. UCLA tied the set three more times, the last at 20-20 to trigger a 5-1 run that pushed the Bruins to match point. UH held off the first on a kill by Alexander, but UCLA closed out the match with Olson’s 16th kill.
UCLA took a 40-38 lead in the all-time series with UH and extended their win streak to seven-straight under first-year head coach, former UH men’s volleyball All-America libero Alfee Reft. Grayce Olson led the Bruins with 16 kills and Iman Ndiaye and Cheridyn Leverette added 13 each. The Bruins finished with 12 blocks, contributing to 31 UH attack errors.
The evening included a celebration of the 40th anniversary of UH’s 1983 NCAA championship, the second of back-to-back national titles, which culminated with a sweep of UCLA in Lexington, Ky. Five members of the team — LeeAnn (Pestana) Satele, Sista (Palakiko) Beazley, Kris and Kori Pulaski and head coach Dave Shoji — were honored during the intermission between the second and third sets and Lisa Strand, Marci (Wurts) Nowack and Deitre Collins-Parker greeted the crowd through video messages.
The OUTRIGGER Volleyball Challenge marked the end of UH’s three week homestand to start the season. The Rainbow Wahine embark on their first road trip of the season this week and open the “Fight in the Fort” tournament on Thursday against host TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. UH will also face Western Carolina and Florida State in the three-day tournament.
27th OUTRIGGER Volleyball Challenge All-Tournament Team
Kamryn Bacus, Liberty
Birdie Hendreickson, Pepperdine
Grayce Olson, UCLA
Cheridyn Leverette, UCLA
Most Valuable Player
Iman Ndiaye, UCLA
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