ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Wahine play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the previous week for the Bows
1 – No Unlucky 13 Here. The Central Coast road-trip is always the toughest for the Rainbow Wahine. Fly to Los Angeles and then take a bus two, three hours north or fly to San Jose and then travel by bus two to three hours south. Night one versus Cal Poly, the focus and attention to detail was there as UH arguably played their best, most complete match of the season in the 3-0 sweep of the Mustangs in San Luis Obispo. 24 hours later, everything was off as UC Santa Barbara swept the Rainbow Wahine, UH’s 1st 3-0 defeat of the season. Taking it match by match, retribution was on the mind of the Bows as the Gauchos came to the island, 13 days after their first meeting. With the wounds left from that match still fresh, UH was ready for the Gauchos and it was evident from the opening serve. UCSB’s 6-2 offense didn’t surprise UH. An early 3-1 opening set lead ballooned to a 21-10 advantage as Caylen Alexander took over. Six first set kills aided UH to a .500 team hitting percentage and siding out at 85% on first-ball contact. After being out-blocked 8.5 to 1 in the first meeting, UCSB didn’t record a block until midway through Set 2. Taking a 2-0 (25-12, 25-21) match lead to the locker room, nothing could slow down the Bows. Tied at 8, UH went on an 11-7 extended run and took a 19-15 lead en route to a 25-17 set win and a 3-0 sweep. For the match, UH sided out at 76% (40-of-53). The win snapped UH’s 3-match losing streak to the Gauchos as the Bows earned their first win in the series since November 2022 and their first home win against UCSB since October 2022. Needing only the minimum sets played on Friday, UH remained fresh as they prepared for the rematch with Cal Poly, with both teams tied for second place at 8-3.
2 – All Treats. Win the homestands and at minimum split the road-trips. That’s the recipe if you want to be in the upper half of the conference standings with a chance at a regular season title. A night after a dominant 3-0 win over UC Santa Barbara, UH looked for their first regular season sweep over the Mustangs since 2021. Seven opening set kills by Caylen Alexander paved the way for UH’s 25-19 win. Jekyll remained wearing green as the Bows put their foot on the gas as they took the second set going away 25-12 for the commanding 2-0 match lead. A change to the Cal Poly offense (from a 5-1 to a 6-2) had the match go to a fourth set as Cal Poly avoided the sweep, winning 25-15. A 13-all Set 4 scored grew then to a 21-16 UH lead. QB 1 called match as recorded her sixth and final kill as the Bows defeated Cal Poly at home for the first time since 2021. With their first regular season sweep over the Mustangs since 2021 as well, the Bows moved into a first-place tie with UC Davis as Week 6 of conference play came to a close. The final match of the penultimate homestand also featured Caylen Alexander’s 12th 20+ kill match of the season. UH’s defense also held Cal Poly’s top hitter Tommi Stockham in check. She came into the match second in the conference with 3.68 kills per set. Over the four sets played, Stockham notched seven kills on 35 swings with five hitting errors.
3 – Get Your Groove On Stella. Listed at 5’11, Stella Adeyemi has been going up against taller blocks throughout her career. It’s been a challenge but the sophomore continues to swing away from that left side pin. As Alexander continues to lead UH’s offense and the recent offensive emergence of Jacyn Bamis, it’s freed up Adeyemi with some one-on-one opportunities. Roll shots, hitting high and flat off the block, going off the edge of the blockers, she’s seen the results over the last three matches and has been efficient as well. A breakout match against CSUN (13-1-29, .414), Adeyemi recorded six kills on 16 swings with one hitting error against UCSB and then went 11-4-23, hitting .304 against Cal Poly. Entering this week, UH’s offense leads the conference in kills per set (13.70) thanks in large part to Caylen Alexander. But if the Rainbow Wahine can continue to get production from the others, the season has a good chance to continue into the final month of 2024.
4 – Must Put Serving First. Much has been discussed about the serving this season for UH. No one spin serves. Not a lot of service aces, they are 10th in the conference in total service aces. Averaging a little over one per set this season, UH has continued to serve in between receivers or making a specific player move during the match. In the UC Santa Barbara match, UH put 97% (72-of-74) of their serves in play. A very nice ace to error ratio of 2:1 (4 aces, 2 errors), the Bows minimized the number of free points they gave to the Gauchos. Off the bench, Victoria Leyva and Jackie Matias put their combined 20 serves in play. It was more of the same on the next night against Cal Poly. Eight aces and five errors against the Mustangs, UH put 94% (84-of-89) of their serves in play. Serving subs (Leyva and Matias) combined 26 total serves, with one ace and one error. UH’s serving target when facing Cal Poly is Tommi Stockham. On Saturday, they scored four aces off Stockham in her 29 total receptions. Also of note for Kate Lang, eight of her 17 aces this season have come in the two matches against the Mustangs.
5 – Kate Takes Over. In her penultimate homestand, Kate Lang led UH to two big wins. Both UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly have been thorns in the side of UH during the last few regular seasons. With this being the final time Lang and fellow senior Tayli Ikenaga would play both the Gauchos and Mustangs at home, losing streaks to both schools here at home both ended. UH was a ridiculous 76% (40-of-53) in siding out off first-ball contact. The Bows outhit the Gauchos .364 (54-14-110) to .204 (35-14-103) in their first win over UCSB since 2022 (both overall in the series and at home). More terminal offensively, Lang led a UH offense that 19 more kills (54-35) than the Gauchos. The senior setter also got in on the offense as she tied her career-high with six kills. Adding in 40 assists, two aces and six digs, QB1 helped UH to a series split with UCSB and into a second-place tie with Cal Poly. One night later, the refuse to lose attitude stayed on the taraflex as the Bows raced out to a 2-0 match lead against the Mustangs. Despite a setback in the third set, UH’s floor captain paced the offense to a .231 hitting percentage in the closeout set to win the match 3-1. Tying her career-high in kills again, Lang scored three aces and missed the double-double by one dig. Nearing 1,000 career digs and already fifth all-time in assists at UH, there is just one final homestand to watch both Lang and Ikenaga here at home.
6 – Wild Wild Big West. Entering the week, UH was two matches back in the loss column of league-leader UC Davis. After Cal Poly won at UCSB on Tuesday, the Bows kept themselves in a second-place tie with the Mustangs after defeating the Gauchos at home on Friday. Earning the regular season series sweep over the Mustangs (and holding the important tiebreaker for seeding purposes if need be), the Rainbow Wahine continued to move up in the Big West Conference standings. While the Bows held serve at home, some wacky results took place on the conference. UC Davis lost twice on the road, both by the minimum two points in the fifth set (17-15 at UCSD, 15-13 at Long Beach State). Another crazy result was UC Riverside winning at Long Beach State 16-14 in the fifth set as well. Last year’s regular season BWC champ (UCSB), currently sits in seventh place (6-6), one match back of the sixth and final spot that would qualify for the conference tournament. In a season where there has been no dominant, consistent team, the Bows have been playing some good, mostly clean volleyball during their four-match winning streak and find themselves now in a first-place tie with UC Davis as three weeks remain in conference play. With a potential first-place match this Saturday at UC Davis, it is imperative for UH to not overlook the first match of the road-trip at UC Riverside on Thursday.