After a hot start, the Hawaii women’s volleyball team committed a litany of errors and saw its 2022 season end in the NCAA tournament first round with a four-set loss to LSU in Stanford, Calif.
The Rainbow Wahine, making an appearance in their 40th NCAA tournament and 29th straight, suddenly could not execute their offense smoothly once the second set arrived and fell, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-22.
The SEC’s seventh-place team denied coach Robyn Ah Mow's Big West champions from Manoa a chance to play in the second round for the first time in three UH seasons. It was just the fifth time ever that UH fell in the NCAA first round.
A key subplot was the difficulty some UH fans had viewing the livestreamed match on ESPN+ as it was erroneously blacked out on some devices in the Hawaii market until the third set.
Among those to express frustration on social media was legendary former Wahine coach Dave Shoji.
UH (22-7), the No. 8 seed in the 16-team Stanford quadrant, entered the day on a 12-match winning streak. It followed up on that by hitting .378 in the first set — then went cold. It hit in the negative in Set 2 and not much better in Sets 3 and 4, finishing at .158 to LSU’s .215.
LSU (16-13) outblocked UH 14-8 and did not allow a Wahine ace. The Tigers advanced to the second round for the first time since 2014 and will face either host Stanford or Pepperdine at 4 p.m. Hawaii time on Saturday.
Big West Player of the Year Amber Igiede, facing her hometown team from Baton Rouge, La., was largely held in check on the hardwood of Maples Pavilion with 16 kills and five errors on 35 swings for a .315 hitting percentage.
Hitter Riley Wagoner led UH with 20 kills and eight errors on 55 swings (.218) and freshman Caylen Alexander added 15 kills with nine errors on 39 swings (.154).
In its first meeting with LSU since 2003, UH struggled to establish the right side. Hitter Braelyn Akana managed just three kills against five errors on 18 swings.
Libero Tayli Ikenaga dug 18 balls, Wagoner had 17, defensive specialist Kendra Ham 12 and setter Kate Lang 10.
Hitter Sanaa Dotson led the Tigers with 16 kills while Paige Flickinger added 11 and Anita Anwusi 10.
UH fell behind 17-16 in the first set, but a timely 5-0 run put the Wahine in control. A Lang dump shot gave UH set point, and the Wahine put it away on their third opportunity with an Alexander putdown of a Tiger overpass on a Tiffany Westerberg swing.
UH got six kills by Wagoner and five by Alexander in the frame.
Set 2 was tightly played for a while, but it was the Tigers that pulled away at its finish as the Wahine struggled mightily with hitting errors. They had 15 in the frame after just three in the first. Akana hit long as LSU took an 18-15 lead. The Tigers attained set point at 24-18 and they put it away on their second opportunity.
Igiede and Lang combined on a block to tie it at 11 in Set 3, just UH’s third stuff of the match. But the Tigers separated again at the middle stage with an 18-15 lead.
UH needed to stave off six LSU sets points and achieved two, including a solo block by Westerberg. But the Tigers took a 2-1 overall lead on an errant hit by Alexander.
LSU jumped out 8-4 in Set 4. Akana put one down from the right pin to get within 8-7. But an ace gave LSU a 13-9 lead.
Igiede’s block solo in the middle kept UH around at 15-13. Backup setter Mylana Byrd and Westerberg combined to block Flickinger to get within 16-15. LSU responded with a 3-0 run.
Akana got blocked to set up match point. UH saved one match point with a kill by Igiede but Kendra Ham put her next serve long to end the match.
UH is slated to return most of its lineup in 2023. Byrd was the team’s lone outgoing senior this season.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com