IRVINE, Calif. >> Robyn Ah Mow has said there are moments this season that she felt were the lowest points of her Hawaii coaching career.

The roller-coaster ride this Rainbow Wahine volleyball team has been on has tested the limits of players and coaches alike.

That made the celebration inside Bren Events Center on Saturday night all the more sweet for Hawaii, which once again, through it all, stood tall in the biggest moments to secure a fifth straight conference championship with a 25-19, 25-19, 27-29, 25-22 win over Cal Poly in the title match of the Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship.

All eight regular rotation players for the Rainbow Wahine contributed in big ways for Hawaii (21-9), which doesn’t have to sweat today’s NCAA Selection Show at 1 p.m.

The Rainbow Wahine locked up their 31st consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament when Miliana Sylvester’s match-high-tying 14th kill went off a Cal Poly player and out of bounds.

The rest of the 13 players that make up the full roster this season ran out onto the court as Ah Mow immediately went for a group hug with the rest of her coaching staff.

This was a real team effort that tested the patience of everyone this season.

“For me it means a lot. Just going up and down and everybody sticking together and the coaches sticking together and to come out and watch these guys battle out that third set and then going into the fourth set, I’m just proud of them,” Ah Mow said.

Hawaii’s season began with three returning players with substantial playing experience. Seniors Kate Lang and Tayli Ikenaga and junior Caylen Alexander were all rewarded by the Big West with awards for being the best players at their positions.

This season was always going to come down to the rest of the pieces around them.

How would Sylvester, a freshman who had just finished playing for University Lab at this time last season, and Jacyn Bamis, a junior who played sparingly sitting behind two seniors last season, make up for the loss of Amber Igiede and Kennedi Evans in the middle?

Could Tali Hakas, a sophomore who joined the team two days before the start of the season after playing for her national team in Israel, and undersized sophomore Stella Adeyemi provide enough offense to take some pressure off of Alexander, the Big West Player of the Year?

The answers were unclear at times this season, but obvious in this tournament.

Sylvester hit .464 with 14 kills and one error and added six block assists against the Mustangs. It was her first double-figure kill total in her past 18 matches.

Bamis hit .571 with nine kills in 14 swings with one error. For the tournament, she finished with 24 kills, three errors and hit .488.

Hakas had six kills and six digs in the first set alone and finished with a match-high 19 digs, 12 kills and one of six Hawaii aces.

A night after her four kills in the fifth set propelled Hawaii into the final, Adeyemi hit .278 with six kills. She was served 15 times and did not have a reception error.

“This entire season has always been all about the team,” said Lang, who recorded her 50th double-double with 42 assists and 10 digs. “We can’t have one player, we can’t have two players come out every night and pull their weight. Everybody comes in and works hard every single day and that just shows up now. It’s times like these where that means the most.”

The new tournament format is only two years into its existence, but there won’t often be a libero named most valuable player.

Ikenaga, who fueled UH’s defense throughout the season and especially in the last two wins, was named MVP after posting 13 digs, eight assists and an ace against Cal Poly.

She had 32 digs in the two matches and helped Hawaii outdig its two tournament opponents 150-125.

“It’s really hard for setters and libs to get it because usually the outside hitters are getting it,” Ah Mow said. “This girl in the last couple of games she’s played has just been on it.”

Hawaii had four of its aces in the first set and hit .457 in the second set while keeping the Mustangs under 20 points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Cal Poly (22-9), which was playing without All-BWC first-team outside hitter Tommi Stockham, who went down with an injury very late in Friday’s sweep of Long Beach State, was also missing second-team, all-conference setter Emma Bullis, who was hurt in practice this past week.

The Mustangs survived two match points in the third set and forced a fourth set when Emma Fredrick scored the final two points on a kill and a double block.

The match was tied for the final time at 13-13 in the fourth set before Hawaii pulled away.

Sylvester’s final kill tied her with Alexander, who also had 14 kills but hit .062.

“Tonight I felt a lot more comfortable after getting the nerves out (Friday) night,” Sylvester said. “It was definitely a team win. Every single person, whether it was on the bench or the coaches, our trainers, our staff, everyone was all in it and I think it really showed in the results.”