Hawaii sophomore middle blocker Amber Igiede led a balanced attack with 13 kills and the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team opened the Big West season with a sweep of UC Riverside on Thursday at SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif.
UH freshman Kate Lang made her first career start at setter and ran a Rainbow Wahine offense that hit .320 to UCR’s .090 in a 25-21, 25-19, 25-16 victory.
Lang finished with a season-high 36 assists and nine digs while distributing the sets throughout the lineup. Igiede hit .524 in 21 attempts, outside hitters Brooke Van Sickle and Riley Wagoner posted nine kills each and Braelyn Akana added six in the 81-minute win.
Senior middle blocker Skyler Williams returned to the starting lineup after seeing limited playing time in a series split with Southern California two weeks ago and finished with five kills and was in on seven of UH’s 111⁄2 blocks and UH improved to 4-5 overall.
UH continues its road trip on Saturday at UC Davis (5-7, 1-0), which opened the Big West season with a sweep of UC Riverside on Tuesday.
Freshman Deja Bickers led UC Riverside (4-8, 0-2 Big West) with 12 kills as UH remained perfect in the all-time series with the Highlanders at 28-0.
Van Sickle, who took 57 swings in a four-set loss to USC on Sept. 11 in UH’s final nonconference match, again led UH with 24 attempts.
Spreading out the attack was an emphasis in practice during UH’s bye week, and Lang distributed the sets evenly Thursday, with Igiede and Wagoner taking 21 attempts each, 15 for Williams and 10 for Akana. Mylana Byrd had started the first eight matches of the season at setter for UH.
The Wahine finished with a season-low 12 hitting errors and posted their second highest hitting percentage of the season after being held under .200 in their previous four matches.
The Wahine held UCR to .090 hitting (34 kills, 24 errors), a season low for a UH opponent.
UH fell behind 7-3 in the first set before surging ahead with a 5-0 run with Wagoner serving. UCR rallied to tie the set at 16-16 and UH reclaimed the lead on an Igiede kill, followed by an ace by Wagoner. UCR errors accounted for three of UH’s final four points of the set, including set point.
Igiede put down five kills in six attempts and Williams contributed on three of UH’s five blocks as the Wahine controlled the second set. UH opened up a 21-13 lead and Wagoner ended the set with a tip over the UCR block.
UH took command in the third set with an 8-2 surge that included three Van Sickle kills to open a 13-7 lead. The Wahine ended the match with their 11th block, as Williams, Akana and Kendra Ham, who saw her first action of the season, teamed up at the net to deny Ayanna Kimbrough.
UH played without injured freshmen Mia Johnson and Annika de Goede, who did not make the trip.
