Hawaii entered the week with two chances to wrap up a conference championship.
The Rainbow Wahine took care of it in one.
After a shaky start, Hawaii snuffed Cal State Northridge’s upset hopes and clinched the Big West title with a 23-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-12 victory on Friday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
A season-high crowd of 2,130 saw the Rainbow Wahine roar back after dropping an opening set for the first time since Oct. 22 and seal the program’s 25th conference title overall, 10th in the Big West and sixth since re-joining the conference in 2012.
UH middle blocker Amber Igiede put away a match-high 16 kills and senior outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle finished with 14 and triggered the title celebration with a block on match point.
“I told (the team) in the locker room, ‘Thank you guys for bringing the Big West championship here,’” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “Because it’s about them. They have to work and they have to listen to what the coaches are saying and they have to produce. And they produced a Big West championship.”
The Rainbow Wahine (21-6, 18-1 Big West) also secured the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the eve of tonight’s regular-season finale with UC Santa Barbara, which will settle for second place in the Big West race.
UH will learn of its postseason destination when the NCAA Tournament selection show airs at 3:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.
In their return from the 2020 cancellation, the Wahine got out to a 3-5 start in the nonconference schedule, regrouped in a bye week, then won their next eight matches. A loss at UCSB on Oct. 22 dropped them into a tie with the Gauchos, but they’ve reeled off 10 straight wins since to claim their second straight title.
“I know what kind of players I had and it was just a test of trying to bring out what each player could help the team with,” Ah Mow said of the growth process in the nonconference schedule. “With our little staff that could, three people, that was our challenge.”
Van Sickle had 12 digs to go along with her kill total and was among thee UH players with double-double performances on Friday. UH sophomore Riley Wagoner got off to a fast start and finished with 12 kills and 12 digs and setter Kate Lang had 11 digs and 43 assists. Freshman libero Tayli Ikenaga anchored the UH defense with 22 digs, two shy of her season high.
But CSUN (7-23, 6-14) wouldn’t make it easy on the Wahine early on.
The Matadors’ back-row defense kept plays alive, and they hit .293 in the first set as UH fell behind in a match for the first time since being swept at UCSB on Oct. 22.
“We talked about just keep swinging because they’re a really good defensive team,” Lang said. “So keep swinging deep and it’ll find its way to the floor.”
Igiede began the night with three kills in 13 attempts, with two errors in the first set, but found her rhythm in the second. She put away seven kills in 10 attempts and added a block to her scoring total.
“After the first set Coach Rob just told me to calm down a little bit,” Igiede said. “I was probably rushing my approach. … Kate just looked at me and she said she’ll keep finding me, so I’m glad she trusted me to keep going back to me.”
Lang opened the third set with a six-point run from the service line and ended it with an ace. She added three kills in the fourth set, including a rare full swing on a second touch.
“I have never been an offensive setter, so that was just out of the blue,” Lang said. “I didn’t even think I was going to end up doing that.”
UH took control with a seven-point run, six coming with Janelle Gong on the service line to take a 21-11 lead. Lang finished two points with kills to give UH match point and Van Sickle and Igiede were there for the closing block.
“It was amazing,” Igiede said. “The crowd was into it, the bench was into it. The whole last set was really fun because everyone was taking aggressive moves. … It was pure aggression. It shows everyone wants it, so it was just really fun for me to even watch.”
