IRVINE, Calif. >> Caylen Alexander was right at home as she stepped onto the Bren Events Center court to play Hawaii’s 11th fifth set of the season.
“As soon as we started walking out for the fifth set, we were like, ‘Come on, this is where we thrive,’” Alexander said. “We get excited for fifth-setters now.”
With its season on the line, the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team got clutch performances from junior middle Jacyn Bamis and sophomore outside hitter Stella Adeyemi to set the stage for the Big West Player of the Year.
With the score even at 13-all, Alexander scored the final two points on her final two swings to send Hawaii into the title match of the Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship following a dramatic 25-22, 16-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13 victory over UC Davis on Friday night.
The Aggies (19-10) forced Alexander to work for her match-high 22 kills. Her last came on her 61st swing on match point that was challenged by the Aggies, temporarily halting the UH celebration. The challenge lasted less than a minute after it was quickly upheld, putting Hawaii (20-9) into the final against Cal Poly (22-8) at 3 p.m. Saturday with a chance to win a fifth straight conference title.
“It was definitely a dogfight on both sides. Both teams were in it and playing hard,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “If you look at the stats, you can’t even tell who won. Thank goodness it came out in our favor.”
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The only real advantage for UH was in digs. Big West Libero of the Year Tayli Ikenaga had a match-high 19 digs and Alexander and setter Kate Lang each added 17 for Hawaii, which outdug the Aggies 86-70.
Defense is what got Hawaii back in the match in the third set to take a 2-1 lead.
Alexander got the final two kills in the fifth set, but was in that spot due to Bamis putting down three of her career-high-tying 15 kills and Adeyemi, who had been hitting negative in the match, putting down four kills on seven swings without an error, including three during a 6-0 run that turned a 7-4 deficit into a 10-7 advantage.
“That’s just the fight. I told them before they came in I’m going to push you guys. I’m going to do whatever I have to do, because it’s game time,” Ah Mow said. “(They) were doing their job when it really, really mattered, so hats off to them.”
The Aggies didn’t cave in all the way until the final point. After UC Davis coach Dan Conners’ timeout down 10-7, the Aggies won the next three points to tie the match on Le Jardin Academy alumna Reese Diersbock’s 12th kill.
Ximena Cordero Barr was credited with UC Davis’ eighth ace after Hawaii’s eighth receiving error put the Aggies ahead 12-11, prompting a timeout from Ah Mow.
Bamis put down back-to-back kills to put UH ahead before Olivia Utterback’s team-high 18th kill tied the match one final time at 13-all. From there, it could have gone either way.
“I think it was incredibly hard-fought both sides of the net. Both teams laying their hearts on the line one point at a time,” Conners said. “When it comes down to two points, it’s just one point, one ball, if that last ball is 2 inches wider, right? Both teams were putting a ton of pressure on each other throughout the night.”
Bamis tied her career high in kills set in a sweep of regular-season champion Cal Poly. She’s finished with double-digit figures in kills in nine of her past 15 matches after starting the season with three in her first 13 matches.
“It’s either one game and done or you keep going, so I just really wanted it and I wanted all of us to keep going,” Bamis said. “Focusing on what I needed to focus on and being more disciplined.”
Hawaii improved to 7-4 in five-set matches. Six of those were played in the first eight matches of the season, which began with UH beating No. 10 SMU.
Hawaii used a 12-3 run in the first set to take a 20-11 lead, but gave up six straight points to UC Davis before finally putting the set away.
The Aggies carried that momentum into the second set, hitting .424 to even the match up.
Ikenaga got UH back on track in the third set with more momentum-changing plays on defense, including saving a ball off a Hakas dig near the UH bench, allowing Hawaii to continue the rally.
Alexander and Bamis then double-blocked Utterback to tie the set at 5-all and elicit a loud ovation from the crowd of 1,098 that was definitely in Hawaii’s favor.
Hakas had 15 digs, giving Hawaii’s two starting pin hitters, two starting defensive players and its setter all in double figures in digs.
