EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball team rallied back to upset seventh-seeded Iowa State in the opening round of the NCAA Championship tournament on Thursday at Matthew Knight Arena.
After dropping the opening set, UH came back to win in four sets — 16-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-23.
The Big West champion Rainbow Wahine (24-8) will now face No. 2 Oregon — which swept Southeastern Louisiana — in Friday’s second round (5:00 p.m. HT, ESPN+).
UH, making its 30th consecutive NCAA appearance, has now advanced to the second round for the second time in the last three seasons.
Hawai‘i was led by Caylen Alexander’s 18 kills while Amber Igiede added 14 kills and four blocks. As a team, the Rainbow Wahine hit .276 and out-blocked the Cyclones, 13-to-5. UH’s defense held ISU to .186 clip.
The Cyclones (20-10), which finished in a tie for fourth in the Big 12, were led by Maya Duckworth — who tallied 15 kills, 11 digs, five aces, and two blocks.
In the first-ever meeting between the schools, Hawai’i came out hot to start the match, taking an early 7-2 lead. But the Cyclones came roaring back with nine straight points and eventually pushed their lead to 17-8 on an extended 15-1 run. Iowa State went on to hit .480 in the set with four aces.
ISU took their momentum into the second set, surging out to an 11-5 lead after Duckworth’s fifth ace of the match. The scrappy Rainbow Wahine found themselves trailing 17-21 when they reeled off five-straight highlighted by back-to-back blocks by the Manoa Roofing Company and consecutive kills by Riley Wagoner to take their first lead at 22-21. A Kennedi Evans kill gave Hawai’i set point at 24-22 but the Cyclones scored two straight and seemed to take the lead but UH head coach Robyn Ah Mow challenged an out-call off an Alexander kill attempt. The call was overturned in Hawai’i’s favor and a Talia Edmonds ace ended Set 2, 26-24 and tied the match at 1-1.
Hawai’i jumped out to a 7-2 lead to open Set 3. ISU closed to two at 13-11 after a three-point spurt but the Rainbow Wahine extended their lead to six after an Evans-Tali Hakas double block. An ace by Kendra Ham made it 22-16 and Hawai’i closed out the set with an Igiede kill. UH hit .533 in the set with 16 kills on 30 errorless attempts.
UH held a small cushion for the first half of Set 4 until the Cyclones tied it and see-sawed ahead on a five-point run to take a 16-13 lead. Hawai’i rallied back to tie it at 18 and after ISU committed consecutive attack errors, UH led 21-20. The Cyclones tied it at 21 and again at 22. Igiede’s kill made it 23-22 and a solo block by Wagoner gave UH match point. After an ISU point, the Cyclones served into the net, ending the match.
All five UH attackers finished with at least six kills. Wagoner added nine kills and nine digs while Hakas and Evans each tallied six kills. Libero Tayli Ikenaga totaled a team-high 16 digs while Kate Lang recorded her team-leading 13th double-double of the season, dishing out 45 assists with 13 digs.
Hawai’i’s second round match is scheduled for Friday at 5:00 p.m. HT (7:00 p.m. PT). The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and on the radio at ESPN Honolulu.
Editor’s note: This is an edited version of a UH-Manoa press release.
