An apparent routine sweep of a conference opponent went horribly awry for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team in a five-set defeat at the hands of UC Irvine in the Rainbow Wahine's Big West opener at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday night.

UCI stunned UH by rallying at the last moment in the third set and, aided by the absence of top Wahine hitter Caylen Alexander, completed the reverse sweep, 21-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-13 in front of a crowd of more than 4,600.

The last time the storied program last dropped a conference opener at home, the Sheriff Center was not yet built. It occurred on Sept. 19, 1991, against Long Beach State in Klum Gym.

UH (6-5, 0-1) was coming off a 0-3 road trip last week, including two matches against ranked powerhouses in the state of Texas. By losing its first BWC match upon its return, UH has its first four-game losing streak since 1985, an era when it was hanging national title banners.

Alexander compiled 19 kills on .302 hitting through a little more than three sets. She watched most of Set 4 and all of Set 5 from the bench for unclear reasons. Coach Robyn Ah Mow summoned freshman Adrianna Arquette to take over UH’s top outside hitter position, and the Kamehameha alumna went 1-for-7 with two errors.

Ah Mow told Spectrum Sports’ Scott Robbs after the game that she didn’t know what Alexander’s issue was.

The Wahine led 23-19 in Set 3 and appeared moments away from taking their first straight-set match of the season. Then the team's penchant for dramatically protracting its contests returned, and the Anteaters (8-5, 2-0) promptly scored seven of the next eight points to seize it in extras.

UCI went on to defeat UH for only the second time in 48 all-time meetings. The Anteaters got 21 kills from Hunter Riedl on .415 hitting while Ella Gardiner added 13 on .423.

UH must turn around quickly for Saturday’s 7 p.m. match against Cal State Fullerton (4-7, 0-1).

“Watch this game over again,” Ah Mow said of how she’d prepare her team.

The Wahine hit in the negative in a woeful fourth set but seemed to recover when they triggered the eight-point side change in the final frame. UH led 12-10 on a Stella Adeyemi kill and was still up 13-12 on a UCI service error.

But the Anteaters scored the match’s final three points with kills by Riedl and Gardiner. Adeyemi then hit wide on a ball that bounced off the top of the tape.

Freshman middle Miliana Sylvester put down a season-high 16 kills and was in on six blocks. Senior setter Kate Lang had 50 assists and 19 digs. Libero Tayli Ikenaga accrued 20 digs.

The Wahine were plus-17 on the Anteaters in digs but recorded just one ace to UCI’s five, and were outblocked 12-10.

The longest losing streaks in program history were five games in both the 1984 and 1985 seasons.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.