Cardiac kids help spark Hawai’i in reverse sweep of Oregon State in Outrigger Invitational

HONOLULU – The kids are pretty darn good. 

The youthful and talented Hawai’i women’s volleyball team shook off an ice-cold start Friday night to stun Oregon State (1-6) in five sets on Day 2 of the OUTRIGGER Invitational – (20-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-10) – inside the Stan Sheriff Center, using an incredible 94 digs to rise from a lifeless performance to another spectacular win. 

Caylen Alexander and Tali Hakas each recorded double-doubles in the victory for Hawai’i (5-1) as the former’s fifth double-double of the year led the Rainbow Wahine with 17 kills to go along with 12 digs and the latter’s chipped in an important 10 kills and 17 digs. Libero Tayli Ikenaga was all over the floor for UH, eclipsing 20-plus digs for the third time in six matches as she tallied a match-best 24 digs while the true freshmen for Hawai’i turned it on in the final three sets especially as Miliana Sylvester, Maddie Way and Victorya Leyva each sparked UH in separate ways.  

Sylvester posted Hawai’i’s first block of the match late in the third frame and posted seven in total while Way came off the bench to chip in her first seven kills for UH on just 12 swings. Leyva continued her defensive excellence to begin the year with another 11 digs and a pair of service aces. 

It was ugly early as Oregon State took advantage of six errors by the hosts en route to a 25-20 win in the opening frame. Nine more errors by the Rainbow Wahine led to an even worse result in the second set as the Beavers won 25-18 and took a commanding two set lead over Hawai’i. 

Oregon State looked to be on the way to a sweep after getting swept Thursday, leading Hawai’i in the third set at the media break, 15-12, before the Rainbow Wahine finally seemed to snap out of the haze. 

A 4-1 scoring run for UH, started by a pair of kills by Sylvester, knotted the frame at 18-all before Leyva had aces two times within three serves to push Hawai’i ahead by three. The Rainbow Wahine saw the Beavers pull back within one point, 22-21, before winning three of the final four rallies of the set to extend the night into a fourth frame, 25-22. 

Hawai’i finally took control of a set in the fourth as UH beat Oregon State to the 15-point mark for the first time all night in a back-and-forth frame. The Rainbow Wahine lead ballooned to five, 18-13, after a kill by Stella Adeyemi and stayed there until Hawai’i got to set point, 24-19. 

It took five chances at “Aloha Ball” to send the match to a winner-take-all fifth set, but Hawai’i finally downed Oregon State in the fourth round of a volleyball match feeling like a fight between boxers with a 25-23 decision to force the final frame and gain a chance at a reverse sweep.  

The Rainbow Wahine sprinted out of the gate in the decisive set, using a pair of blocks and a kill from Alexander to jump out to a 6-2 lead in the frame to 15 points. Hawai’i kept Oregon State at a distance for the remainder of the night as Way added two kills in the final three points, including the game winner, to complete the comeback for UH with a 15-13 victory. 

Hawai’i setter Kate Lang helped orchestrate the comeback with 50 assists and 18 digs of her own throughout the night for the Rainbow Wahine. Middle blocker Jacyn Bamis quietly had an extremely efficient night as well with six kills on just 10 swings in the win for UH.  

After not recording a block in the first two and a half sets, the Hawai’i defense turned up with nine in the final three sets while digging up 94 balls from Oregon State throughout the night. The Rainbow Wahine hit just .176 on 165 swings in the match, committing 31 attacking errors and somehow still emerging victorious.  

Oregon State had 18 service errors, ten more than Hawai’i’s eight miscues from the service line. The ultimate difference in the match seemed to be those ten points as UH won the third set by three points, the fourth by two points and the fifth by five points.   

Hawai’i faces a fast turnaround with a rematch against Texas State for the De Facto Outrigger Invitational title match scheduled for Saturday night. The Rainbow Wahine took on the Bobcats on Tuesday, dispatching the squad out of the Sun Belt in four sets. The first serve on Saturday is scheduled for 7 p.m. HT and can be watched on Spectrum OC16 or by ESPN+ subscribers on the continent.