Hawaii, UCLA share respect for each other and their storied women's volleyball rivalry

Sep. 4—In comments two hours apart on opposite ends of the Stan Sheriff Center, a common theme emerged regarding today's return of the Hawaii-UCLA women's volleyball series.

In comments two hours apart on opposite ends of the Stan Sheriff Center, a common theme emerged regarding today's return of the Hawaii-UCLA women's volleyball series.

Respect.

It's a concept that underlies the intensity of the on-court duels between the Rainbow Wahine and Bruins in a storied matchup that dates back to the inception of UH volleyball.

The programs first met in the 1974 AIAW national final, when UCLA handed UH the lone loss of its inaugural season. They met at least once for 44 consecutive years before the streak was halted in 2018 when a scheduled meeting was canceled due to the approach of Hurricane Lane.

A Rainbow Wahine sweep in 2019 deadlocked the series at 38-38 and the pandemic and its lingering impact on scheduling kept the teams apart in 2020 and'21.

So the tiebreaking chapter will be written today when UH and No. 23 UCLA meet for the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge title.

"I think it's important for our team to keep that legacy going and the respect between both programs, " UCLA coach Michael Sealy, now in his 13th year leading the Bruins, said on Friday. "And I think it's good for the fan base here to have UCLA be a consistent opponent every year."

After UH swept West Virginia later that night, the Wahine struck much the same tone in their postgame press conference.

"It's just respect for the game, " UH middle blocker Amber Igiede said. "Both (are ) teams that play at a high level, so it's going to be really fun to play them, and hopefully the crowd comes out."

As a freshman, Igiede contributed five kills and seven blocks in UH's win over UCLA in the 2019 Outrigger final. Through two matches in this year's tournament, the 6-3 junior has 36 kills with just three errors in 56 attempts in UH's sweeps of Texas State and West Virginia.

UH-UCLA matches traditionally attracted large and lively crowds—whether in Klum Gym or the Sheriff Center—and both sides enter today's renewal hoping for a return of the atmosphere that has accompanied past meetings.

"That's the reason you spend the time and the money to come out here and play, because you know you're going to get a championship experience of being in front of that many fans, " said Sealy, who spent four years as UH's associate coach under Dave Shoji before succeeding Andy Banachowski as UCLA's head coach in 2010.

"Obviously, the crowd is always so respectful and professional in their appreciation and respect for the game itself. You hear about other arenas where people are not conducting themselves in very nice ways. So it's always nice that the UH fans can be in a battle and win or lose they're going to respect both sides."

Sealy was no doubt alluding to an incident at BYU on opening weekend when Duke's Rachel Richardson said she was subjected to racial slurs. The incident precipitated an awareness campaign among volleyball programs across the country, including in Friday's Outrigger matches, with all four teams wearing "Stand Against Racism " shirts during warmups.

Hawaii and UCLA began their seasons on the road, with the Wahine dropping three matches at the Texas A &M Invitational and the Bruins splitting matches in the Utah State Invitational.

UCLA was ranked No. 12 in the preseason AVCA poll, but injuries and illness limited the Bruins to four full preseason practices. They opened the season with an error-filled four-set loss at Utah State, but haven't dropped a set in three matches since. They swept Cal Poly in Logan and rolled past West Virginia and Texas State this week in Manoa.

"We really didn't get to play a lot of six-on-six volleyball and learn our systems and even get the players used to playing with each other, " Sealy said of the Bruins' preseason practices. "We're really trying to understand that every time we have a chance to play, that's 150 points to play and using that to our advantage to just keep getting better and keep getting used to each other. So the good part is we're still in that early learning phase."

The Wahine faced taller lineups in losses to current No. 10 Pittsburgh and No. 15 San Diego during their opening weekend in Texas, and UCLA will also present a challenge at the net today.

Freshman Grayce Olson, a 6-foot-4 opposite, had 14 kills in 31 swings against Texas State on Friday. Anna Dodson, a 6-5 junior middle, is averaging 2.85 kills per set on.446 hitting. Middle Fracesca Alupei (6-4 ) leads the Bruins with 17 total blocks. Georgia Tech transfer Matti McKissock is averaging just under 11 assists per set.