The Maui News
The University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team locked up its 30th straight trip to the NCAA tournament Saturday with a 26-24, 25-15, 25-10 sweep of host Long Beach State in the championship match of the inaugural Big West tournament.
The second-seeded Rainbow Wahine (23-8) dominated the fourth-seeded Beach (21-10) in every aspect of the game, holding huge advantages in hitting percentage (.330 to .123), blocks (11-3), aces (6-0) and digs (29-22).
Amber Igiede was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading the Rainbow Wahine with 16 kills, hitting .522 with two aces and five blocks.
The win marked Hawaii’s 12th Big West title and the program’s 27th overall conference title. The Rainbow Wahine will make their 30th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and 41st all-time (does not count 2021 season which UH and the Big West did not compete in due to the pandemic).
The NCAA tournament bracket was announced Sunday, and the Rainbow Wahine will head to Eugene, Ore., to take on seventh-seeded Iowa State (20-9) in the first round Thursday at 2 p.m. HST. The winner takes on the winner of No. 2 seed Oregon (26-5) and Southeastern Louisiana (28-4) in the second round on Friday.
• MEN’S BASKETBALL: At Palm Desert, Calif., Noel Coleman poured in a season-high 26 points and the Rainbow Warriors captured the Acrisure Invitational title with a 77-66 win over San Diego on Saturday.
Coleman finished 11 of 18 from the field as the Rainbow Warriors improved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 season. JoVon McClanahan scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, and Justin McKoy hit three of UH’s seven 3-pointers and also finished with 17 points.
Hawaii shot 48 percent from the field to San Diego’s 38 percent and led by as many as 21 in the second half on its way to the tournament title.
Deuce Turner scored 18 points and Wayne McKinney III added 15 to lead the Toreros (5-2).
The Rainbow Warriors will remain on the road for a game against Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday at the Delta Center, home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: At the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Washington outscored the Rainbow Wahine 33-18 in the second half to pull away for a 58-41 win in the final game of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Sunday.
Meilani McBee hit four 3-pointers to account for all of her 12 points to lead UH (2-5), which was coming off a 58-46 win over Idaho State on Saturday.
Hawaii shot 27.7 percent (13 of 47) from the field, including 25 percent (8 of 32) from behind the arc.
Forward Dalaya Daniel scored 19 points to lead the Huskies (7-0), who dominated the inside by outscoring UH 28-8 in the paint and held a 36-27 advantage on the boards.
The Rainbow Wahine host San Jose State next Sunday.
