By Tiff Wells
1. One Loss October
A new Head Coach was hired in the first week of June, less than 100 days before the season opener. He then hired his coaching staff (all first years with UH) throughout the summer. Eight returnees from the 2025 team had seven newcomers join them to fill a roster of 15 for 2026. Their new conference didn’t appear to show much love and respect for a team coming off a losing season as they slotted the Rainbow Wahine fifth in the preseason poll. And the expectations for this program under a first-year Head Coach? Unsure really what those were because of how late into the offseason Hawai`i got their new leader. Don’t know how many of those out there had the Bows at 19-4 overall at the end of the month and leading their new conference by three matches with six to play. But that is where we are. What started in Phoenix (at Preseason #3 GCU) with two sweeps over the Lopes, carried over to 7,220 feet in Laramie with two gritty wins at Preseason #4 Wyoming and ended with a split in the series at former Big West rival, now Mountain West rival (and Preseason #2) UC Davis. Two series sweeps (all by 3-0 scores) at home over San José State and UNLV has the Rainbow Wahine as winners of their last 26 sets inside Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. An 11-match win streak (their longest since 12 wins in a row to end the 2022 regular season) had UH with their best start in conference since 2015 (where they ran the Big West table to a perfect 16-0 record). It took the best offensive performance by an opponent to hand Hawai`i their first loss since September 20th. All in all, the green and white went 9-1 overall in October and dropped just seven sets in those 10 matches. The hot start to conference play also has them sitting atop the league by three matches with six left to play.
2. 1K For No.2
She had originally given her verbal commitment to play for the University of Denver Pioneers while still playing for Pebble Hills High School in El Paso, Texas. When there was a coaching change at DU, Victoria Leyva reopened her recruitment and Hawai`i soon became interested. A verbal was given at a club tournament and when the Rainbow Wahine played in Fort Worth, Texas at the Fight in the Fort tournament hosted by TCU in September of 2023, Leyva and members of the family made the trip from El Paso to watch her future teammates play. Ranked sixth in her graduating class, she graduated a semester early and was an early enrollee in the 2024 Spring Semester at UH. With incumbent libero Tayli Ikenaga taking the Texan under her wing, Leyva thrived as the top defensive specialist and was even named to the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic’s All-Tournament Team. She took the libero jersey and wore it in all 29 matches. Her 435 digs led UH, while the 4.14 digs/set average placed her fourth in the Big West Conference, leading to All-Big West Honorable Mention accolades. Choosing to stay and play for UH and not hit the transfer portal in the May 2026 window following the resignation of Robyn Ah Mow, the Junior was named a tri-captain, along with Miliana Sylvester and Tali Hakas. She needed nine digs to reach 1,000 for her career and midway through Friday’s match at UC Davis, she became UH’s latest member of that exclusive club. It didn’t surprise her first-year Head Coach Joshua Walker when we brought up the feat accomplished by his libero. She surpassed 1,000 digs as a High School junior before finishing with 1,331. There’s been more of a vocal presence and leadership from No. 2 as she’s taken control of both the serve receive and backrow defense, both of which has been a reason as to why UH enters November at 19-4 overall, 11-1 in Mountain West play. A little over 120 digs away from entering the top 10 all-time at UH, there’s a real possibility that Leyva could enter the top 5 (and pass her former teammate Ikenaga) when her career comes to an end next season.
3. Fright Night = Road Split
All it took from a conference opponent to defeat the Rainbow Wahine for the first time as a Mountain West member was to hit for the highest percentage against UH on the season. The nation’s number four team in the country in terms of opponents’ hitting percentage (.132 going into the second match against UC Davis) gave up a season-high .348 as they lost for the first time in nearly six weeks. UH’s serving had a tough time getting the Aggies out-of-system as UCD frequently had their hitters in one-on-one situations. With the Blue and Gold in system, it allowed them to run an extremely quick offense, even quicker than what UH saw against UC San Diego and LMU. Aggies Middle Blocker Ally Chandler made life rather difficult for UH as the MW’s leading attacker (and in the NCAA’s Top 15) by hitting percentage hit .458 (13-2-24, .458) on night one and .520 (14-1-25, .520) in the rematch. She was also in on eight of her team’s 19 blocks as UC Davis out blocked UH both nights (13-7 and 6-4). For the first time in quite some time, Hawai`i couldn’t assert its usual dominant defensive self, nor could they string together points as they were the ones playing from behind in each of the three sets. The 25-15 set one loss on Saturday was UH’s opening set loss of a match since September 6th versus UCSD. Two big closing runs by the Aggies (23-8 to end set 1, 6-1 to finish set 3) bookended a wild second set that featured both a yellow card and a red card on the Hawai`i coaching staff for wanting an explanation on what is a throw after a few questionable attacks weren’t called. Asserting itself defensively the previous night where UH held its 16th straight opponent in hitting under .200 (UCD hit .129, their lowest in MW play this year), UH won the opener 3-1. The Bows also did something no opponent did to the Mountain West’s leader in service aces and aces/set…give up an ace to the Aggies. While there is disappointment there was the 3-0 loss on the second night of this series between number one and number two in the standings, the league leaders got the minimum out of the series with the split on the road. While Hawai`i leads the series history 23-5, the Aggies have been victorious in four of the last seven meetings, including two of the last three played in Davis. Don’t be surprised if these two former Big West members are the last two at the table later this month, playing for the Mountain West tournament championship.