“We knew we were going to have to eat. Davis is a really good team,” Alexander said. “Defense is all a mindset. You can try and teach it all you want, but that is Hawaii’s thing. We are going to dig every single ball and at least give ourselves a chance to keep playing.”
The fourth set was tied at 21 before a Diersbock kill started a 4-0 run to send it to the fifth.
Hawaii locked up a fifth consecutive 20-win season with the victory. Another win would earn the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament for a 31st consecutive season.
A loss would make NCAA Selection Sunday an interesting one. UH started the week with an RPI of 40 and would be right on the bubble of consideration for an at-large berth.
Cal Poly 3, Long Beach State 0
The No. 1-seeded Mustangs advanced to the tournament final with a 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 win over the Beach in Friday’s first semifinal.
An already shorthanded Cal Poly team, playing without second-team, all-conference setter Emma Bullis, saw first-team, All-BWC outside hitter Tommi Stockham go down in the third set with the Mustangs (22-8) just two points away from a sweep.
Stockham had a match-high 17 kills and hit .333 before going down at the end of the match. She wasn’t able to celebrate on the court with the rest of her teammates after the match ended.
Bullis went down during practice on Thursday.
“We’ve been really healthy all year long. It’s something that we talked about, maybe a little too much, going into the weekend,” Cal Poly coach Caroline Walters said.
The Mustangs won despite getting outblocked 8-1.
Outside hitter Natalie Glenn had a team-high 13 kills and hit .310 for the Beach, who finished the season 19-11.
HAWAII DEF. UC DAVIS
25-22, 16-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13
AGGIES (19-10)
S K E ATT PCT D BA PTS
Utterback 518 7 52 .212 16 5 22.5
Ng 5 0 0 0 .000 15 0 1.0
Light 513 4 43 .209 10 1 15.5
Morrison 5 0 0 0 .000 2 0 1.0
Starr 5 2 0 3 .667 13 0 2.0
Chandler 5 7 1 23 .261 3 4 9.0
Caldwell 5 6 2 12 .333 3 4 8.0
Diersbock 512 7 38 .132 1 2 15.0
Corde. Barr 5 0 0 2 .000 7 0 2.0
Bones 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0.0
Czapinski 3 0 2 4 -.500 0 0 0.0
MATCH 5 58 23 177 .198 70 16 76.0
RAINBOW WAHINE (20-9)
S K E ATT PCT D BA PTS
Lang 5 1 0 9 .111 17 0 2.0
Bamis 515 2 29 .448 3 4 17.0
Ikenaga 5 0 0 0 .000 19 0 1.0
Alexander 52212 61 .164 17 3 23.5
Matias 5 0 0 0 .000 1 0 1.0
Adeyemi 511 5 24 .250 1 0 11.0
Hakas 511 6 30 .167 15 2 12.0
Leyva 5 0 0 0 .000 10 0 0.0
Sylvester 5 4 4 16 .000 2 1 4.5
Arquette 1 0 1 1-1.000 1 0 0.0
MATCH 5 64 30 170 .200 86 10 72.0
Service aces — UC Davis 8 (Cordero Barr
2, Light 2, Utterback 2, Morrison, Ng). Hawaii 3 (Ikenaga, Lang, Matias). Service errors — UC Davis 11 (Utterback 4, Light 3,
Cordero Barr 2, Ng, Starr). Hawaii 7 (Lang
3, Leyva 2, Alexander, Ikenaga). Assists —
UC Davis 52 (Starr 44, Cordero Barr 3,
Ng 2, Utterback 2, Bones). Hawaii 60
(Lang 50, Ikenaga 7, Hakas, Leyva, Matias).
Block solos — UC Davis 2 (Diersbock 2).
Hawaii none. Ball handling errors — UC
Davis none. Hawaii none. Reception errors — UC Davis 3 (Light 2, Utterback).
Hawaii 8 (Alexander 3, Ikenaga 2, Hakas 2,
Adeyemi). T—NA. A—1,098. Officials—
Burton Fuller, Derwin Jordan, Torand Cheltenham, Myles Furuya.
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