ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Wahine play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the most recent week.
1 – What’s At Stake. The five-time defending Big West Conference champions began Week 8 two games up on UC Irvine in the loss column for the sixth and final spot in the Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championships. Heading into their final regular season conference road-trip, Hawai`i was trying to do something that no other conference team had done this season…win both matches of the UCSB/Cal Poly road trip. UH was also attempting to do something they hadn’t done all year in conference play…go undefeated on a Big West road trip. That did not happen as UC Santa Barbara defeated UH 3-0 to sweep the regular season series with the Rainbow Wahine. One night later up the 101 in San Luis Obispo, the Bows lost 3-0 to Cal Poly as the Mustangs extended the nation’s second-longest active home win streak to 19. UH went 3-7 on the road during the regular season and never swept a conference road trip this year. As the other matches around the conference played out on Saturday, the big one was UC Irvine winning at Cal State Bakersfield in four sets. That win for the Anteaters, coupled with UH’s loss at Cal Poly, meant both teams are now 7-9 with two matches remaining as we enter the final week of conference play. At 11-16 overall and in a sixth-place tie with UCI, the Rainbow Wahine don’t control their own destiny to make the conference tournament and will need help to punch their ticket to Long Beach. Barring a five-match winning streak (which would mean UH winning their last two regular season matches, then qualifying and winning all three matches in the conference tournament), UH would finish the season with a sub-.500 record (first time ever) would also mean no postseason for the program for the first-time since 1992 (not counting 2020 when the Big West canceled the season due to COVID-19).
2 – Two Spots For Three Teams. With their wins on Friday, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State each claimed their spot in the six-team conference tournament. UC Davis (14-2) and Cal Poly (13-3) join the Gauchos (12-4) and The Beach (12-4) in the field. On the cusp of qualifying is CSUN (9-7), who sit in fifth place with visits to UC Davis and UC Riverside this week. It would take a lot of scenarios to occur to push the Matadors out of the conference tournament field. Mentioned earlier, both the Anteaters and Rainbow Wahine are tied for sixth place at 7-9. UCI and UH played once with the Anteaters winning that match to own the head-to-head tiebreaker and thus hold the sixth and final spot while UH is on the outside looking in sitting in seventh place. The math is simple: UH needs more wins than UCI this week. Anteaters host UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly, while the Bows play host to UC San Diego and Long Beach State. UC Riverside (4-12), UC San Diego (4-12), Cal State Fullerton (3-13) and Cal State Bakersfield (3-13) have all been eliminated from conference tournament consideration but could play spoiler to a team trying either to qualify for the field or trying to earn a top two spot and a bye into the semifinal round.
3 – Health of AA. Trailing 16-9 in Set 3 at Cal Poly on Saturday, reigning Big West Conference Setter of the Week Adrianna Arquette appeared to turn an ankle. There was a quick coaching staff discussion while UH’s trainer tended to the sophomore setter. Ultimately, she was taken out of the match. With Audrey Hollis (making her first appearance since October 12th) already in the match as opposite, the Bows left Hollis in to set while bringing in Leilani Lopez to play Arquette’s backrow. As the third set continued to be in favor of Cal Poly and also with the Mustangs leading the match 2-0, there was no push to bring Arquette back in, especially knowing what’s on the line for UH heading into the last week of the regular season. No official diagnosis or an update was given post match, but it was a good sign Arquette wasn’t in a boot nor using crutches. Hollis had just seven kills this season but was effective in the six swings she had against Cal Poly, scoring four kills as she played the right side for Ravyn Dash. In a season that’s been severely hit by the injury bug, Hawai`i cannot afford another one, let alone to the player that’s been the primary setter this season. Stay tuned.
4 – Central Coast Last Call? If this was indeed the last time Hawai`i makes this Central Coast road trip, it’ll be one they will want to forget. Two 3-0 losses. In four of the six sets, UH scored 19 or fewer points. Three of the six sets lost were by double-digits. It’s the third consecutive loss at UCSB while the Bows saw a two-match win streak at Cal Poly snapped. The Rainbow Wahine have forced all other teams in the conference to get better. Before it was just UH in the top 60 RPI and everyone else way behind. Occasionally there’d be one, maybe two teams with a double-digit RPI that would be relatively close to Hawai`i. Entering Week 8 of conference play, four Big West teams had an RPI in the top 81 (55-UCSB, 59-UC Davis, 65-Cal Poly, 81-LBSU). We have heard multiple Big West coaches (Caroline Walters from Cal Poly, Matt Jones from UCSB and Branden Higa from UC Riverside) say that with UH moving to the Mountain West next season, they would love to keep UH on the schedule. In the last couple of seasons with how UH sets up their non-conference, they host two muli-team events (MTEs), a third week is a two-match series and that fourth and final non-conference week is a road-trip. Whether it’s three road matches crammed into one trip or playing in a tournament, Hawai`i likes to give its players a taste of what life on the road is like prior to conference play. Don’t be surprised if you see a Big West member (or two) on a future UH schedule.
5 – When It Rains, It Pours. Some intense weather hit the entire state of California last week. We experienced a lot of rain throughout the UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly road trip, but were lucky in not being impacted with road closures or a venue change. One place in the conference that was not so lucky on Saturday was Long Beach State. Built in 1994, the playing surface of the Walter Pyramid sits underground. Prone to flooding and roof leaks when there’s a significant amount of rain in the area, Saturday marked the sixth time this calendar year (per the Long Beach Current) that an LBSU arena sport had a game move to their auxiliary gym due to weather. Keep in mind that Long Beach State plays host to the Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championships, beginning November 26th. While Long Beach State has proven capable of moving games to their other venue on campus due to weather, it would really be a shame if that was done for a conference tournament. You obviously can’t control weather and with less than two weeks, it might prove very difficult to find a nearby and suitable venue to host on such short notice. Pray for good weather in the Long Beach area for Thanksgiving weekend.
6 – Soon To Be Bows. During National Signing Day this past Wednesday, Hawai`i announced two additions for the 2026 season, Rachel Purser and Cameron Holcomb. Purser is a 6’3” Middle Blocker out of Henderson, Nevada and Coronado High School. A three-time Desert League 5A first-team all-conference and all-region honoree, Purser recorded more than 800 kills, while hitting over .360. She is also the highest rated recruit UH has landed in quite some time as she was a Top 10 rated player in the state of Nevada. A 5’8” Libero/Defensive Specialist from San Marcos, California and San Marcos High School, Holcomb was a four-year starter at libero and earned All-Coastal League honors each year. Her club (Wave Volleyball) coach at the 16s level is former Rainbow Warrior Scott Hartley, who is also the club’s recruiting coordinator. Not only will both add depth in their respective position groups, but they will also push the returnees. With the 2025 roster at 17 (of a max at 18), UH loses three to graduation. As we’ve seen in the past, the transfer portal both add and take away from your current roster. Another option to find a player is going the international route.