HONOLULU — A pair of hard-earned victories over a struggling-but-still-marquee opponent in USC has likely put the Hawaii women’s volleyball team in a position it hasn’t been in four years.
Ranked.
UH, which began the week with the 26th-most points in the AVCA Top 25 poll, survived a five-set grind of a match with the Trojans on Thursday, then harnessed Amber Igiede’s milestone night into a 27-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-23 victory in the rematch at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday.
The Rainbow Wahine (4-1) were last ranked at the end of the 2019 season, when they were No. 15 and advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. The next poll comes out on Monday.
A season-high turnstile crowd of more than 6,400 was on hand to see the All-American Igiede submit a vintage performance: 15 kills with just one error on 23 swings for a .609 hitting percentage.
Igiede, who along with Riley Wagoner is one of two Wahine players remaining from the 2019 team, was initially puzzled by her appearance on the video screen and the crowd's applause as her achievement was announced. She is the 21st Wahine player to reach the milestone, which is usually a province of prolific pin hitters.
“We were talking about it in the locker room,” Igiede said afterward. “Middle is one of those positions where you literally need every single person for myself to hit. So, the passers, Kate (Lang’s) been the setter for me for a while, so I’m super grateful for her. The setters before (Norene Iosia, Bailey Choy) when I was a freshman. It literally takes everyone. It sounds cliché to say, but I’m just super grateful. Coach Rob (Ah Mow) really makes this team non-neglecting (of) the middles. Other teams always set everyone else but middles and she really makes it all-around where everyone can hit. I’m truly grateful for that.”
UH, which has struggled to hit efficiently even as it has won matches, hit a season-best .279 on Saturday – .100 points better than its average. It had its most balanced attack so far with Wagoner and Caylen Alexander supplying 14 kills and Tali Hakas 11.
The Wahine won it with their superior defense and serving. They were plus-11 in digs, with Hakas and Lang popping up 13 and several others chipping in, including Wagoner with eight.
UH won the service game decisively on both nights, including 14 aces on Saturday, its most since tallying 16 at Cal State Northridge in 2017.
It was a frustrating week for USC, which tried to ride the arm of All-American Skylar Fields but was undone by bouts of inconsistent passing. Fields had 22 kills on 56 swings (.304) two nights after taking a whopping 80 swings.
USC rallied from an eight-point hole in Set 4 and even led 21-20, but like most of the closely played sets of the two matches, the Wahine found a way to prevail. Igiege fittingly put down the final ball.
USC coach Brad Keller marveled at Igiede’s range, speed and motor.
“She’s always available in transition, she’s always touching volleyballs, she’s always making the difficult play,” Keller said. “And her team feeds off of that.”
UH also fed off of the freshman Hakas’ boundless enthusiasm. After she put down a block Saturday, she dove into a headfirst slide on the Taraflex, causing Ah Mow to wonder if she somehow hurt herself on the block.
“It was that block, because they kept saying, wait, wait, wait on that block. I’m telling myself on every ball, wait, wait,” Hakas said. “They I got it, it was like, yes! Yes. Just (let) everything go out.”
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.