In a match lasting just over three hours, the Hawaii women's volleyball team secured a hard-fought win against Cal State Northridge, with a final score of 25-22, 17-25, 28-30, 25-19, 15-12. The 3,990 fans at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center expected a less dramatic Sunday, but instead witnessed a nail-biter that went to five sets against a Matador team.
The Rainbow Wahine, finding themselves two sets down, mustered the resilience to fight back, landing on a 13-7 overall and 7-3 Big West record. Despite the victory, the numbers painted a story of adversity, including being outhit .239 to .213 and outblocked 10-8, leading to a rather bumpy ride in which they found themselves scraping through five-set matches with a harrowing 6-3 tally. Junior standout Caylen Alexander, who banked a match-high of 28 kills, carried the offense but fell below her season average with a .257 hitting percentage, as noted in a Star-Advertiser report.
Stella Adeyemi, becoming an essential cog in the Wahine wheel, delivered 13 kills and struck awe with a .414 hit rate. But it wasn't all smooth sailing; as the blood pressure of the crowd rose, the number of UH's errors crept up to a cringe-worthy total of 30. The hands-on assistance of setter Kate Lang, amassing 44 assists and 17 digs, as well as Tayli Ikenaga’s notable 21 digs, anchored the tempest-tossed squad, according to the same Star-Advertiser coverage.
Meanwhile, Associate Head Coach Kaleo Baxter didn't mince words about the Rainbow Wahine's erratic play, acknowledging the excess of unforced errors and expressing the acute need for improvement. "I think we're just giving up too many points on our side of the ball. There's a lot of unforced errors and we're just having to work harder because of that. But walking away with a victory we're always going to be happy, but we definitely need to be better," he stated, in a refreshingly candid moment that exposed the heart of the Wahine's conflict, as reported by Spectrum News.
The match also had its share of drama, with a CSUN player being escorted off the court after a forceful volley from Hawaii's Tali Hakas. The Matadors rallied, proving to be a nuisance at the net, and managed to give Hawaii a worthy scare, exhibiting the kind of hustle that could turn the tide. Despite these challenges, they couldn't maintain their momentum against the determined offense of Hawaii. CSUN coach Aquiles Montoya expressed a mix of pride and frustration in his team's performance, projecting confidence for future clashes against top-tier opponents, as per the Spectrum News report.
Looking ahead, the Rainbow Wahine will welcome UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly in a back-to-back weekend schedule, hoping these recent tribulations serve as fuel to step up their game when it matters most. The only scheduled meeting between Hawaii and CSUN this season certainly delivered an emotional rollercoaster, leaving fans reflecting on the team's tenacity and hopeful for smoother sailing in future contests.
