Continued efficiency at the net and improvement behind the service line resulted in another sweep for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team.
Senior middle blockers Amber Igiede and Kennedi Evans combined to hit .679 with 20 kills in 28 swings to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 25-19, 25-17, 25-12 win over Cal State Northridge on Friday at Premier America Credit Union Arena in Northridge, Calif.
Igiede and Evans had help from the outside, with junior Paula Guersching putting down six of her eight kills in the first set and senior Riley Wagoner adding nine kills, eight digs and an ace for Hawaii, which has won its past 11 sets while improving to 16-6 overall and 9-2 in Big West play.
“I think any time we can run the middles like that, it opens it up for our pins too,” Evans said. “It’s hard to play teams that have four hitters coming at you all of the time.”
Hawaii hit .367 against the Matadors (5-18, 3-9) and has hit better than .300 in three straight matches.
Guersching had two of Hawaii’s six aces as UH finished with more points than errors behind the service line for just the fourth time this season and second time in conference play.
Evans and Igiede both had 10 kills, with Igiede needing only 13 swings to hit a season-high .769.
“I think we’ve been passing really well and (setter) Kate (Lang) has been giving us really good balls and distributing our offense really well,” Evans said.
Lang had a match-high 37 assists and seven digs for UH, which held its 13th consecutive opponent to a .200 hitting percentage or less.
CSUN scored more points in each of the first two sets than it did in any set in a sweep by Hawaii in September, but never really threatened the Rainbow Wahine, who have won 18 straight against the Matadors.
The third set got away from CSUN quickly, allowing UH to go to its bench for the first time.
At times this season, Hawaii has gotten into trouble trying to side-out when Igiede is rotated off the court.
That wasn’t the case Friday, as Igiede had a front-row view from the sideline as Hawaii closed out the first set scoring 10 of the final 12 points.
Evans didn’t let her back on the court as she assisted on a block and blasted five kills, including the final point, during that run to end the set before Igiede could rotate back in.
Hawaii started shaky in its service-receive before two impressive digs by Tayli Ikenaga led to Hawaii points in rallies that seemed to settle the Rainbow Wahine down.
Tough setting by Lang resulted in five straight points, and Wagoner finished it off behind the service line as Hawaii ended the first set hitting .316.
“Riley served really well, and that was one of her focuses going into the game, so it was really cool to see her able to work on it and serve how she wanted to,” Evans said. “She served really well and kept it easy for us to keep that run going.”
Hawaii’s hitting percentage only got better as it found its rhythm defensively. Guersching led the Rainbow Wahine with 10 digs and Ikenaga finished with nine.
Ikenaga’s digs seemed to come during important rallies, as CSUN stayed within four points of Hawaii at 16-12 before two of CSUN’s nine service errors derailed the Matadors in the second set.
Guersching’s second ace sandwiched between kills by Wagoner and Igiede prompted CSUN to call an early timeout at 7-2 in the third set.
An ace by Caylen Alexander made it 19-10 and Ah Mow brought in the reserves.
Kendra Ham got into the mix with two quick kills and Jackie Matias had an ace. The match ended with a service error by each team for the final two points.
Now 32-2 all-time against CSUN, Hawaii turns its focus to today’s match against Cal State Bakersfield, which has never defeated the Rainbow Wahine in seven tries.
The Roadrunners (6-17, 2-9) lost in four sets to CSUN on Thursday and were swept by Hawaii, losing 25-8 in the first set, earlier this season.
“Definitely you have to stay locked in and not overlook anyone,” Evans said. “Playing a team once, you’ve never seen them before, but now every team has seen us, so you’ve got to stay focused and keep everyone going.”
Today’s match begins at 1 p.m.