4. Bounce Back Mentality
Next play, next point mentality. That’s how this Rainbow Wahine team continues to look at each set within each match. UH has lost back-to-back matches just one time this season…a tough five-setter to then No.21 Baylor followed up by the 3-0 loss to San Diego. Coaches say a team learns more from a loss than they do in a win. Hawai`i has shown the ability to come back from a loss and win their next match twice, both by 3-0 scores. The Bows swept Utah Tech after suffering a 3-0 loss to San Diego. After the heartbreaking five-set loss against UCLA, the Bows had to wait five days for their next match and they won it, in straight sets against New Mexico. They’ve been laser focused during this 11-1 Mountain West Conference start. They aren’t worried about how the other matches are going. It’s been sticking to the detail of the scout of their current opponent, from point to point, set to set through the two-match series. With playing at home this Thursday (instead of the usual Friday…due to Men’s Basketball), it’s one less day of rest after traveling from Daivs…but it’s also one less day of thinking back to that 3-0 loss to UC Davis. Athletes will tell you that the best remedy to atone from a loss is to play the next day or as quickly as possible. We’ll all see how Hawai`i bounces back on Thursday against a struggling Nevada (5-17, 3-9) squad that is currently in ninth place.
5. 500 For CR10
There’s a big sense of pride when an athlete chooses to stay home and play for the state. Each community throughout Hawai`i is special and unique, but when you hear “Pride of the North Shore,” you know right away they are talking about Lāʻie. If you watched her play in high school for Kahuku, you saw the talent. When she gave her verbal commitment to UH and officially signed her NLI with the Rainbow Wahine, fans knew that Hawai`i was getting a good one and one of the top players in the state was staying home to play for the home team. Thrust into the top offensive option as a freshmen out of necessity due to injury, she carried the offense and was named All-Big West Honorable Mention and Big West All-Freshman Team. And when UH moved to the Mountain West Conference, she was one of seven named to the Preseason All-Mountain West squad. 2025 was about power and while learning under both Tali Hakas and Panna Ratkai throughout this past spring and into the 2026 season, her sophomore campaign has been the addition of shots and reading the game, while still showcasing that power. She’s strung together eight consecutive matches of double-digit kills and during Saturday’s match at UC Davis, Reid notched a hitters’ milestone…her 500th kill. Being the competitor that she is, she’ll be the first to tell you she would have taken the win over the milestone in a heartbeat. But the way Reid and UH is playing, coupled with how UC Davis is playing…don’t be surprised if Reid and the Bows get a third opportunity against the Aggies…in Las Vegas…for a conference tournament title…and an NCAA berth. 500 kills is not nothing. It is something. Congrats Cha’lei!
6. Six Match MW Sprint To Finish
November 1st not only meant Daylight Savings Time ending but also marking the start of the final month of the regular season in NCAA Women’s Volleyball. The race to place your spot amongst the four at the Mountain West Conference tournament table in Las Vegas heats up over the final three weeks of MW play. In how the schedule plays out, UH plays four of their final six MW matches at home, including four in a row. It just so happens they are against ninth-place Nevada (5-17, 3-9) and eighth-place Air Force (8-15, 4-8). The opportunity is there for Hawai`i clinch a tournament bid and the regular season title at home ahead of its trip to UTEP to end the regular season. If the Bows can continue to take care of business at home, senior night next Friday (11/13) against Air Force could be even more special. If the last home match against UNLV was any indication of the fan support as UH had season-high numbers of 7,858 (issued) and 6,603 (turnstile), there could be more season-high numbers in these last four home matches. UC Davis is on the road for the next four (at UTEP, at Wyoming) before hosting Grand Canyon. UTEP hosts UC Davis, travels to Grand Canyon and plays home against Hawai`i. Grand Canyon hosts San José State and UTEP before travelling to UC Davis. New Mexico travels to Air Force and UNLV before hosting Wyoming. UNLV, the host of the conference tournament, heads to Wyoming and then plays host to New Mexico before ending the season at San José State.