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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- In a battle between two of the top Big West teams, the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team rallied to force a fifth set before coming up short at UC Santa Barbara, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13 on Friday.
In the loss, four Rainbow Wahine put down at least 13 kills apiece and four scooped up at least 15 digs. Paula Guersching led the UH offense with 16 kills while hitting a team-best .366.
Both Riley Wagoner and Kate Lang recorded double-doubles for UH (12-6, 5-2 Big West). Wagoner put down 13 kills with 16 digs, and Lang dished out 43 assists and scooped up a career-high 22 digs.
Amber Igiede buried 15 kills with a team-high seven blocks, while Kendra Ham had a season-high 15 digs.
Down two sets to one, the Rainbow Wahine forced a fifth after going on a late 4-0 run to take a 24-20 lead in the fourth, ending it on a kill from Guersching.
In the fifth, UCSB took a quick 4-1 lead, but UH would trail by just one at 7-6. The Gauchos responded by taking four of the next five points to extend their lead to 11-7. A late Hawaii rally closed the gap as UH staved off three match points and thought they had tied it at 14-14 before a UCSB challenge overturned a call to end the match.
Earlier in the fifth set, UH had issued a challenge, but the review system went down and was inoperable, so instead of the score possibly being tied at 4-4, UCSB held a 5-3 lead.
The Gauchos was led by Michelle Ohwobete's 18 kills, and Andi Kreiling was in on nine blocks.
The Rainbow Wahine play at Cal Poly today.