ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Wahine play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the previous week for the Bows

1 – It’s Been A Minute Vegas. Not since 1997 when Hawai`i was a member of the WAC had they played a match at UNLV. Prior to the exhibition this past spring, UH hadn’t played the Rebels since 2003. After the 6-1 start to the season, UH brought a season-high four-match win streak with them on their first road-trip of the season. It was UNLV’s annual Polynesian Night. Food trucks, dance performances and a party atmosphere greeted the Rainbow Wahine upon their entrance into Cox Pavilion. With programs around the country establishing new single-match attendance records, UH was the main draw on the Rebels’ schedule and those that live in Las Vegas helped UNLV more than double their previous crowd record. A standing room only capacity crowd of 3,117 witnessed UNLV defeat the Rainbow Wahine in a 2-hour, 29-minute 5-set marathon match. Everyone watches women’s sports. Perhaps with Malia Shoji (the niece of former UH Head Coach Dave Shoji) and a roster that has multiple Hawai`i-born players on it, this UH/UNLV match could be more than a once-per-two-decade meeting. UH’s match at Texas was their first match in Austin since 2005.

2 – Double-Double Times Two. Caylen Alexander continues to lead the nation in total kills and is in the NCAA top seven in both kills per set and points per set. The six-rotation Outside Hitter has been more than just a point scorer for the Rainbow Wahine. Part of a scrappy UH floor defense, the Junior has helped the Bows average nearly 15 digs per set and hasn’t taken plays or points off when she rotates to the back-row. She began UH’s first away match with a double-double (23 kills, 10 digs) and ended the last match of the first trip with her eighth double-double (18 kills and 10 digs) against No. 20 Baylor. The all-around player now has 19 career double-doubles and has recorded no fewer than 17 kills in a match this season, all while being the first player on the opposing team’s scouting report. Entering Big West Conference play, she is on a short list for Conference Player of the Year.

3 – Club Gets A New Member. After being named to the All-Tournament of the Outrigger Invitational, senior libero Tayli Ikenaga was closing in an elusive milestone. Embarking on her last first road trip of her career, Ikenaga only needed a couple of digs to reach 1,000 for her Rainbow Wahine career. With her third dig in the opening set against UNLV, the Moanalua alumna reached the milestone. Now with nine matches this season with double-digit digs, Ikenaga has taken command of the backrow and been more vocal. Opponents are also not serving in her direction as often and when they do, more often than not her first touch results in a ball to gives Kate Lang at minimum two options. She’s also been a mentor to Freshman Defensive Specialist Victoria Leyva since January when the El Paso native has been on campus.

4 – 40 Acre Block Party. Much has been discussed through the first three weeks about the blocking for Hawai`i, or the lack thereof. While they have been getting numerous block touches helping the back-row out, the number of stuff blocks haven’t come quite as often as seen in prior years. After being out blocked 13-3 at UNLV on Tuesday, another formidable and tall front-line faced UH two days later at No. 8 Texas. Consistently among the NCAA Top 10 in blocks per set, the Longhorns presented many problems for UH. Playing in front a sold-out crowd and in their first match at Texas since 2005, it took the Rainbow Wahine a set (again) to settle into the match. After just three kills and hitting negative at UNLV, Stella Adeyemi bounced back with 11 kills on 18 swings, hitting a season-best .500. With Caylen Alexander notching yet another 20-kill night, the Rainbow Wahine hit .278 (second highest hitting percentage of the season). Hitting high hands and off the edge of the block, UH was blocked only four times. In fact, it was UH that held the advantage in blocks (8-4). The Bows also held the reigning National Player of the Year Madi Skinner in check (10 kills, hitting .250. Even in the loss, UH held their own…in a hostile environment against the two-time defending National Champions.

5 – Welcome To The Show Adri. Highly touted coming out of Kamehameha-Kapalama, Adrianna Arquette did it all. Playing middle blocker and out of her natural position as a setter/opposite, the senior led her Warriors to the 2023 HHSAA Division I State Championship. When the 2023-24 Hawai`i Gatorade Player of the Year announced her verbal commitment to UH and then signed her National Letter of Intent, the UH fan base was very pleased knowing one of the top in-state recruits was staying home. Six matches into the season and Arquette had not seen the floor. Some wondered if she would redshirt. That question was taken off the table on Tuesday when she entered the match in Set 4 with UH trailing 2 sets to 1. While she didn’t record a kill, she provided a couple of lengthy service runs and it was her calming demeanor on the floor that helped the Bows get to their sixth five-set match of the season. A glimpse of the future with the freshman setter, having Arquette on the floor moved Tali Hakas from the right-side to her more natural left-side position. It’s also moved Jackie Matias into a serving sub, giving Head Coach Robyn Ah Mow another option of which combination of six she can put together out on the floor.

6 – Over .500 But…. A daunting non-conference schedule was put together with the RPI in mind. A mixture of home matches, one three-match road-trip that included two ranked teams, UH came out of it with a plus .500 overall record (6-4). While the “five-set sistahs” have gone 4–2 in six five-set matches this season, the Bows have come away with a couple of quality wins. SMU was huge and an RPI gold mine. Beating them in the season opener despite losing nearly every statistical category in the match will greatly aid UH throughout the season. SMU will do well in the ACC, as they get changes to face top teams in Pitt, Louisville and Stanford. Pepperdine, San Diego and Texas State all are expected to do well during their conference season, while Oregon State should be in the top half of theirs. Despite the four losses, none are “bad.” The Pepperdine series could have been a series sweep as UH led the match two sets to one before falling in five. The UNLV match was winnable with the Bows forcing a fifth, nearly coming back from a 13-8 deficit. Two tough opening set losses at Texas and Baylor put UH in a match deficit but the Rainbow Wahine fought to tie both matches at one before losing both of those in four sets. While the offense has been up and down, UH did manage to hit over .200 in each match on the road, including .278 at Texas. Meanwhile, through four weeks of non-conference matches, the Big West Conference went 60-60. Preseason BWC favorite Cal Poly had the most wins (7) and tied for the fewest amount of losses (4) with Hawai`i, UC Davis and Long Beach State. CSUN and UC Riverside were respectable, each going 5-6. Defending BWC regular season champion UC Santa Barbara tested themselves in the non-conference, going 4-8 in the process. The race to qualify for The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2024 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship begins on Tuesday (UC Irvine at Cal State Fullerton). Each team will embark on their 18-match conference schedule, with the top six meeting at UC Irvine during Thanksgiving Week. While the Big West received multiple NCAA Championship bids 2023 and 2019, the conference is usually a one-bid league. While winning the BWC tournament ensures automatic admittance into the Postseason, having a non-conference resume with a few quality wins and no bad losses could very well keep Hawai`i in the at-large consideration if they perform well during conference play and in the conference tournament.