For the better part of two sets, it appeared that Hawaii’s 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance would be a brief one.
But the Rainbow Wahine got back to basics — serve and pass — and outworked their larger Big 12 Conference opponent to take Thursday’s first-round match against seventh-seeded Iowa State, 16-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-23 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.
Unlike a handful of instances earlier in the season when things went south once the team struggled early in a match, the Wahine (24-8) showed poise.
“I think we said collectively that wasn’t us in that first set,” said middle Amber Igiede, who put down 14 kills against just one error. “We could’ve folded … but that wouldn’t have done any good. I give credit to the team and coaches for that.”
Sophomore Caylen Alexander was the workhorse on the outside with 18 kills on 52 swings and senior Riley Wagoner’s key block solo in the fourth helped clinch it.
It was the third time in four NCAA Tournaments for seniors Igiede and Wagoner that UH won its opening match. Now they will attempt to replicate the feat of their freshman seasons in 2019, when they helped the Rainbow Wahine reach the Wisconsin regional.
UH must get past No. 2 Oregon (27-5) at 5 p.m. Hawaii time Friday to do it. The host Ducks swept Southeastern Louisiana following UH’s match.
The teams both feel they are quite a bit different from their Aug. 27 meeting in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, won via sweep by UO. The Big West's Wahine have won seven straight matches and the Pac-12's Ducks six.
“That feels like a long time ago,” Oregon coach Matt Ulmer said. “It was warmer there. But we are familiar with them. They do a lot of things really well. Their middle Amber Igiede is fantastic, one of the best in the country. She gives you fits. Their setter (Kate Lang) does a really good job of facilitating everywhere, so we’re going to have to bring our best.”
The duel between UH’s Lang and UO’s Hannah Pukis could be key. Lang dealt 45 assists with 13 digs, three blocks and an ace Thursday while Pukis had 30 assists, eight digs and four kills in one fewer set.
Lang directed UH to a .276 hitting game, but it was not pretty in the early going as UH struggled to execute basic passes. The team then had several conversations between players and between players and coaches.
By Set 3, it had flipped entirely and UH hit .533 with 16 kills and no errors in the frame. ISU (19-11), the Big 12’s fourth-place team hit just .186 for the match.
“Our bread and butter is serving and receiving. Just getting our passing and being more aggressive behind the service line is really important to our team,” Lang said. “We were able to do that in the second set.”
Coach Robyn Ah Mow showed a willingness to make some serving substitutions that she had not in recent games. Tali Hakas energized the team off the bench; seldom-used Colby Lane had opportunities and Talia Edmonds’ ace sealed Set 2 in extra points.
“The height difference as you go and advance is different from our team,” Ah Mow said. “We gotta make sure … we can’t serve lollipops. Lollipops will get all three big hitters coming at us and go ahead and try to defend. We have girls who are on the bench who can serve good. They have aggressive serves which you guys saw.”
The service game showed not in aces, but in blocks (13-5 in UH’s favor) as the Cyclones started to get out of system. Kennedi Evans got in on six, Hakas five and Igiede four. Wagoner had two solo stuffs.
Hakas was seemingly everywhere with her six kills and 14 digs off the bench. Libero Tayli Ikenaga had a team-high 16 digs and Wagoner posted nine kills and nine digs.
After jumping out to a quick 7-2 lead on ISU, UH struggled handling the Cyclones’ serves. ISU tore off a 14-1 run to seize control. It hit .480 in the set to UH’s .174 and Maya Duckworth had five kills and three aces in the frame.
“They really struggled passing that first set,” ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “We talked about, chances are they’re going to start playing a lot better and pass a lot better and they did that. They’re too good not to do that. I think we came out serving really tough, but once they settled down, it felt very back and forth.”
UH battled its way to a 22-21 lead in Set 2 after trailing by seven early and down 19-15 late.
Ah Mow challenged for a touch on a call that, if reversed, would’ve given UH the set at 25-22. But the call stood and ISU went on to go up 25-24 — but just momentarily. Ah Mow challenged a second time and Alexander was awarded a kill on the reversal, giving UH set point at 25-24. Edmonds entered and forced a shanked pass to even the match.
The Wahine rode the momentum to a 5-1 start in Set 3 and kept it going at 13-8. Kendra Ham’s ace made it 22-16. Igiede notched a block and went off the ISU block two points later to take the set.
The teams battled evenly in Set 4 until UH opened up a three-point lead on a quick strike from Kate Lang to Igiede in the middle. ISU responded with five straight points to go up 16-13. Alexander hit a ball off the block to tie it at 19. Wagoner’s solo block at the left pin set up double match point at 24-22.
ISU turned back the first on a kill, but Nayeli Gonzalez fired her subsequent serve into the net and it was over.
Duckworth had 15 kills and five aces to lead ISU. Middle Alexis Engelbrecht added 12 kills.
“I think any team that has a strong middle — both of their middles are super strong — it makes it harder to defend because they have so many more options,” Engelbrecht said. “Middles can’t get out to the outside as much as we want to. So I just think they have a really well-rounded offense.”
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.