Saturday’s Rainbow Wahine volleyball senior night ceremony is something new for Tayli Ikenaga.
Unlike most Hawaii high school graduates, Ikenaga didn’t get to participate in her own version of a senior night in high school, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I know I’m going to definitely cry, but I am going to tell myself not to cry,” Ikenaga said of Saturday’s postgame festivities. “Just trying to enjoy it and soak it all in.”
The Moanalua alumna, who was named the OIA Player of the Year as a sophomore as an outside hitter, has gone on to have a successful career in college as a libero and defensive specialist.
Like the only other senior on the team, setter Kate Lang, Ikenaga has played in more than 100 matches for UH. She ranks sixth on the school’s career digs list with 1,253 and has done it in 383 sets played.
Tara Hittle, who ranks fifth with 52 more digs, played in 81 more sets. Reydan Ahuna, who holds an 88-dig advantage over Ikenaga, played 92 more sets.
Ikenaga won her first Big West Defensive Player of the Week award this season and ranks second in the conference with 387 total digs and fourth with 3.87 digs per set.
“I’m just trying to appreciate it all,” Ikenaga said. “I would say it has been an exciting roller coaster (this season). We have had our ups and downs and as we’re almost at the end, I think we have reached a point where we know what we need to do and we’re just excited we have an opportunity to see these teams again and come back even better.”
As was the case last season, when Hawaii needed to win both of its final home matches to earn one of the two seeded byes in the Big West Conference tournament, there is much to play for while UH tries to honor its two departing seniors.
Hawaii (16-8, 10-4) was one of three teams tied for first place entering Thursday with four matches remaining. UC Davis beat Cal State Northridge in four sets on Thursday to take a half-game lead. Long Beach State, which Hawaii hosts tonight at 7, and UC San Diego, which UH lost to earlier this season and visits Saturday, are both another half-game back at 10-5.
Five teams are within a game of first place, and UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, which won the regular season a year ago, are tied two losses back at 8-6. One of those teams won’t even make the conference tournament, which begins on Nov. 27 in Irvine, Calif.
UH’s final regular-season match is on Nov. 23 at UC Irvine.
“I think this year was just about trusting our teammates and trusting our coaching staff that they have prepared us to be successful,” Lang said. “Everyone on the team knows they have to make their own personal responsibilities their responsibility. They have to take accountability in those things so just having overall trust in ourselves and in our teammates and in our coaching staff.”
Depending on how things shake out, UH can hold at least a season split with each one of the top teams.
The Rainbow Wahine swept preseason favorite Cal Poly, handing the Mustangs two of their four losses. UC Davis, which is also 10-4 in conference matches, split with Hawaii, with each team winning on the other team’s home floor.
Hawaii can earn a sweep of the Beach with a victory tonight and needs a victory against the Tritons on Saturday to offset a five-set loss in La Jolla, Calif.
“I’m just going to go in there and think I’m playing for Kate, I’m playing for my team, playing for the coaches and the fans,” Ikenaga said. “Knowing this is my last game here I just want to be successful and leave it all on the court.”
Hawaii has won five of its past six home matches entering the final homestand of the season.
Junior outside hitter Caylen Alexander, who won a conference-record seventh Big West Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday, remains second in the country entering the week in total kills (514), kills per set (5.35) and total points (564).
Despite its first loss to UC Riverside in 34 all-time meetings last week, Hawaii’s RPI only dropped to 50. Cal Poly is the next highest RPI in the Big West at 73.
