Game Morning: No. 22 San Diego up next for Wahine

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Rainbow Wahine today.

After opening their first road trip of the season with a five-set loss at Utah Valley, the Wahine (2-2) face No. 22 San Diego (1-1) in an 8:30 a.m. (Hawaii time) matchup in the Utah Classic at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.

UH won two meetings against the Toreros in 2019 in Manoa, pulling out a five-set win in the season opener and sweeping USD in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

UH outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle is averaging a team-high 4.79 kills per set after putting away a career-high 20 with 24 digs against Utah Valley. Middle blocker Amber Igiede is hitting .432 followed by Van Sickle at .320. Finding another consistent scorer figures to be a key for the Wahine going forward. Among the primary hitters, freshman Mia Johnson (2.78 kps, .215) is the only one hitting above .200.

UC San Diego opened the season with a loss to No. 1 Texas and defeated Texas-San Antonio. Grace Frohling, a 6-foot-5 opposite, leads the Toreros with 3.71 kills per set while hitting .317. Alfred Reft, a former standout libero with the UH men’s program (2004-06), is USD’s head associate coach on a staff led by 23rd-year head coach Jennifer Petrie.

Updates follow below:
>> Utah swept Cal Poly 25-17, 25-17, 25-16 in the match preceding the Hawaii-San Diego match that started at 6 a.m. Hawaii time. The UH-USD match is streaming on pac-12.com and ESPN Honolulu.

SET 3
>> Mia Johnson checks in to start the third set along with Akana. Williams scores the first point of the set before USD goes on a 6-1 run, including a Camryn Tastad ace.
>> UH third block of the set cuts the USD lead to 12-10. Toreros stretch the lead to 17-12 on a block and a Frohling kill. Timeout UH.
>> Back to back UH blocks cuts the USD lead to 17-14. Kylie Pries answers with consecutive kills. Another Pries kill gives USD a 20-16 cushion.
>> An Akana kill makes it 23-19 but Gabby Goddard gets one to fall to give USD match point. Lukes puts away her match-high 15th kill to end it. San Diego wins 25-13, 25-17, 25-19.

SET 2
>> USD goes on a 5-point run early, this time UH answers with an 8-1 surge with two blocks, one by Skyler Williams, to take a 9-6 lead.
>> USD rallies to tie, the teams trade sideouts before USD goes on a 4-0 run, including two UH errors. Timeout UH trailing 17-14.
>> A block by Grace Frohling and Gabby Goddard caps a 7-0 USD run and the Toreros lead 20-14. UH still hitting negative (-.033) as USD gets to set point at 24-17.
>> After a UH timeout, Wagoner hits into the antenna and USD takes the set 25-17. UH hitting .-049 (11-14-61) to USD’s .270.

SET 1
>> New look to the UH starting lineup: Riley Wagoner, Anna Kiraly and Braelyn Akana join Brooke Van Sickle, Amber Igiede, Mylana Byrd and Tayli Ikenaga. For Kiraly it’s her first UH appearance.
>> USD opens the match with an ace and a 4-0 run pushes the Torero lead to 9-3. Timeout UH. Robyn Ah Mow going to the bench early with Annika De Goode and Kate Lang rotating in.
>> The USD reaches 8-0 before Van Sickle puts away her second kill. Katie Lukes serves up USD’s third ace of the set in another 4-0 run and the Toreros are dominating at 17-4. UH out of sorts and struggling to get clean swings. UH hitting .000 (3-3-16).
>> UH shows some life late but USD closes out the set 25-23. Katie Lukes leading USD with six kills. UH hits -.034 in the set with just two natural points.