Middle blocker Amber Igiede taking her game, Wahine to new heights By Jason Kaneshiro
11/3/22, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
STEVEN ERLER / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER / OCT. 8
UH middle Amber Igiede leads the Big West and ranks sixth nationally in hitting percentage at .428.As Amber Igiede’s kill total rose, she focused simply on continuing to elevate.
Last Saturday, the University of Hawaii middle blocker turned in a career-best performance while passing a personal milestone in the midst of the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team’s five-set Big West volleyball duel at UC Davis.
But the numbers provide only a partial measure of the influence Igiede exerts with every jump.
“As a middle, you jump either to get set or to fake out the middle on the other side. So there’s a purpose to every jump,” Igiede said.
“During that last game, especially the last set, I just wanted to keep jumping.”
A focal point in the middle of the Hawaii attack and the Big West’s leading point producer, Igiede tends to command the attention of opposing blockers. As such, she can impact the course of a point with each jump, whether the set comes her way or is directed to a pin hitter.
In the match at UC Davis, UH setter Kate Lang fed Igiede 37 times and she put away a career-high 24 kills to help the Rainbow Wahine overcome a slow start to fend off the host Aggies and remain alone atop the conference entering this week’s homestand against Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton.
“Amber’s just a beast out there,” UH coach Robyn Ah Mow said. “She’s definitely a threat for us and it helps the outsides get open as well.
“(The middles will) jump, and not touch a ball. Jump again, and not get set. And they just have to keep going and going.”
Igiede was charged with hitting errors on her first three attempts last Saturday. She then hit .559 over the remainder of the match and put away her final four kills in the decisive fifth set.
Her second kill of the race to 15 gave her 800 for her career and she raised her total to 802 entering Friday’s match between the Big West-leading Rainbow Wahine (14-6, 11-1 BWC) and third-place Long Beach State (15-6, 10-3) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
For her efforts, Igiede was named the Big West offensive player of the week for the second time in her career. Igiede picked up the weekly defensive honor in early September and she’s the only player in the Big West to earn both awards this season.
Igiede was drawn to the islands from Baton Rouge, La., in part by the work ethic of the Rainbow Wahine program. She’s since put in the work to carry an ever-increasing role in the UH attack.
“Getting stronger weight room-wise, agility, that’s all offseason, you can’t do that within the two weeks when we start the season,” Ah Mow said. “That’s definitely in the spring, during the summer, just coming in and being in shape.”
Igiede has posted double-digit kills in all but one match this season and the last 18 in a row. She’s paired production with efficiency, leading the Big West and ranking sixth nationally in hitting percentage at .428 with 272 kills against 51 errors.
Igiede’s 516 total attacks clearly outpaces the other national leaders in the category. Among the top 10, Rice’s Anota Adekunle (also hitting .428) is next with 470 attempts.
A first-team All-Big West pick in 2019 and again last year, Igiede also enters the weekend as the conference’s leading scorer with 4.60 points per set, combining her kill total with 15 service aces, 24 solo blocks and 68 block assists.
In Big West matches only, her hitting percentage jumps to .440 with 4.80 points per set, both conference highs. Her 3.82 kills per set ranks third and she’s the only middle among the top 12 attackers.
Igiede typically plays her three rotations across the front row and her service turn in the back before taking a break when libero Tayli Ikenaga takes her place on defense.
When she does rotate to the front, the attention she draws means often facing defenses stacked to slow her down. On those occasions when the ball comes back across the net, Ah Mow has seen growth in Igiede’s perspective on being blocked, controlling the frustration, then continuing to bounce back.
“She’s still working on it, but in the last four games I feel like she’s more dialed on that,” Ah Mow said. “But definitely from (her) freshman year to now, she’s definitely matured.”
Big West women’s volleyballAt SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Long Beach State (15-6, 10-3 BWC) vs. Hawaii (14-6, 11-1)>> When: 7 p.m. Friday
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
