Wahine volleyball team beats UC Davis to reach Big West final
IRVINE, Calif. >> Caylen Alexander’s final two swings resulted in the final two points of a dramatic 25-22, 16-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13 win over UC Davis in the semifinals of the Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship tonight at Bren Events Center.
The Rainbow Wahine’s season came down to their 11th five-set match. They trailed 7-4, scored the next six points, and then gave up a 5-1 run to fall behind 12-11.
Jacyn Bamis, who tied a career high with 15 kills and hit .448, put Hawaii back in front with two kills.
Olivia Utterback, UC Davis’ first-team, All-Big West outside hitter, hammered her 18th kill of the match before Alexander, the Big West Player of the Year, ended it to give her a match-high 22 kills.
Hawaii (20-9) secured its fifth straight 20-win season and advance to Saturday’s tournament championship against No. 1 seed Cal Poly, which swept Long Beach State in the other semifinal, at 3 p.m.
Alexander led five Rainbow Wahine in double figures in digs with 17. UH outdug the Aggies (19-10) 86 to 70.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
Tali Hakas and Stella Adeyemi added 11 kills apiece. Adeyemi came alive in the fifth set with four kills, including three during the run that turned a 7-4 deficit into a 10-7 lead.
Tayli Ikenaga finished with a match-high 19 digs and setter Kate Lang added 50 assists and 17 digs.
Hawaii is 7-4 in five-set matches.
