Hawaii sweeps UC San Diego for Big West road win

Led by junior hitter Riley Wagoner’s 14 kills, Hawaii took another step toward clinching its third consecutive Big West volleyball title with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-15 victory at UC San Diego on Friday night in La Jolla, Calif.

Junior middle Amber Igiede added 12 kills without an error and was in on six blocks with two aces for the Rainbow Wahine (17-7, 14-1), who maintained their one-game lead over UC Santa Barbara (17-8, 13-2). The Gauchos kept pace Friday with a home win over Cal State Fullerton, 25-14, 25-21, 25-15.

Hawaii takes its seven-match win streak up to UC Irvine, where the Wahine will play the Anteaters (16-9, 9-6) on Saturday.

The Tritons (12-16, 5-10) got a team-high 10 kills from Ava McInnes, who hit just .139.

Unlike in the teams’ Oct. 8 match in Honolulu, Hawaii’s block showed up at LionTree Arena. Outblocked 12-5 a month ago, the Wahine finished with a 10-3 edge on Friday.

Wagoner turned in her fifth double-double of the season, coming up with 11 digs. Junior defensive specialist Talia Edmonds also had 11 digs and sophomore libero Tayli Ikenaga, who sat out last month’s match with UCSD, added 10.

Hawaii finished with a 50-38 edge in digs.