The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa women’s volleyball team defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Seattle, Wash., 17-25, 25-14, 25-13, 21-25 and 15-11. The ‘Bows advance into the second round on December 4, 5 p.m. HST, and will face the winner of No. 15 seed Washington vs. Brown.
UH was led by sophomore middle blocker and Big West first team selection Amber Igiede with 18 kills hitting .500, and five blocks. Senior outside hitter and Big West Conference Player of the Year Brooke Van Sickle added a double-double of 16 kills and 14 digs, and senior middle blocker and Big West first team selection Skyler Williams contributed 12 kills and six blocks. Freshman setter and Big West first team and all-freshman selection Kate Lang added a double-double, with 47 assists and 10 digs.
Match flow
Mississippi State took an early lead in the first set 10-5, and then extended the lead to 18-9, forcing UH to call its first timeout of the set. The Rainbow Wahine then went on a 4-point run, punctuated by a service ace from Lang to close the deficit to six. Both teams, however, traded points and mini-runs, with the Bulldogs taking the first set 25-17.
The second set was quite the opposite as the Rainbow Wahine jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead on a Mississippi State service error, a pair of UH kills and an attack error by the Bulldogs. The teams alternated points, before the Rainbow Wahine went on a huge 6-0 scoring run, going up 17-7, forcing Mississippi State to burn its first timeout of the set. The Bulldogs went on a late 4-0 scoring run, forcing UH to call a timeout at 18-12, but the Rainbow Wahine closed out the rout of set two, 25-14, on a trio of UH kills and an attack error by the Bulldogs.
UH opened the third set on a dominant 6-1 run, with a trio of kills by Igiede and a pair of kills by Williams. The Rainbow Wahine extended the lead to 9-2 on a kill by Van Sickle and 14-5 on a pair of blocks. Another 4-0 run gave UH a 20-9 lead, and the Rainbow Wahine never looked back, taking the set on a kill by Igiede, 25-13.
Both teams came out in a battle to open the fourth set tied at 5. Mississippi State went on a 3-point run to take the 8-5 lead and extended it to four at 12-8. The Bulldogs went on a few mini-runs leading by as much as seven at 23-16 on a service ace. UH put up a fight, closing the deficit to three at 24-21, but the Bulldogs managed to close out the set with a kill, 25-21.
The race to 15 in the fifth set opened similar to the fourth. Both teams were neck-and-neck, with UH taking a slim 5-4 lead on a service ace by Van Sickle. Kills by sophomore outside hitter Riley Wagoner and Igiede, and a Bulldog error extended UH’s lead to 8-5 into the set’s lone media timeout. Teams traded sideout points before a pair of kills by Igiede pushed UH’s lead to four at 10-6 forcing Mississippi State to call a timeout. All the Rainbow Wahine needed to do was trade points and that is exactly what they did. UH went up 13-9 on a kill by Van Sickle and closed out the set, 15-12, on a kill by freshmen outside hitter Martyna Leoniak.
—By Marc Arakaki
