In the midst of Hawaii’s sputtering start to Friday’s match at Cal State Fullerton, Brooke Van Sickle delivered the kick start the Rainbow Wahine needed.
Cal State Fullerton led for most of the opening set of the Big West women’s volleyball match at Titan Gym, and UH coach Robyn Ah Mow called a timeout with the Wahine trailing 21-16.
“A very slow start and I just said, ‘Let’s go, we gotta wake up,’” Ah Mow said.
“Then she turned it on.”
Van Sickle had just one kill at that point but put away the next five points to wipe out the Titans’ lead. She added a sixth to tie the set again at 23-all and after a UH block, Van Sickle capped the Wahine comeback on set point.
The Rainbow Wahine (16-5, 12-1 Big West) built on the momentum and rolled to a 25-23, 25-19, 25-14 sweep of the Titans to remain tied with UC Santa Barbara atop the conference standings.
“Going into the game we talked as a team that we wanted to hold ourselves to a high standard and finish in three,” Van Sickle said.
After the timeout, “everyone was fired up. We said we want to win the set, so let’s do it.”
Van Sickle went on to finish with a match-high 16 kills with three errors in 40 attempts for a .325 hitting percentage to help UH improve to 44-0 in the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton. She also contributed 10 digs to UH’s defensive effort and was among three UH players who posted double-double performances.
Outside hitter Riley Wagoner finished with 10 kills and 13 digs and setter Kate Lang distributed 33 assists and had 14 digs in her fourth straight double-double. With Lang extending points at times, freshman libero Tayli Ikenaga had four assists to go along with 14 digs.
Cal State Fullerton entered the match leading the Big West with 18.68 digs per set and added to the season average with 61 digs on Friday. But the Wahine defense more than matched the Titans with 71 digs and held Cal State Fullerton (9-12, 6-8) to a .104 hitting percentage.
The Wahine also scored at the net with nine blocks to the Titans’ five. Middle blocker Amber Igiede was in on six blocks, including a season-high three solo. Skyler Williams had three blocks (one solo) and seven kills.
To prepare for the matchup, Ah Mow said, the coaches put the Wahine through defensive drills for “at least 45 minutes to an hour straight” in practice this week.
“Definitely all the defense we were doing in practice held up in the game,” Van Sickle said. “In practice we talked about how Fullerton was going to dig balls and to stay patient. Even though the ball comes over just stay calm and make it our game and not theirs.”
Amid UH’s ragged start to the match, sophomore Tiffany Westerberg was summoned off the bench early in the first set and added a season-high six kills to the UH attack, including on match point.
“We had some talks that I can’t wait for people to wake up. I’m just going to make subs and see what the subs can do,” Ah Mow said. “She gave us some energy, a couple of hits, and was steady on the blocking.”
After Van Sickle tied the first set at 23, Westerberg teamed with Williams on a block that gave UH set point and Van Sickle followed with her eighth kill.
The Wahine took control of the second set with a 5-0 run to take a 17-13 lead. UH maintained the cushion and Van Sickle again ended the set with a cross-court kill.
UH opened the third set with a 10-2 surge that included two kills and two blocks for Igiede. The Wahine maintained control to win their 25th consecutive set at Titan Gym dating back to 2012.
Cal State Fullerton middle blocker Haley Carmo led the Titans with six kills. Setter Elizabeth Schuster had 27 assists and 16 digs.
The Rainbow Wahine close the trip with a match at Long Beach State (10-14, 4-9) today at 4 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.
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Big West volleyball
At Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, Calif.
Hawaii (15-6, 12-1 BWC) vs. Long Beach State (10-14, 4-9)
>> When: Today, 4 p.m.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1500-AM
>> Live stream: ESPN+
