Riley Wagoner had a decision to make.

Hawaii had just survived a third-set battle with UC Irvine and was again locked in tight fourth when an Anteater attack was popped up by Rainbow Wahine freshman Martyna Leoniak and tracked down by Brooke Van Sickle beyond the end line.

Van Sickle, standing in the back right corner, sent a high-arcing bump set diagonally across the court where Wagoner had set up for her approach in the left front.

The ball surely hung in the upper reaches of the Bren Events Center long enough for Wagoner to cycle through the available options.

Tip it over the block to keep the ball safely in play and extend the point?

Or take a rip?

“It was a beautiful set and I just had to go up and swing because that’s what we’ve been doing in practice,” Wagoner said.

Following the play along the sideline, UH coach Robyn Ah Mow could sense the big finish coming.

“(Van Sickle) just launched it and I was like, ‘Oh, she’s going for it,’” Ah Mow said of watching Wagoner’s take off.

“Then she took a big swing, off the block, and I think I jumped 10 feet in the air.”

After the match and again in a media session on Tuesday, Ah Mow pointed to Wagoner’s match-high 16th kill — coming off Van Sickle’s brilliant assist — in Saturday’s comeback win as a demonstration of the growth of sophomore’s confidence.

“That’s the development she’s had within this year,” Ah Mow told reporters. “I don’t think in 2019 she took big swings like that.”

Wagoner’s attack mentality has contributed to a surge in production since the start of the Big West season and led to her first Big West Offensive Player of the Week award.

The 6-foot outside hitter from Dublin, Ohio — a short drive from the site of this season’s NCAA championship in Columbus — posted the top two kill totals of her UH career in last week’s road trip when she put away a career-high 20 kills while hitting .314 in a four-set win over UC San Diego on Friday and helped lead another rally on Saturday at UC Irvine.

Wagoner opened the season with a then-career best 12 kills in UH’s season-opening win over Fairfield then accounted for just 16 over her next six appearances while hitting negative-.089.

After a bye week, Wagoner came out firing in the start of Big West play and ranks second on the team with 3.32 kills per set in conference matches entering UH’s showdown with Cal Poly on Friday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

“We’re starting to gel more as a team and I’m blending with the setters,” Wagoner said of the up-tick in production. “Coach Rob has been working really hard on offense with the setters and hitters and it’s just clicking finally.”

After Wagoner’s 11-kill performance on .409 hitting in a sweep of Long Beach State on Oct. 1, Ah Mow said she was “on another level.”

“I’m looking at her like, ‘you just gotta take a rip, take a chance,’ ” Ah Mow said that night.

Ah Mow has maintained that emphasis in practice in encouraging the Wahine to be more aggressive in attacking out of system rather than settling for tips or roll shots.

“She throws us balls that go to the ceiling in the pregame (warm up),” Wagoner said. “So it’s really nice that we get to work on that before the game even starts so we already know what we can do with those balls and we’re confident.”

Wagoner’s confidence also came into focus in last Friday’s win at UC San Diego. With the match tied at a set apiece, UCSD surged to a 24-22 lead in the pivotal third set. Wagoner kills saved three set points, and she gave UH a swing at the set when her dig went over the net and found the floor. She then finished the set with her fifth straight kill and the Wahine went on to remain undefeated in Big West play.

“You get blocked, who cares, just go for it,” Ah Mow said of her message in the rally. “So she did.”

Wagoner entered the program more comfortable in starting or extending points than as a finisher. She is one of UH’s primary passers in serve reception and is third on the team with 2.56 digs per set with a season-high 17 in a five-set win over Cal State Fullerton to cap UH’s last homestand.

“I’ve always been a more defensive player, even since I was middle school and high school. I’m used to that part,” Wagoner said. “Just stepping up to a D-I school from high school it’s definitely an adjustment, but I think that I’m starting feel things out and be more confident in my swings.”

BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL

At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center

Cal Poly (8-10, 6-1 BWC) vs. Hawaii (9-5, 6-0)

>> When: Friday, 7 p.m.

>> TV: Spectrum OC16

>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM