The Hawaii women’s volleyball team arrived at the Stan Sheriff Center hospitality room directly from Daniel K. International Airport on Sunday with great anticipation and little jet lag.
The thought of seeing “Hawaii” pop up on the large-screen TV during the NCAA Tournament selection show was more than enough to keep everyone lively.
The moment of truth came at 1:32 p.m. when the Rainbow Wahine players, who were watching intently on couches, saw their team appear on the screen. The players’ faces lit up, they let out a scream and then applauded.
Hawaii, which has an RPI of 49, was placed in the Madison (Wis.) Regional and will face No. 7 seed Iowa State in a first-round match at 2 p.m. Thursday in Eugene, Ore. The team will leave today, making its stay in Hawaii less than 24 hours.
“We were going to be excited either way to find out who we were playing,” said middle blocker Amber Igiede, who was named Big West Tournament MVP. “We’ll do more research and have film on Iowa State. We’re excited to play them and go to Oregon.”
UH outside hitter Riley Wagoner said: “It’s really exciting to go off to the tournament and just finding out today was really awesome. We know exactly where we’re going.”
The Rainbow Wahine (23-8) earned an automatic bid to their 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament by winning the Big West Tournament championship Saturday with a sweep of Long Beach State in Long Beach, Calif.
The Cyclones finished 20-9 overall and fourth in the Big 12 at 11-7.
The winner of Hawaii/Iowa State will face the winner of No. 2 seed Oregon/Southeastern Louisiana in the second round at 5 p.m. Friday.
Igiede and Wagoner are the only team members who will be playing in their fourth NCAA Tournament. The Big West didn’t have a volleyball season in 2020.
“Going each year to a different spot, I think it’s going to be really fun to get some of the new girls the experience and hopefully pass on some of the knowledge from what we know,” Wagoner said.
Big West regular-season champion UC Santa Barbara also made the 64-team field. Other Rainbow Wahine opponents to qualify were Oregon, USC, Pepperdine, TCU and Florida State.
Hawaii, which finished tied for second in the Big West regular season, swept Cal Poly in the conference tournament semifinals and Long Beach State in the final. The Rainbow Wahine have won six in a row.
“That was our goal to finish strong and we had little downs early in the season and I think everything happens for a reason and it’s all coming full circle,” Igiede said. “We’re really confident especially how we played our last few matches.”
Expect to see Igiede go all in against Iowa State.
“There’s no point not giving it your all,” she said. “I’ve been doing this since my freshman year and it’s even more motivating that it’s my last year.”
