UH advances to Big West final with sweep of Cal Poly

By AP | Nov 25, 2023

UH ROUNDUP

The Maui News

Caylen Alexander had a match-high 15 kills as the University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team swept Cal Poly 25-17, 25-18, 26-24 in the semifinals of the inaugural Big West tournament Friday in Long Beach, Calif.

Amber Igiede and Riley Wagoner each added 12 kills, and Kendra Ham had 10 kills for the second-seeded Rainbow Wahine (23-8), who will face fourth-seeded Long Beach State in the championship today. The Beach upset top-seeded UC Santa Barbara in five sets in Friday’s first semifinal.

Ham had three of UH’s seven aces and led UH with 18 digs. Kate Lang dished out 44 assists and also had 17 digs for Hawaii, which out-dug the Mustangs 62-46.

UH hit .297 for the match to Cal Poly’s .229 clip.

Lizzy Markovska led third-seeded Cal Poly (21-12) with 12 kills.

• MEN’S BASKETBALL: At Palm Desert, Calif., Matthue Cotton drained five of Hawaii’s 11 3-pointers and finished with 23 points to lead the Rainbow Warriors to a 76-57 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley in the Acrisure Invitational on Friday.

Cotton, a graduate transfer from Yale, hit all five of his 3s in a 19-point first half, helping UH take a 43-23 lead at the break. The Warriors’ lead never dropped below 17 points in the second half as they improved to 4-0, their best start in eight years.

Noel Coleman added 17 points and seven rebounds, Bernardo da Silva had 14 points and seven rebounds, and Justin McKoy pulled down 14 boards for Hawaii, which faces San Diego in the tourney final tonight.

• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: At the Stan Sheriff Center, the Rainbow Wahine fell to 1-4 on the season with a 54-51 loss to Air Force on the first day of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.

UH led at the end of the first three quarters and took a 39-36 edge into the fourth quarter before Air Force (4-1) opened the final period with a 7-0 run and held the Rainbow Wahine to two field goals in the quarter to hold on for the win.

Imani Perez led Hawaii with 15 points. Daejah Phillips added 10 points.

The Rainbow Wahine take on Idaho State today before closing the tournament against Washington on Sunday.