The University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team was swept 25-17, 29-27, 28-26 by UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii fell to 17-8 overall and 10-4 in Big West Conference play, while UCSB improved to 23-3 overall and 14-1 in conference games, strengthening its lead atop the league standings.
All the latest sports news from Hawaii’s sports station
Prior to Saturday, Hawaii had never lost consecutive Big West matches at home. The program has been a member since the 2012 season.
A damper was put on Saturday’s match on Friday, as a loss to Cal Poly thwarted a potential battle for first place for UH.
After UCSB breezed through the first set, the Gauchos had a 20-17 lead in the second set. Hawaii responded with a 6-0 run, only to see the conference leaders take the set in deuces to deflate the home crowd.
Despite the deficit, Hawaii had a spirited 8-0 run in the third set that tied things at 22, but UC Santa Barbara was again able to pull away.
Briana McKnight had a double-double of a match-high 14 kills and 10 digs for the Gauchos, while All-Conference libero Macall Peed had a match-high 21 digs.
Kennedi Evans had a team-high 10 kills and five digs for Hawaii.
Next up for UH is another Big West road trip, beginning with UC Irvine on Friday at 4 p.m. HST.
