With back-to-back kills, UC Davis cut Hawaii’s lead in half, making the score 19-17.

Then came the first chant of “Let’s Go ’Bows” at a UH women’s volleyball home match since the pandemic hit.

Maybe what happened next is just coincidence, maybe not. The visitors immediately committed a service error and then another miscue, forcing an Aggies timeout. That didn’t help them much, as the Rainbow Wahine won six of the last eight points of the first set, setting the stage for a sweep Friday at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.

You can only drink water there for now, but the 269 fans on hand brought some juice for the home team. And then, another sweep Saturday, over UC Riverside, this time before around 250 fans of an allowed 500.

“It was awesome to have them back,” said senior middle Skyler Williams — even if “them” was less than 1/20th of capacity. The next time the Wahine are home, Nov. 12 against UC Irvine, the plan is to try to fill all 10,300 seats and open the concession stands.

Lots of college sports programs say their fans are the greatest. Of course, it’s not very objective.

But for UH volleyball, the numbers help validate a legitimate claim to that title. In 2019, the women’s team averaged 6,684 fans per match, which was third in the nation. And while attendance fluctuates for many of the nation’s other top programs, Hawaii is consistently near the top of the list.

Until this weekend, though, attendance for 2021 was dead last. Through no fault of the fans, it was zero.

And about a third of the robust booster club of around 90 members didn’t re-up in 2020 (when there was no season at all) or this year, club president Stanley Ching said.

“The first year when the season was canceled we couldn’t do anything. At least they’re playing this year. I try to put out a newsletter, and recruit new members and recruit members back to the club,” Ching said.

With everything up in the air — including a deadly virus — the club has survived, with some members continuing to give, expecting nothing in return.

“You can’t blame (members for dropping out),” Ching said. “But a few people still joined even though there was no season last year, or this year knowing they might not be able to go this year if there was one. They were told we would roll over their membership, but some still paid for the year anyway. They get it that the kids were still in school, and they were still training and practicing and still needed the support.”

Ching was not among the 500 ticketed spectators on Friday. But for the second time this season he was at the match in an official capacity, as a photographer for the booster club. Ching, a season-ticket holder since the 1990s, found other ways to track the Wahine.

“I try to watch it on TV, and I listen to (radio voice) Tiff Wells a lot, and I follow on the live stats,” he said. “But it’s not the same.”

And this past weekend wasn’t the same, either. Like the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Complex for football was last week, the SSC was dotted with small clusters of masked fans.

Other than the band, the cheerleaders, and a few chants, the crowd wasn’t very loud. But it was proud.

“Definitely, for sure they help,” said Brooke Van Sickle, who served 10 consecutive points, including four aces, during a 25-7 second-set thrashing of the Aggies on Friday.

Before the pandemic, the Wahine appeared to hit their stride in 2019, Robyn Ah Mow’s third season as head coach. They were 26-4 and won their first Big West championship under Ah Mow. They also advanced to an NCAA regional for the first time since Dave Shoji’s retirement in 2016.

Now, they are 11-1 in conference, tied for first, and 14-6 overall.

They missed the fans, but still won seven of their nine matches without them. Playing in an empty arena with fake crowd noise, minus the hugs and high fives, without the scent of garlic fries and lei, seems to have made them stronger. Last spring, the UH men’s team won a national championship at the end of an entire season without the presence of their fervent fans.

This weekend, the Wahine bounced back from their first Big West loss, at rival UC Santa Barbara.

“I like to think the road trip had something to do with it, just coming back,” Ah Mow said after Friday’s sweep. “The fans are icing on the cake.”

Going home is always better when ohana is there to greet you, even if it’s just a few. There will be many more on hand four times next month, including senior night Nov. 27 against UCSB, possibly with the conference championship at stake.

Even with 20 times as much availability, tickets for that could be scarce for that one.