Hawai’i senior middle Amber Igiede earned all-tournament honors at the Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine Classic en route to the season’s first Offensive Player of the Week nod. This marks the seventh career weekly honor for Igiede, and the fourth of the offensive variety. 

Igiede led UH to a pair of victories over Northwestern and No. 13 San Diego totaling 39 kills and hitting .337 with 16.0 total blocks in the three-match Classic.  

In the season opener against Northwestern, the native of Baton Rouge, La., put down a team-high 14 kills while recording a team-high nine blocks to finish just one block away from recording a fourth career double-double in the five-set victory. 

Against 13th-ranked San Diego, Igiede was dominant on both sides of the net, tallying a team-best 18 kills and a team-high .417 hitting percentage and was in on four blocks. 

The middle blocker finished the weekend with seven kills and three blocks in a loss against No. 9 Oregon. Igiede recorded two solo blocks in every match and closed the weekend with 50 total points to lead The Big West. 

UC San Diego’s Emily McDaniel helped the Tritons with a 2-1 start to the season at the Bulldog Brawl hosted by Butler in Indianapolis. 

The middle blocker averaged 1.92 blocks per set, finishing with 25 total blocks and all-tournament team honors for the impressive effort at the net as UCSD beat Fresno State and Kent State before falling in five to the host Bulldogs. 

Offensively, McDaniel finished second on the team with 24 kills, averaging 1.85 per set, and tallied 40.0 points over the weekend.  

In the season-opening 3-1 win against Fresno State, the junior from Anaheim, Calif., matched a career high with 10 total blocks, including two solo stuffs.  

Kate Lang of Hawai’i earned the season’s first Setter of the Week award, after helping the Rainbow Wahine to a 2-1 record in the opening weekend of 2023.  

The junior from Keller, Texas, recorded a Big West-best 120 assists this weekend while scooping up 25 digs and adding six blocks in the Rainbow Wahine Classic. 

In UH's first two matches against Northwestern and No. 13 San Diego, the junior dished out 49 assists in both games and finished the week with 22 assists against No. 9 Oregon. 

Against the Toreros, Lang recorded a first double-double of the season with 49 assists and 10 digs to go with four blocks – one shy of her career high. Lang now has recorded 22 career double-doubles. 

This marks Lang’s sixth career weekly honor and fourth Setter of the Week award.  

UC San Diego first-year player Lauren Brooker opened up a collegiate career at the Bulldog Brawl, claiming the season’s first Freshman of the Week award as the Tritons went 2-1 in Indianapolis.  

Brooker finished with a double-double in each match, averaging 1.77 kills, 4.00 assists, 2.85 digs and 0.62 blocks per set compiling 32.0 points and starting the trio of contests.  

Playing in a 6-2 offense, the setter/opposite hitter was a threat offensively for the Tritons with 23 total kills—third on the team. Brooker also led the team with 52 assists and finished second with 37 digs.  

The Calabasas, Calif., native flirted with a triple double in the first match of Saturday’s double-header, finishing with nine kills, 15 assists, 10 digs and three aces in a 3-1 victory over Kent State.