Rainbow Wahine volleyball team opens season with close loss at Texas A&M

Aug. 27—COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Consistency was one of Robyn Ah Mow's recurring themes through training camp.

The University of Hawaii coach's keyword came up again following the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team's five-set loss to Texas A &M in Friday's season opener in Reed Arena.

On the plus side for the Rainbow Wahine were a hot start in the first set and an efficient performance in the fourth to extend the program's first opener on the continent since 2005.

Those facets were countered by 20 attack errors and 15 service errors, and Texas A &M's mid-set surge in the fifth powered the host Aggies to an 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 17-25, 15-11 win before a mid-day crowd of 1, 070 in Reed Arena.

"I'm glad they never gave up. We always push them that you have to keep fighting, " Ah Mow said. "But it's something I've said from the beginning, playing consistent."

Texas A &M outside hitter Caroline Meuth, a graduate transfer from Notre Dame, put away five of her match-high 23 kills in the fifth set and the Aggies' 6-0 run to take a 12-6 lead turned out to be the decisive swing of the opening match of the three-day Texas A &M Invitational.

Freshman opposite Logan Lednicky added 20 kills on 46 attempts as the new-look Aggies, who started five transfers and a freshman, leaned heavily on their new set of pin hitters to avenge a loss to UH last season in Manoa.

"Hawaii's a great opponent. We knew they were going to be gritty and they were going to defend and be in system and be smart, " Texas A &M coach Laura "Bird " Kuhn said. "And we knew we had to play clean and we really settled in after that first set. I'm proud of them because they locked into what each of their jobs were and we executed at the end."

The Rainbow Wahine take on No. 6 Pittsburgh today at 11 a.m. in the second match of the doubleheader. Both teams will be looking to bounce back from five-set losses after the Panthers fell to No. 25 San Diego in Friday's finale.

"That's the beauty of doing a tournament in preseason—you just get to move on, " said UH setter Kate Lang, who opened her sophomore season with a double-double with 55 assists and 11 digs.

Junior Riley Wagoner led five UH players in double figures with 21 kills on.364 hitting in her team-high 44 swings. Middle blocker Amber Igiede went without a kill in the first set and finished with 13 kills as her connection with Lang sharpened over the course of the match to hit.379.

Tiffany Westerberg posted a career-high 12 kills in the middle and outside hitter Braelyn Akana also set a career best with 10. Freshman outside hitter Caylen Alexander overcame some early nerves to finish with 10 kills and five digs in her collegiate debut.

Tayli Ikenaga got the start at libero and anchored the Wahine floor defense with 17 digs and defensive specialist Talia Edmonds posted 13 off the bench in her first UH match.

Junior Kendra Ham, who played in just two matches last season, also emerged as a regular in the back row and contributed 12 digs.

"We were really just having fun (in the first set ), ... and then we dipped off a little bit, but we were able to pick it up a little bit and hopefully next game we can stay a little bit more consistent, " Wagoner said.

The Aggies held an advantage at the net with a 6-4 blocking edge and from the service line with seven aces to UH's one.

"The big thing for them is following your assignments, " Ah Mow said. "Assignments, being aggressive, and confidence."

Westerberg scored UH's first point of the season and Wagoner had thee kills in a 10-3 surge to open the season.

The momentum of UH's commanding first set faded with three Wahine service errors in their first four attempts at the line in the second. Three Texas A &M blocks contributed to UH's eight attack errors, while Lednicky and Meuth found their groove with setter Elena Karakasi, a transfer from Syracuse.

UH posted its first block of the season on the first point of the third set and the teams stayed within two points of each other throughout. Texas A &M opened a 22-20 lead when former UH outside hitter Mia Johnson hammered a kill off the block. The Aggies traded sideouts from there, ending the set on a Meuth kill.

Wagoner sparked the Wahine with four kills in a 7-1 UH run in the fourth set. Alexander's ace off the tape gave UH set point at 24-16 and the Wahine hit.447 to force the race to 15.

With the set tied 6-6, a UH serve landed wide to push Texas A &M ahead and Aggies sophomore Brooke Frazier went on a six-point run at the service line, capping the surge with her second ace of the match.

"She was solid serving back there, " Kuhn said of Frazier. "She was moving the ball and she was hitting the zone. We knew we had to do that in order to defend and execute the game plan. That execution at the end of game—that is what you want to see out of a team."

Johnson transferred from UH in the offseason and finished with eight kills in 34 attempts in her first match with the Aggies.

No. 25 San Diego 3, No. 6 Pittsburgh 2 Grace Frohling, a 6-foot-5 opposite, put away 19 kills with just one error and the Toreros earned a statement win over the Panthers.

Breanna Edwards added 16 kills for USD and libero Annie Benbow popped up 21 digs. Valeria Vazquez Gomez led Pitt with 16 kills and Julianna Dalton finished with 15, but the Panthers hit.202 with 27 errors.