Hawaii sweeps Cal Poly, faces host Long Beach State in Big West final
Nov. 25—Hawaii, which earned a bye into Friday's semifinal due to that win over the Beach, will play them again today with a championship on the line after UH swept Cal Poly 25-17, 25-18, 26-24 on Friday.
LONG BEACH, Calif.—After the Hawaii women's volleyball team beat Long Beach State to end the regular season a week ago, it decided not to change its travel plans.
The Rainbow Wahine left Monday and gave themselves three full days to practice and prepare on the mainland for the inaugural Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championships that started Wednesday.
Hawaii, which earned a bye into Friday's semifinal due to that win over the Beach, will play them again today with a championship on the line after UH swept Cal Poly 25-17, 25-18, 26-24 on Friday in the first match of the tournament at Walter Pyramid not to go five sets.
Sophomore Caylen Alexander led a spirited effort from the starting pin hitters with a match-high 15 kills, and senior Amber Igiede put away the one close set against the Mustangs with her 12th kill to keep Hawaii's NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
"Just excited for our team. They came out and did what we've been telling them every practice, " Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said. "The elephant in the room—now there's a tournament this year. This is the first time. We've never done this before. We came up early, which was just different. It's an actual tournament, come, watch teams play, get ready."
Hawaii (22-8 ) certainly was ready for the Mustangs (20-11 ), who beat the Rainbow Wahine in five sets three weeks ago at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii hit.367 and dug up 40 balls in the first two sets that UH won by a combined 15 points.
Senior Riley Wagoner matched Igiede with 12 kills while hitting.276 and Kendra Ham added 10 kills and hit.333.
Junior setter Kate Lang tallied 44 assists and 17 digs and Ham also recorded a match-high 18 digs as Hawaii outdug the Mustangs 62-46.
"It started at the practices. They are coming in and they are dialed. They came out strong, " Ah Mow said. "Defensively, our offense, everything was just clicking."
Hawaii took it to the Mustangs in the opening set with Wagoner and Alexander leading the way with six kills apiece.
UH was everywhere defensively, outdigging the Mustangs 23-12 to take the first set by eight points.
Igiede had two superb digs on the same point that ended with an Alexander kill from the back row for an 8-6 lead.
Both of Cal Poly's timeouts came after tip shots by Wagoner that fell to the court for UH points.
The Mustangs had three points overturned in their favor by replays, including a kill by Tommi Stockham that made it 20-16 before UH closed on a 5-1 run with a Wagoner kill ending it.
"We knew this tournament is a second chance for us, so I just think we went out there thinking we have to play our hardest or we're done, " Alexander said. "I think that is what helped us tonight."
Ham continued to take it to her former team in the second set, pounding her seventh kill for a 10-9 lead and then serving the next four points to put UH ahead five.
Hawaii scored its next two points on service errors before a quick 3-0 run to make it 16-14 drew a timeout from Ah Mow.
Cal Poly hit its next two balls wide for errors and Ham went between the block for her eighth kill in 12 attempts to prompt a Mustangs timeout at 19-14 Hawaii.
Cal Poly got to 22-18 before an Igiede kill and two more from Wagoner put UH ahead 2-0.
"Kate was setting perfect balls. Tayli (Ikenaga ) and Caylen and Riley back there were setting out of system balls and it's a lot easier when those are good balls up there, " Ham said. "Coach Robyn calls this a business trip and that is exactly what it is. We're here to do one thing."
Hawaii's first lull in the match came to start the third set, when it fell behind 7-2. Two aces each from Alexander and Igiede helped UH go on a 7-1 run to retake the lead at 9-8.
The lead changed hands six more times in the set, with Cal Poly leading 20-17 when Hawaii middle Kennedi Evans, who had one kill the entire match, put down three in a four-point run to push UH ahead 21-20.
Cal Poly had set point at 24-23 when Igiede and Alexander teamed up to score the final three points on kills to end it.
Hawaii and Long Beach State (21-9 ) split their two matches this season, with the home team winning both. UH was swept by the Beach in its earlier trip to the Pyramid this season. LBSU advanced to the final by beating top seed UC Santa Barbara.
"Long Beach has a no-die attitude. They just keep going. They are like the Energizer bunny, " Ah Mow said. "That's the only way I can describe them. It's going to be a great game on both sides."
Long Beach State 3, UC Santa Barbara 2 Junior outside hitter Natalie Glenn was unstoppable for the Beach, hitting.452 with 19 kills, three aces, three solo blocks, five total blocks and five digs to lead host LBSU to the upset of the top-seeded Gauchos, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 16-25, 15-12.
Elise Agi finished with a match-high 20 kills and Katie Kennedy added 15 kills and three blocks for Long Beach State, which became only the second Big West team to defeat UCSB (27-4 ) this season.
BWC Player of the Year Michelle Ohwobete had a team-high 15 kills for the Gauchos, who lost despite out-hitting and out-blocking the Beach.
With an RPI of 34 entering the week, there is still a good possibility UCSB earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, giving the conference two teams in the field of 64.
