Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Claims Three Big West Weekly Honors

University of Hawai'i's Rainbow Wahine volleyball program has earned three weekly awards from the Big West Conference as announced Monday.

Junior hitter Sofia Russo earned Offensive Player of the Week recognition, while senior libero Tayli Ikenaga and sophomore setter Kate Lang were named Defensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively.

As a team, the Rainbow Wahine went 1-1 last week, sweeping Cal Poly in four sets Friday before falling in four sets to first-place Long Beach State on Saturday.

Russo led Hawai'i in kills both matches, registering 16 against Cal Poly and 18 against Long Beach State while hitting .349 on the week. The junior outside hitter also had three aces, 17 digs and five blocks.

Ikenaga led the Rainbow Wahine with 21 digs against Cal Poly and 20 digs against Long Beach State. The senior libero also had three aces, two assists and two blocks on the week.

Lang started both matches for Hawai'i last week, averaging 7.0 assists per set. The sophomore setter also had seven digs, three kills and two blocks on the week.

The Rainbow Wahine (13-6, 8-3 Big West) are currently tied for second place in the Big West standings with UC Santa Barbara.

Hawai'i will return to action this week with a pair of home matches against UC Riverside on Friday and Saturday.