A Look Back at the 2021 Women's Volleyball Season

Big West Women's Volleyball: Composite Schedule || Standings || Stats  

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS

 Hawai’i was picked as the preseason favorite to capture the 2021 Big West women’s volleyball crown, according to a vote of the eleven head coaches in their annual preseason poll.

The Rainbow Wahine received 117 total points and seven first-place votes in the poll, with Cal Poly right behind at 111 points and the four remaining top picks in the conference. UC Santa Barbara followed in third with 90 points, as Long Beach State (88) and UC Davis (83) rounded out the top five in the predictions. 

The coaches proved to be right on the top line, with UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, UC Irvine and Long Beach State filling out the top half in the final standings. 

NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

The Big West took a 622-day hiatus due to the COVID cancellation of the 2020 season, from a NCAA postseason match on Dec. 13, 2019 to the start of the current season on Aug. 27, 2021. 

When play commenced, the league had a new look - with 11 institutions competing in the league. Playing their first year of Big West women’s volleyball, CSU Bakersfield raced to their hottest start of the season since 2005, getting out of the gates to an 8-2 record

UC San Diego powered their way to their first NCAA Division I victory against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 10, and followed it up by downing the previously undefeated tournament hosts New Mexico on Sept. 11. 

All told, The Big West went 44-65 (.404) against non-conference foes, posting unblemished marks against nine conferences across the country. The Big West went 4-0 against the Atlantic 10 and Southland, and earned a win in its lone regular-season matchup against the Big South, Horizon, Mid-American, Northeast, and Patriot.

BIG WEST PLAY

Play across The Big West began on Sept. 21. Hawai'i and UC Santa Barbara went blow for blow throughout the conference slate, both reaching the 6-0 mark after the first three weeks of action. In the fourth week, the Gauchos dropped a 3-1 decision at UC Riverside while the Rainbow Wahine extended their streak to eight. UC Santa Barbara then evened the top of the standings by taking down Hawai'i in sweeping fashion on Oct. 22. The Gauchos dropped decisions against Cal Poly (Nov. 6) and Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 13) to put Hawai'i back in the driver's seat. After the Rainbow Wahine took care of CSUN in the penultimate game of the regular-season, they clinched the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament brackets. UC Santa Barbara handed Hawai'i a home loss in the regular-season finale, to earn the season sweep but fell one game short of the tie at the top.  

Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, UC Irvine and Long Beach State finished The Big West segment at .500 or better, rounding out the top six. The Roadrunners outperformed their preseason predictions by five places, as CSU Bakersfield was picked to finish ninth before landing squarely in fourth and earning an invitation to the NIVC Tournament.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

FINAL STANDINGS

ALL-BIG WEST TEAMS AND MAJOR AWARD WINNERS

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

Hawai'i women's volleyball (22-7, 18-2 Big West) outlasted No. 24 Mississippi State (25-6, 16-2 SEC) in a five-set thriller to advance to the NCAA tournament's second round, 17-25, 25-14, 25-13, 21-25, 15-11.

Hawai'i's middle blocking dynamic duo of Amber Igiede and Skyler Williams supplied the power surge combining for 30 kills, a .425 hitting percentage and 11 blocks. Outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle was clutch and helped UH overcome a slow start with her 12th double-double of the year. The Manoa Roofing Company built a wall at the net out-blocking MSU, 13.0-to-5.0 and seven blocks in the third set alone on Friday night at the Alaska Airlines Arena on the campus of the University of Washington.
 
After starting the match hitting -.050 (8-10-40) in Set 1, Hawai'i hit .324 from Sets 2-5 (53-10-102). UH had 10 hitting errors in the first set and 10 errors the rest of the match combined. UH's defense held MSU's offense, which was averaging hitting .243, to just a .196 hitting percentage for the match.
 
Hawai'i's middles were solid both offensively and defensively. Igiede posted a career-high 22.5 points in the win. She had just two kills through the first two sets, but then she exploded with six kills in the third and six more in the final set to boost the 'Bows offensive attack. She was in on five blocks, had a pair of service aces and three digs for the night. Williams recorded a match-high six blocks—including three solo—to go with 12 kills.
 
Van Sickle added 16 kills and a team-high 14 digs. It was her 21st double-digit kill match of the season and her 15th match with 10+ digs. The super senior added two aces and three blocks. Rookie setter Kate Lang notched her 12th double-double with a match-high 47 assists and 10 digs. With Lang at the controls, UH had three hitters in double-digits and six players recorded kills.

Hawai'i's run in the NCAA Championship came to a stop against region hosts Washington in the second round. The Rainbow Wahine fell to the Huskies by a score of 3-0 in the contest to conclude the year. 

NATIONAL AWARD WINNERS

aa-van-sickle

The Big West Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year Brooke Van Sickle can add yet another accolade to her name – 2021 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American. 

Van Sickle, an outside hitter for Hawai’i, led The Big West in points per set, averaging 4.47 per frame. The native of Battle Ground, Wash., paced the Rainbow Wahine in multiple offensive categories, posting team-bests in kills (384), kills per set (3.73), service aces (38), aces per set (0.37) and total points (460.5). Defensively, she was second on the squad in digs per set with 3.15, tallying 324 total scoops and third with 63 total blocks on the year.  

During her time at Hawai’i Van Sickle helped the Rainbow Wahine to consecutive Big West titles (2019, ’21) and the team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships in 2021 after a regional semifinal appearance in 2019. 

Van Sickle finished her Hawai'i career with 593 kills, 525 digs, 58 service aces and 105 total blocks in her two years in Manoa after transferring from Oregon. Combined with her stats from the Ducks, she closes her indoor collegiate career with an impressive line of 979 points, 796 kills, 993 digs, 109 total blocks and 100 aces. 

Also a success in the classroom, Van Sickle was named to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 team for maintaining a 3.57 grade-point average in her graduate studies after earning her bachelor’s in economics in the spring of 2021. 

The group of honorable mention selections includes a combination of players named Conference Player of the Year and 30 additional players identified by the 11 members of the AVCA All-America Committee. 

Van Sickle was joined as an AVCA All-Region selection by UC Santa Barbara's Rowan Ennis, while Amber Igiede (Hawai'i), Kashauna Williams (Long Beach State) and Deni Wilson (UC Santa Barbara) each nabbed honorable mention status in their respective regions. Read more >>>

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ABOUT THE BIG WEST

The Big West is an NCAA Division I member with 11 members with the shared goal of empowering every student-athlete in competition and in life and uniting its university communities through championship experiences. Formed in 1969, The Big West membership consists of Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Hawai‘i, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. Sacramento State is an associate member in men’s soccer and beach volleyball. The Big West is united in the pursuit of boundless opportunities, enduring integrity, bold activism, fearless innovation and the pacific spirit of freedom, exploration and progress.

The Big West sponsors 18 sports at the NCAA Division I level: baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s beach volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field and women’s water polo.

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