LONG BEACH, Calif. >> It was only three weeks ago when the Hawaii women’s volleyball team lost both home matches in a weekend for the first time in 30 years in league play.
From that low to the highest of highs, coach Robyn Ah Mow watched her Rainbow Wahine volleyball team turn the tables with two dynamic performances, culminating in a 26-24, 25-15, 25-10 sweep of host Long Beach State to win the Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championships on Saturday at Walter Pyramid.
The No. 2-seeded Rainbow Wahine (23-8) — who only earned a bye into the semifinals after beating the Beach last week on senior night when they rallied from 16-5 down in the first set — played the only two matches in the tournament not to go five sets.
They swept them both, playing their best volleyball while taking advantage of the first Big West Tournament in 25 years to earn the league’s automatic berth into a 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
“Really no words,” Ah Mow said. “They came out in this tournament and just played their hearts out. Everything was clicking — blocking and defense and serving and passing. Long Beach is a great team, but (we) just came out and did what we needed to do.”
Amber Igiede, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, led the way with a match-high 16 kills and hit .522. She teamed with fellow middle Kennedi Evans to put down 23 kills in 32 attempts.
After a close first set, Hawaii dominated the Beach (21-10), who swept UH in the Pyramid two months ago. UH closed the match with an astounding 34 of the final 45 points.
“No, I don’t think so,” Ah Mow responded when asked if it could have gone any better. “The ups and downs, that’s what you learn from. If you just win the whole time, you’re not going to learn anything. We learned from the losses what we needed to fix, and that’s exactly what we did throughout this season. We run these girls really hard and they came out and this is what you got these two games. They played great.”
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UH dominated across the board, but especially in the serve-pass game. The Beach, who led the conference in aces this season, didn’t have one, while Hawaii finished with six.
UH outblocked Long Beach State 11-3, with sophomore Caylen Alexander making three solo stuffs.
Hawaii also had the advantage in digs, 29-22, and hit .330 for the match, including an absurd .667 in the final set.
“We’re a great passing team and they got on us a little bit,” Long Beach State coach Tyler Hildebrand said. “I thought we actually served pretty well, but they were passing great. They are playing their best volleyball at the end of the year. They played a hell of a match tonight.”
Hawaii’s three starting pin hitters again provided enough offense, with Alexander, Riley Wagoner and Kendra Ham combining for 21 kills. Ham had seven of those kills and hit .500 with two aces and four block assists.
They all took advantage of another good outing by setter Kate Lang, whose match-high 36 assists were eight more than the entire Long Beach team.
“Losing as much as we did during conference and having those lessons we were able to learn and have to build on was a huge thing coming into this tournament,” Lang said. “Coming in and coming back stronger shows the depth of this team.”
Ah Mow, who was a setter on three USA Olympic national teams, took a moment to praise the player she yells at more than anyone else.
“I’m going to have to interject, because this girl, I’m a setter, and I get on setters. I get on her all of the time,” Ah Mow said. “For her to come out and play the game she did these last two. I am very, very proud.”
Although the score doesn’t show it, the match was competitive until Hawaii ran away with nine of the final 10 points in the second set.
Neither team led by more than two points in the first set until Igiede hammered a kill off an overpass followed by a Ham ace to make it 13-10 Hawaii, triggering a Long Beach timeout.
UH led 24-21 and had three set points, but the Beach won each one, with Hawaii’s eighth hitting error tying the match at 24-24.
A service error gave UH its fourth set point and Wagoner put down her third kill off a double block to give Hawaii the early lead.
Evans and Ham teamed up for a block during UH’s 9-1 run to end the second set and Alexander followed with a solo block to make it 23-15. Wagoner delivered an ace and an attack error ended it, with UH winning by double figures.
Igiede’s kill off the head of a Long Beach blocker came during a 7-0 run to start the third set, and by then, the celebration plans were already being made.
UH planned to fly back home this morning and watch the NCAA selection show on ESPN beginning at 1 p.m.
