When the calendar turns to November, the University of Hawai‘i women's volleyball team knows it's go time.
On Sunday, the Rainbow Wahine remained on pace to qualify for the six-team Big West Tournament at the end of the month with a 25-11, 20-25, 25-18, 25-14 win over Cal State Bakersfield in front of 3,258 on Sunday evening at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbow Wahine improved to 11-14 overall and 7-7 in Big West Conference play, while Cal State Bakersfield dropped to 5-21 overall and 2-12 in conference matches.
With five consecutive Big West titles under head coach Robyn Ah Mow and 31 straight NCAA Tournament appearances in which it was eligible, the Rainbow Wahine have been the standard bearers in the conference since arriving in 2012.
Not in 2025, however. The 'Bows have already surpassed the previous program record of 12 losses and are currently fighting for a spot in the conference tournament, with winning it their only hope of keeping their NCAA Tournament streak alive.
"You want to be playing your best ball in November," Rainbow Wahine assistant coach Nick Castello said after Sunday's match. "You could be playing your best ball all year long and then not be playing good in November. So right now, I think we're kind of getting momentum. We're playing together. We're cleaning some things up on the daily, which is good. We're looking at being better tomorrow and see if we can take advantage of this week and propel us into the remaining of the season."
After enduring season-ending injuries to Tali Hakas and Stella Adeymi earlier in the season, the Rainbow Wahine began the month with a four-set win at UC Riverside on Nov. 1. After sweeping Cal State Northridge on Friday, the Rainbow Wahine increased their winning streak to four on Sunday.
On Sunday, Mililani Sylvester and Bri Gunferson each had 12 kills to lead the Rainbow Wahine, while Adrianna Arquette dished out a match-high 43 assists.
"Not like they didn't believe in the beginning. But, you have some injuries, and just the season completely flips upside down," Castello said. "It takes a little bit of time to kind of reset. And I think now the team is starting to believe, and with that belief, it's putting more focus and attention to detail, all the little things that then when we go up between the court and you guys see us, you're seeing us execute a little bit more cleanly, play the game a little more cleanly. I think it's just their mindset. Collectively, individually, they're taking care of what they need to do during the week, and then we're seeing that on game days."
The Rainbow Wahine have four matches in the regular season remaining. Up next is a pivotal road trip in which the 'Bows play current Big West 3-seed UC Santa Barbara (18-8, 10-4 Big West Conference) on Thursday and No. 2 seed Cal Poly (21-5, 12-2) on Saturday.
"We've been blessed enough the last two years having this conference tournament for us to (clinch) a top two seed, get a bye, and then do what we did," Castello said. "This year, we're OK if we're not one of the top two teams. And we're okay if we just have to find a way to dig ourselves in and get one of the top six, play in the quarterfinals and see if we can get ourselves another opportunity in a championship match. We're just excited."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
