There was a moment during prematch warmups at UC Irvine eight days ago where Hawaii’s present met its past … and the outcome was decidedly in favor of history.
That’s when senior Norene Iosia’s kill attempt met the four-time All-American block of Angelica Ljungqvist and, as happened 733 times in her Rainbow Wahine career, Ljungqvist rejected any hope that the volleyball would make it past her.
Heading into today’s critical Big West match with Cal Poly, Ljungqvist — now Hawaii’s associate head coach — again is in Iosia’s way. Only this time Ljungqvist hopes it happens … and that it happens today against the Mustangs (16-6, 9-1).
Iosia is nine aces away from passing Ljungqvist for No. 4 on the program’s all-time career list. The senior setter-hitter had four of this season’s 32 aces in Friday’s five-set marathon win over UC Santa Barbara, including the walk-off one that kept the No. 21 Wahine (19-3, 9-2) in the Big West title hunt.
“I hope she beats me,” Ljungqvist said at Saturday’s practice in the Stan Sheriff Center. “No one would be happier than me. And I hope she does it (today).
“It was an awesome way to end the (UCSB) match. It’s not easy, not everyone can do it, especially with so much on the line. She goes back and goes after it. That’s mental toughness.”
It’s a weapon that Hawaii will need today against Cal Poly, which swept the Wahine in San Luis Obispo on Oct. 11. In the 25-22, 26-24, 25-15 loss, freshman middle Amber Igiede had a team-high eight kills as then-No. 19 Hawaii hit a season-low .150.
Against the Mustangs, the Wahine had four aces but none by Iosia. It was the sixth time she didn’t have at least one this year; she’s had at least one in the six matches since.
Cal Poly had seven aces in the 104-minute sweep inside Mott Athletics Center and junior hitter Maia Dvoracek was the only player in double-figure kills, with 16. The Mustangs won the blocking battle 6-5 and the dig war 51-40 in sweeping the Wahine for the first time ever.
The third consecutive victory over Hawaii in Mott ran Cal Poly’s home win streak to 28. The Mustangs extended it to 29 — the longest active streak in the country — with Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Cal State Northridge.
When away from home, Cal Poly is 8-6. The most recent and most stunning away loss was Oct. 19 at UC Santa Barbara when the Mustangs fell 25-19, 25-21, 14-25, 25-21 and the Gauchos were without senior Lindsey Ruddins, who had 27 kills on 80 swings against Hawaii on Friday.
Cal Poly coach Caroline Walters and Hawaii’s Robyn Ah Mow said that the serve-and-pass game, as basic as it is, is basically everything today.
“We need to serve and pass well. Our focus has been hitting the ball with pace and serving with intention,” said Walters, who is in her first year as head coach, her 11th with the program. “It’s a bigger environment here (in the Sheriff Center) than we’re used to in other Big West matches, so today we want to get our passers a little more comfortable in this gym.”
The Mustangs remain without senior opposite Torrey Van Winden, the reigning Big West Player of the Year, who hasn’t played since last year’s conference finale with Cal State Fullerton (concussion protocol).
On the other side of the net, Hawaii is still without junior hitter Jolie Rasmussen, the team kills leader before suffering a severe right ankle sprain against West Virginia on Sept. 12. She has not been cleared to practice.
The Wahine do have junior hitter Brooke Van Sickle back after she was injured in a five-set loss to UC Irvine on Oct. 4. She missed the next four matches, including Cal Poly.
“We’re trying to figure out who they’ll have where,” said Walters, who watched the Hawaii-UCSB match with her team at the hotel. “They’ve got weapons everywhere. When they’re passing well, the ball can go to any number of places.
“I’m interested to see where (Hanna) Hellvig’s going to be. (Rika) Okino’s passing much better. And Norene had aces at the right time.”
Freshman hitter Hellvig moved from left-side attack to the right side in Set 3 against the Gauchos, with 13 of her career-high 19 kills coming in the last three sets. Okino had a third of Hawaii’s digs, finishing with a career-high 25, and Iosia’s third ace came during a 6-0 run in Set 4 that had the Wahine break a 17-17 tie for a 23-17 lead en route to forcing their seventh five-set match of the year.
“This match is very critical,” Ah Mow said. “It can help determine the rest of our season and the league championship.”
At 9-2, Hawaii and UCSB are a half-game behind Cal Poly (9-1) in the standings. The Wahine have the tiebreaker on the Gauchos. Cal Poly hosts UCSB on Saturday.
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BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL
Today, 5 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
Cal Poly (16-6, 9-1) at No. 21 Hawaii (19-3, 9-2)
>> TV: Spectrum Sports (Ch. 16/1016)
>> Radio: 1420-AM/92.7-FM
>> Series: Hawaii leads, 40-8
