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

1 – Play For 9. Playing without their emotional leader in Week 2, the Rainbow Wahine bounced back after the tough loss to San Jose State and swept both Utah Valley and St. John’s en route to the Outrigger Invitational title. With the ‘not available’ designation attached to the Tali Hakas injury, one of the most asked questions heading into Week 3 was “when would we see Hakas on the floor again?” The answer to that question was provided about 45 minutes prior to Thursday’s first serve and it was one Hawai`i fans feared the most. A right shoulder injury will indeed keep Hakas out for the rest of the season. For a young team to lose their emotional leader and one of their top statistical players, it is a very tough blow. While it’s never good to lose anyone to a season-ending injury, it does happen early enough in the season where the option is there to apply for a medical redshirt season for Hakas. It also allows for two weeks of non-conference play to figure out which combination of players will be the group to use heading into the final season of Big West Conference play. Injuries do have a way of bringing a team even closer together as you’re playing for someone who’s unable to be on the floor. We wish all the best to Tali Hakas in her road to a full recovery as she will now prepare for the 2026 season.  

2 – Welcome To The Block Party. Maximizing the rotations when Bri Gunderson is in the front row will continue to be key for UH moving forward. She was named the Big West Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week after 18 blocks during the Outrigger Invitational and a spot on the  All-Tournament Team. Statistically the best blocker in the BWC and in the top 40 nationally, she added 12 more this week after the nine sets played against Portland. Gunderson out-blocked Portland by herself on night one, 9-8. Blocking can also be contagious as Gunderson’s starting counterpart Miliana Sylvester as she was also in on 9 blocks, tying her career-high. The addition of the Eastern Washington grad transfer has also boosted UH’s total team blocking numbers. Five blocks through the opening set of the two-match series was a prelude of things to come as the Rainbow Wahine finished the match with 18 total team blocks. It’s the most blocks for UH in one match since they also had 18 in a September 2019 match against Washington. Eight matches into this season, Hawai`i has recorded double-digit blocks three times (had four such matches all of last season). All of these blocks have also helped UH’s defense hold opponents in their last four matches under a .200 hitting percentage (Utah Valley: .174; St. John’s: -.012; Portland: .061 on night one and .192 on night two).

3 – Eagle Eyes. When it comes to utilizing a challenge, all coaches are different. Some rely on the players on the floor, others ask their assistants or seek the opinion of the reserve players. There are a few that also quickly scan the home crowd. And then there’s Robyn Ah Mow. Trusting what she sees and going with her gut is how she issues a challenge. Her players have dubbed it “Eagle Eyes.” With UH trailing the Friday match by a set and staring at a 24-21 deficit in Set 2, UH fought back to get to 24-23. A Sylvester attack initially ruled out gave Portland the set…or so they thought. Why not challenge at set point, right? From her standing position on the sideline, the in/out challenge was issued and the call was overturned. Three set points averted and the set went into deuce. Leading 26-25, Portland scored the kill that gave them the set again…or would it? Somewhere in the sequence, the net moved. It was a long rally so why not use the challenge. The set continued after UH’s second set saving challenge as both challenges overturned the original call. All told, UH fought off five Portland set point chances and on their second opportunity, the Bows finished the set off. What could have been a 2-0 deficit instead turned into a tied match at 1. UH outscored Portland 50-37 the rest of the way to win the match 3-1 and sweep the two-match series. And it all turned around because of two challenges issued with those “Eagle Eyes.”

4 – The Big Littles. Sometimes the biggest and most important plays of a set or a match are made by the smallest player(s). Last season with a roster of 13, there were just two littles (Tayli Ikenaga and Victoria Leyva). Due to necessity, UH’s third setter Jackie Matias became an emergency backrow player. Entering 2025, the backrow room was at three: Victoria Leyva, Kahea Moriwaki and Leilani Lopez. All three (with a fourth added earlier in the week, more on that later) came up big in the Portland series. In night one: Leyva led the way with 17 digs, while adding seven assists and an ace; Moriwaki recorded a new career-high of eight digs; she hadn’t played the previous two matches, but Lopez came in the final two sets and had two assists with one dig. But Lopez had maybe the most important service run of the match as in the fifth set, went on a 3-0 to give UH a 13-10 cushion. On night two: Leyva tied her career-high of 23 digs (her third 20+ dig match this season) and chipped in five assists and had one ace; Moriwaki added six digs; Lopez came off the bench for two digs, one assist and two aces. And again, Lopez came up clutch late in Set 2 as UH faced multiple set points and dealt one ace to extend the set into deuce. She also had a big dig on set point in the third frame that allowed UH to convert that save into the point to win the Set and take the 2-1 match lead. Having multiple littles allows for numerous backrow groupings and the chance for hitters to get a breather when they leave the front row.

5 – Save The Best For Last. As matches play on, more often than not the hitting percentages and side out percentages aren’t high. In the last two closeout sets over Week 3, UH was near perfect. In the first match against Portland, the UH offense aged quite well during Set 5. The Bows hit a ridiculous .529 (10-1-17) in the set that was tied 10 times (1 to 10) and didn’t see UH take a lead until 11-10. Each time Portland served with a one-point lead, Hawai`i sided out each time. 11 serve receives, 11 side outs converted for a 100% rate. Offensively: Stella Adeyemi was 3-0-6, Gunderson went 3-0-4 and Mane was 2-0-2. 24 hours later, UH continued that strong finish. The Rainbow Wahine scored 12 kills on 24 errorless swings, all-the-while going 15-of-18 (83%) siding out on first ball contact. Looking at the final two sets, Hawaii went 30-4-57, hit .456 and sided out at 74% (28-of-38). While the new primary passing trio has had a few rough spot early on this season, they passed well when it was needed to go 2-0 over the weekend.

6 – The Newest ‘Bow. The first day of fall camp comes with anticipation. New gear, new players (true freshman, transfers) prepare for the upcoming season. Normally we know all of the new players on Day 1 of fall camp. Very, very rare does a new player get announced once the season starts. A rare case of that occurred for Hawai`i as in the middle of Week 3, a new player was announced. The day before the series with Portland began, Jaci Miyasaki became the newest Rainbow Wahine. A former floor wiper and ball shagger in the arena during her keiki days (like Cha’Lei Reid), it was a whirlwind of emotions for the Kalani High alumna. The intended civil engineering major spelled Cha’Lei Reid in the backrow for three of the five sets in night two against Portland. While she didn’t stat in the three sets she played in, there were verbal cues of ‘in/out’ to help the serve receive as she played rotations in the backrow for Cha’Lei. In one year, UH doubled their littles room from 2 to 4.