Women’s Volleyball Heads to UC Riverside, UC Davis – University of Hawai’i at Manoa Athletics

HONOLULU —After moving into a tie for the Big West lead, the University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team takes a four-match winning streak into its third road trip of the conference schedule. The Rainbow Wahine head back to California this week for Big West matches at UC Riverside on Thursday and co-leader UC Davis on Saturday.
 
UH entered the week knotted with UC Davis atop the conference standings at 9-3 in Big West play after completing a sweep of a three-match homestand with wins over UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly last weekend. In their first meetings of the season against the Aggies and Highlanders, the ‘Bows fell to UC Davis in four sets on Oct. 11 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, then swept UC Riverside two nights later.
   

HAWAI’I RAINBOW WAHINE (15-7, 9-3 BIG WEST)Head Coach: Robyn Ah Mow (Seventh Season)
Record at UH: 147-52
Big West Record: 102-16
 
UC RIVERSIDE HIGHLANDERS (8-18, 3-10 BIG WEST)Head Coach: Nicky Cannon (third season)
Series record: UH leads 33-0
Streak: UH won 33
Last meeting: UH 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-16); Oct. 13, 2024, Honolulu

UC DAVIS AGGIES (15-7, 10-3 BIG WEST)Head Coach: Dan Conners (10th season)
Series record: UH leads 20-2
Streak: UC Davis won 1
Last meeting: UC Davis 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 28-26, 25-17); Oct. 11, 2024, Honolulu

‘BOWS NOTES

• UH’s four-match winning streak matches its longest of the season.
• In Big West matches, UH leads the conference with 14.64 kills per set, a .268 hitting percentage, and 15.93 digs per set.
• UH has won all 33 meetings in the series with UC Riverside and has swept the last 11 matchups, dating back to 2017.
• UC Davis’ win on Oct. 11 ended UH’s 18-match winning streak in the series and marked the Aggies’ first win over the ‘Bows since Oct. 26, 2013. UH leads the all-time series 20-2.
• Kate Lang and Caylen Alexander claimed Big West honors on Monday after helping lead UH to home wins over UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly
• Alexander earned her third straight and UH-record sixth Big West Offensive Player of the Week award of the season after averaging 5.57 kills per set and a total of 39 kills last weekend.
• Alexander has posted 20-plus kills in 12 matches this season. She entered the week ranked second in NCAA Division I with 457 total kills, 5.25 kills per set and 502 total points. She’s fourth nationally with 5.77 points per set and leads the Big West in each of those categories.
• Lang picked up her fourth Big West Setter of the Week award of the season and 15^th of her career. She distributed 82 assists, averaging 11.71 per set, and called her own number to finish off 12 kills over the weekend at home.
• Lang leads the Big West and ranks 14^th in the nation with 936 total assists and her average of 10.29 assists per set is second in the conference.
• Lang enters the week with 4,166 assists and 994 digs in her career and is closing in on becoming the third UH setter to post 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs. The others are Kanoe Kamana’o (6,428 assists, 1,220 digs) and Martina Cincerova (4,637, 1,111)
• UH middle blockers Jacyn Bamis and Miliana Sylvester are hitting a combined .338 in Big West play. Bamis ranks fourth in conference matches at .352 with 3.29 kills per set. Sylvester is sixth at .323 and averages 2.48 kills per set in Big West play.
• Libero Tayli Ikenaga has posted double-figure digs in 19 matches and had at least nine digs in all 22 matches this season. The senior leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big West with 3.75 digs per set overall.

THE MATCHUPS
UC RIVERSIDE

• UH has won all 33 meetings in a series with UC Riverside that began on Dec. 12, 1974.
• UH has swept the last 11 meetings with the Highlanders since the teams went to five sets on Sept. 30, 2017 in Riverside.
• UC Riverside head coach Nicky Cannon is in her third season and has a record of 18-66 with the Highlanders.
• UCR split its matches last week with a five-set win at Long Beach State and a 3-0 loss at UC San Diego.
• After an 0-7 start to Big West play, the Highlanders won three of their next five.
• Makena Tong, a junior from Honolulu, entered the week leading the Highlanders with 367 assists and averaging 4.48 per set. She graduated from University Laboratory School.
• Sophomore right side Trinity Sheridan entered the week leading the Highlanders with 296 total kills and averaging 3.33 per set.
• Jessica Dean ranks second in the conference with 3.97 digs per set.

UC DAVIS

• UC Davis coach Dan Conners is in his 10th season (11th year overall) leading the Aggies and has a career record of 146-141.
• UC Davis ended UH’s 18-match winning streak in the series with a win in their first meeting this season.
• UC Davis’ previous win in the series came on Oct. 26, 2013 in five sets (25-21, 25-22, 19-25, 15-25, 15-9) in Davis.
• The Aggies had won nine in a row before falling to UC San Diego and Long Beach State last weekend, both in five sets.
• Olivia Utterback entered the week leading the Aggies and ranked fourth in the Big West with 3.56 kills per set. Utterback led UCD with 21 kills on .318 hitting in the first meeting with UH this season.
• Outside hitter Jade Light added 18 kills in 43 swings to hit .372 against the ‘Bows and averages 3.35 kills per set.
• Reese Diersbock, an outside hitter from Kailua (Le Jardin Academy), has started 19 matches and ranks third on the team with 1.99 kills per set.
• Setter Mia Starr ranked third in the Big West and 54^th nationally with 9.98 assists per set.
• UC Davis defeated UC Riverside in four sets on Tuesday in Riverside (25-17, 20-25, 18-25, 25-22).

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