Box score |
UH presser |
LBSU presser
With a dominant performance on the court on Saturday at Walter Pyramid, the No. 2 seed Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine defeated fourth-seed and championship host Long Beach State 3-0 to claim the 2023 Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship crown in front of an impressive crowd of 2,237 raucous spectators.
The crowd stands as the highest 2023 Division I women's volleyball conference championship final match attendance.
Hawai'i (23-8) advances to the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship field as the automatic qualifier from The Big West. The Rainbow Wahine will learn their opponent and destination on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 3 p.m. PT live on ESPN when the bracket is unveiled on national television.
Meanwhile, Long Beach State caps The Big West postseason championship sporting a 21-10 overall record.
The 'Bows only played seven players in the match, never substituting from their core. As a team, UH hit .330 in the match, including a fiery .667 in the decisive third set. The defense held Long Beach State to .123 hitting on the night due in no small part to an 11 to 3 blocking advantage. UH was effective from the service line throughout the match and finished with six aces, a category that the Beach have been tops in the league in all season long. UH out-pointed LBSU 61.0-32.0 on the night.
Championship Most Valuable Player Amber Igiede led all scorers with 16 kills on .522 hitting (16-4-23) while being in on five blocks and firing off two service aces. Kate Lang assisted on 39 scoring plays, while Tayli Ikenaga finished with 10 digs.
The first two sets of the night were back and forth battles, with UH needing an extra point to take the opening frame 26-24. Then in the second, the score was 14-13 after an attack error for UH, but then the 'Bows went on an 11-2 run to close the set out and head to the third with momentum on their side.
UH scored the first seven in the third set and stayed hot throughout to end it at 25-10 and send the 'Bows dancing yet again.
With the win, Hawai'i will be making an impressive 41st trip to the NCAA Championship, and 30th in consecutive seasons for which they have competed, excluding the 2020 COVID season when The Big West did not compete. The last NCAA field missing UH was in 1992, when the Rainbow Wahine were competing in the WAC.
Only three teams in NCAA Division I have made the field more often, putting the 'Bows in exclusive - and elite - company, alongside Stanford (42, Pac-12 AQ in '23), Nebraska (42, Big 10 AQ in '23), and Penn State (42).
After an impressive year for regular-season champion UC Santa Barbara (27-4), the Gauchos are eyeing an at-large berth with an NCAA RPI of 34. UCSB fell to the hosts from Long Beach State in Friday's semifinal match.