A career night for Hawaii middle blocker Amber Igiede highlighted a milestone victory for Rainbow Wahine coach Robyn Ah Mow.

Igiede and the Rainbow Wahine overcame a slow start to Saturday’s Big West match with UC Davis and survived in five sets to give Ah Mow win No. 100 in her coaching career.

Igiede put away a career-high 24 kills and teamed with Riley Wagoner with a block on match point to close out the 16-25, 25-12, 28-26, 19-25, 15-9 win at the University Credit Union Center in Davis Calif., and start the celebration — although Ah Mow wasn’t sure what the commotion was about after the final point.

“She didn’t realize it because she’s so into the game and so passionate about the game,” Igiede said. “I’m really excited and glad we were able to give her the 100th win.”

UH (14-6, 11-1 Big West) completed a sweep of its road trip and remained alone atop the conference standings. The Rainbow Wahine improved to 100-35 overall and 71-9 in conference play during Ah Mow’s six-year tenure as head coach.

“It takes the whole team,” Ah Mow said in a phone interview. “I don’t play on the court, they play on the court. I told them the coaches can put in a culture, but it’s the players who have to believe in what we’re selling in order for the team to work.

“This is a big team win, coaches included. I like to surround myself with good people. For me, it’s a good team win with the girls who have come through over the last six years.”

Igiede took a leading role in Saturday’s drama to help UH shake off the rough start to earn its third five-set win of the season. The junior set her career high while hitting .432 on 37 total attacks. She was also in on seven of UH’s nine blocks and served up an ace.

Freshman outside hitter Caylen Alexander posted six of her 18 kills in the pivotal third set and setter Kate Lang had five kills to go along with 50 assists.

Opposite Braelyn Akana contributed nine kills on 16 attempts. Wagoner struggled offensively for most of the match with five kills and five errors in 35 swings. But the UH floor captain put away two kills late in the fifth set, had 11 digs and teamed with Igiede on the block to end the match.

Libero Tayli Ikenaga led the UH defense with 14 digs. Kendra Ham added 12 digs, and her third ace of the night gave UH match point in the fifth set.

UC Davis (9-13, 4-8) threatened to snap a 16-match losing streak in the series with UH led by outside hitter Demari Webb’s season-high 21 kills in 44 attempts. Middle blocker Josephine Ough added 11 kills and was in on seven of the Aggies’ 11 blocks.

“I have to give props to Davis. They played an A game,” Ah Mow said. “From serving, passing, attacking, I thought they did great and we had to step up.”

UC Davis never trailed in the first set and hit .452 to UH’s .176 led by Webb’s five kills. The Aggies closed the set with an 8-1 run, prompting a UH meeting prior to the second.

“We were in an energy slump and they were winning the serve-and-pass game,” Igiede said. “They were in system a lot, so they were able to run all three options. So just we had to put a little more service pressure on them and better our first contact for us to be able to execute.”

Ham helped UH flip its fortunes with two aces in an eight-point service turn early in the second set. Igiede had two kills and was in on three blocks in the opening surge and the Wahine went on to roll to their most lopsided set win of the season while hitting .458 to UC Davis’ .111.

After two blowouts, the third set saw 10 ties before UH converted on its fourth set-point opportunity to take the lead in the match.

The Aggies never trailed in the fourth and closed the set with a 4-1 run to send UH to a fifth set for the fifth time this season.

“Some plays Davis just outhustled us,” Ah Mow said. “They’re diving for (digs) and we’re just letting balls hit the floor. My talk was, ‘You’re either going to let them do that or you’re going to step up and you’re going to outhustle them right now.”

After UH took a 3-0 lead, UC Davis rallied to tie it at 5-5. UH edged away again and led 11-7 on Igiede’s 23rd kill. After UC Davis closed to 11-9, kills from Igiede and Wagoner and Ham’s ace set up the walk-off block.

Th Rainbow Wahine return home to face Long Beach State on Friday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Beach (14-6, 9-3) knocked off Cal Poly (12-10, 9-3) in five sets on Saturday and will bring an eight-match winning streak to Manoa. UH will also face Cal State Fullerton in its penultimate homestand of the season.