ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Wahine play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the previous week for the Bows
1 – Almost Had It. Coming off the tough 0-3 road-trip from the previous week, Hawai`i opened its conference slate at home against UC Irvine. Statistically the best blocking team in the conference, UCI out-blocked Cal State Fullerton 17-to-4 earlier in the week. Tied at 18 in Set 1, the Bows closed on a 7-3 run. Set 2 saw Kate Lang head to the service line with UH trailing 22-19. She and the Bows closed out the set on a 6-0 run to take a 2-0 match lead, their first such match lead since Pepperdine on September 7th. Up 23-19 in the third set, UH could see the finish line. They were that close to playing their first 3-set match of the season. UC Irvine had other ideas as they took the set in extra time, outscoring the Bows 7-1 to force a fourth set. With UH trailing 9-2 in the 4th, Caylen Alexander was subbed out and never returned. The Anteaters never trailed en route to forcing a fifth set. Still no Alexander for UH as the Bows took leads of 8-7 and 12-10 but couldn’t close. A 15-13 win for the Anteaters had them celebrating on the taraflex as UH watched in disbelief, wondering what had happened after losing a 2-0 match lead and then the match all-together. Both of UCI’s wins over UH in the series have come in Honolulu when they have been trailing 2-0 in the match. Four straight losses, the first such streak for UH since 1985. The conference match that got away and one that you hope doesn’t make a difference between being a 2-seed or 3-seed in the 2024 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship and having to play on Quarterfinal Wednesday and not getting a bye to Semifinal Friday.
2 – The Keiki Middle Duo. Coming into the season, the position group that was the most inexperienced was the middle blocker. Having graduated both starters from last year (Amber Igiede and Kennedi Evans), much was expected from returner Jacyn Bamis, but also two of the freshmen (Miliana Sylvester and Maddie Way). Way helped spark the Bows in the Oregon State match and Sylvester has continued to get better each and every match, providing much needed offense. Against the best blocking team in the conference, Sylvester went for a career-high 16 kills and hit .333, while being in on six of the 10 total team blocks. Less than 24 hours later, Maddie Way earned her first career start and went off. She came in with eight total kills on the season, but was efficient against Cal State Fullerton. Eight kills on 17 swings with just one hitting error, hitting .412 with three blocks. Maybe the most dominant match of her young career, Sylvester began the match against the Titans with 12 kills on 12 errorless swings. The Aina Haina native hit .765 (14-1-17) for the match, the highest hitting percentage for a UH player since 2022, when Tiffany Westerburg hit .750 (12-0-15) against UC Irvine. Three capable middles for the two starting spots, it just gives the coaches another option in that position.
3 – 3-Setter…Yes They Know It. 10 matches into the season and they hadn’t played a three-set match. Many nicknames for this group, including the “five-settah sistahs,” UH had gone the distance six times. With a 2-0 match advantage and a 23-19 Set 3 lead against UC Irvine on Friday, some wondered if this would be the match that would send UH home with their first 3-0 match of the season. It would not be the case as fans left in disbelief, wondering what happened to Alexander and the Bows as UH fell in 5 sets. Another 2-0 match lead, this time against Cal State Fullerton, UH controlled the match. Playing its shortest match of the season, 89 minutes was all the Bows needed to snap the losing streak and get win number one of conference play…and their first 3-set match of the season.
4 – Much Needed Bounceback. The best remedy to bounce back after a tough match the previous day is to have another match the next day. Not having to sit and stew about the Irvine match for a week, UH returned to the taraflex less than 24 hours later and faced Cal State Fullerton. Having never lost to the Titans in the series, UH continued that trend and while the serving errors piled up (11 in 3 sets), the Bows played their most complete match of the season. A season-high hitting percentage (.381), coupled with a season-low nine hitting errors, UH last trailed in the match at 11-10 in Set 1. Siding out at 81% (37-of-46) off first-ball contact, the Rainbow Wahine never allowed the Titans to get comfortable in the match. And for the Titans, who came in the top team in the conference with 13.48 kills per set, UH’s defense held the visitors to just 23 kills for the match. The Titans hit a season-low .021 and while they’re a team predicted to be in the bottom third of the league, it was refreshing to see UH bounce back with a dominating win, controlling the match with their top offensive option on the sideline.
5 – Another Lineup Wrinkle. “We have other options.” With Alexander not on the floor for the majority of Set 4 and all of Set 5 in the UC Irvine match, the Bows had their pin hitters of Adrianna Arquette, Stella Adeyemi and Tali Hakas. None taller than 5’11’, UH nearly pulled out the fifth set, as they led 12-10. There was a lot of speculation about Alexander in between the two matches as both players and coaches weren’t made available to the media after the match. She went through warmups ahead of the Cal State Fullerton match but didn’t hit. Making her first career start, Adrianna Arquette was in at opposite and allowed Tali Hakas to move from the opposite to the left side. Also making her first career start was Madi Way, making her first appearance in eight days. In place of Bamis, Way scored a career-high 8 kills. The do-any-and-every-thing Arquette had seven digs, a block, two aces, three assists and was efficient on offense, going 5-1-12 to hit .333. With Arquette in as the backup setter, it’s also moved Jackie Matias into a serving and defensive specialist role.
6 – Alexander A Spectator. A lot of speculation with UH’s top offensive pin hitting option during and after the UC Irvine match. She came into the week ranked in the top 15 in the nation in total kills, kills per set, total points, points per set and attacks per set. Her right arm, her offense was a main reason why UH went through the non-conference at 6-4 and took a set at both Texas and Baylor. At 9-2 in Set 4 against UC Irvine, Caylen Alexander was subbed out. She never returned. With players and coaches not available to the media post-match, the speculation continued into the night and into the next morning with the Cal State Fullerton match that night. Sitting out for “undisclosed reasons,” Alexander went through warmups ahead of the match with the Titans but didn’t take a swing. “Not a go,” UH again changed its lineup. Hakas joined Adeyemi as the Outside Hitters with Arquette in place at Opposite. A big road-trip coming up for the Bows this week, with matches at UC San Diego and a nationally televised match at Long Beach. But the biggest question mark of all is the status of Alexander. Only time will.