There are two things that Hawaii usually can count on when playing a road match. The Rainbow Wahine will have more fans than their host and the opponent will play one of its best matches of the volleyball season.
Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow expects both today when the No. 19 Wahine (21-3, 11-2 Big West) close out their final regular-season road trip of the year at UC Riverside (6-17, 2-10). The Highlanders are coming off their first victory since the Sept. 24 conference opener against Cal State Fullerton, taking down UC Irvine in five sets on Tuesday.
That result has caught Hawaii’s collective attention. The Wahine were unable to hold on against UCI on Oct. 4 in Honolulu, losing in five to the Anteaters for what is still UCI’s only conference win.
“We know that any team we play is going to play hard against us,” Ah Mow said. “I don’t know what it is about Riverside. It’s a normal gym, but every time we go there, our energy’s not up.
“We’ve got to be ready.”
Hawaii survived a slow start on Friday before topping host UC Davis in four sets. The match saw freshman Hanna Hellvig turn in her 19th double-digit kill performance, matching her uniform number with 17.
Senior setter-hitter Norene Iosia came up one kill short of her sixth career triple-double, finishing with nine kills in addition to 28 assists and 13 digs. She now ranks 10th in career digs (1,114) and ninth in career assists (3,019) and is seven aces shy of passing UH associate head coach Angelica Ljungqvist (133) for No. 4.
Iosia had two aces against the Aggies on Friday, adjusting her serve at the suggestion of Ah Mow and assistant coach Kaleo Baxter.
“They wanted me to start serving deep,” Iosia said. “It’s a deeper serve that drops at the end.”
She’ll continue to work on that today in SRC Arena against the Highlanders, who were aced twice by UCI on Tuesday. Riverside also had three players in double-digit kills for the first time since the win over Fullerton six weeks earlier: freshman Amarachi Osuji (14), junior Ayla Fresenius (14) and junior middle Kat Lowry (13).
Fresenius had a team-high seven kills, while Osuji and Lowry had one kill each when Hawaii swept the Highlanders on Oct. 18 in Honolulu.
Today’s goal for the Wahine is to remain sharp. They won’t play again until hosting Cal State Northridge on Nov. 21 and Long Beach State on Nov. 22 to close the regular season.
Winning the final three matches would guarantee Hawaii at least a share of the Big West title. The Wahine have the tiebreaker over Cal Poly (17-7, 10-2) and UC Santa Barbara (19-4, 9-3).
The Mustangs broke the tie for second place by sweeping the Gauchos, 25-13, 25-18, 25-19 on Saturday to run the nation’s longest current home win streak to 30. Cal Poly moved to within a half-game of Hawaii.
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BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL
Today, noon HST
No. 19 Hawaii (21-3, 11-2) at UC Riverside (6-17, 2-10)
>> Radio: 1500-AM
>> TV: None
>> Live stream: BigWest.tv
>> Series: Hawaii leads, 26-0
