By: ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Wahine play-by-play voice, Tiff Wells

1 – Play For 1 & 9. After learning of the season-ending injury to Tali Hakas a couple of weeks ago, Hawai`i was dealt another significant blow just seven points into Day 2 of the Stanford Tournament. After attacking a ball from the left side, Stella Adeyemi landed and didn’t get up until she was helped off the floor by two UH Assistant Coaches. The knee wrapped and covered with ice, the Junior Outside Hitter was on crutches and could only offer words of encouragement and advice from the bench as she watched the rest of the tournament play out. Despite everything, the smile was still there as was the positive attitude. Visibly shaken after witnessing the injury, the Bows dropped the opening set by 13. Serving for Set 2, UH had a chance to tie the match but couldn’t close as UCLA scored four of the final 5 points to take the 2-0 lead and would win 3-0 after taking Set 3 25-15. The loss of two players cannot mean the loss of the season, especially for three Rainbow Wahine seniors. Injuries can have a strange way of bringing a team even closer together and a season can go one of two ways: you can continue to fight or just give up. We hear how UH teams play for the name on the front of the jersey and the state they represent. Their why must now include playing for these two injured teammates. All the best to Stella Adeyemi and we wish her well on her road to recovery.

2 – Patchwork Quilt Lineup. Injuries to two pin hitters have forced the hand of the coaching staff to try and figure out different lineup combinations on the fly. Any injury mid-match can be challenging as you can’t reset the lineup right away; you must play out the set with that sub (Ravyn Dash had five kills, two digs and a block) and then revamp prior to the start of the next set. In the match against Texas State on Sunday, Hawai`i seemed to have found success with moving Bri Gunderson from the middle to the opposite. Audrey Hollis would play her back row and set the offense, allowing Adrianna Arquette to hit when in the front row. With a middle blocker spot now open, Maddie Way added five kills and three blocks. A lot of moving pieces but perhaps what was seen in the Sunday match versus Texas State was a glimpse of what could be seen moving forward. Add in two conference matches a week up until the conference tournament, there is no luxury of a bye week to work on new combinations.

3 – Got Block…Will Travel. Coming into the Stanford week, the Rainbow Wahine were in the top 60 nationally in blocks per set. Facing two power four schools and a Texas State team, how would the block fare on the road? UH more than held their own as they out-blocked the taller Stanford Cardinal 8-4, with Miliana Sylvester in on six. Just two blocks against UCLA, UH opened up shop against Texas State as they recorded 15 blocks. It was the fourth match this season in which UH scored double-digit blocks (they had four such matches all of last season). Gunderson was in on six blocks, while both setters each added four. Way chipped in with three as she saw her middle blocker counterpart Miliana Sylvester establish a new career-high with 10. Scoring points from its first line of defense will be pivotal as UH navigates its final run through the Big West Conference.

4 – Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride. Down by as many as seven in the opening set against Stanford, UH rallied to tie at 17. However they were out-scored 8-2 the rest of the way. Down nine in the third set versus the Cardinal, again UH rallied to get within three on a 6-0 Victoria Leyva serving run. UH tied the second set against UCLA at 20 and served for the set at 24-23 but saw the Bruins score four of the final five points to win the set and take the 2-0 lead. Tied at five in the third, UCLA scored 20 of the final 30 points and handed UH their second straight 3-0 loss. Early leads in all four sets against Texas State all featured lengthy scoring runs to give the Bobcats leads of 14-9 (Set 1), 18-11 (Set 2), 11-8 (Set 3) and 16-13 (Set 4). 14-9 in Set 1 became 21-13. UH closed Set 2 at 20-19 before a few unforced errors led to a 5-1 closing run and a 2-0 Texas State match lead. Trailing 19-16 in the third, a 9-0 closing run from Victoria Leyva gave UH their first set win of the tournament, while avoiding their third consecutive 3-0 loss. A 6-0 Jaci Miyasaki run got UH to 22-21 but would against see a late close from Texas State. It’s extremely tough to continually play from behind but the team continued to fight and gave themselves opportunities. The ebbs and flows continued into Week 4 as the team seeks to have more peaks than valleys.

5 – A Dash of Ravyn. Thrust into the lineup due to Saturday’s unfortunate injury to Stella Adeyemi, Ravyn Dash saw her most extensive time to-date as a Rainbow Wahine. The sophomore OH scored five kills on twenty swings. With another injury to the outside hitter position, it also means another new person in serve receive to join Victoria Leyva. Her first career start for UH came on Sunday with one kill and four digs. Having the depth in multiple positions has been a blessing for this coaching staff, especially when the roster last year had just 13. There are quite a few new faces in key positions and with so many of them as underclassmen, the keiki will need to continue to lean on one another while growing together quickly as conference play begins this Friday.

6 – All In For Conference. With the 4-7 non-conference record, the RPI won’t be as kind as it has been in years past when the first one is officially released next month. Control what you can control and that’s to win as many conference matches as possible to finish in the top six of the conference standings. The Bows will continue to root for their non-conference opponents to do well during their respective conference seasons and with UC Santa Barbara receiving votes in the poll, there could be one (or two) more chance(s) to get a quality win (or two). The five-time defending conference champions make their final run through the Big West Conference and it starts this week at home, with matches against UC Riverside (Friday) and UC Davis (Saturday). For a third straight season, the blessing for Hawai`i to make the NCAA Tournament is to win the conference tournament and get the BWC’s automatic bid. In order to give themselves a shot to repeat as tourney champs, they must first qualify for the conference tournament. Since re-entering the BWC back in 2012, UH has either finished first or second in the standings. Injuries have hit UH, UC Davis and UC Irvine. There have been some big wins by the conference: Cal Poly sweeping then No. 20 Utah, UC Davis beating Cal and even UC Riverside winning at UNLV. As a whole, the Big West went 58-65 through the first four weeks of the season. Cal Poly has the most wins (9), UCSB is the only team receiving votes in the poll, while scoring a couple wins over Power Four teams. CSUN and Long Beach State have each recorded seven wins. With a first-year head coach, Cal State Fullerton has more wins (5) than they did all last year (4). UC San Diego has just two wins, with one of those coming against San Diego. With a season split into thirds (non-conference, conference and postseason), this second third of the 2025 season just might be one of the most important ones in the history of the program. No one can be taken lightly (see last season with UC Davis here at home and at UC Riverside, along with the five set match against CSUN) and you can’t afford multiple off-nights. Focus and attention to detail must be at the forefront during conference play and it starts Friday at home against the Highlanders.