HONOLULU – UC Riverside continued Big West play on the islands on Saturday night with a 3-0 loss to Hawaii at the Stan Sheriff Center. 

UCR stayed close behind the Rainbow Wahine out of the first serve, but a brief 3-0 scoring run led Hawaii to call time after Jessica Dean served up an ace upon subbing in before the Rainbow Wahine closed out set one. 

The Highlanders flipped the script on the momentum in set two with a 5-0 run this time, and UC Riverside jumped out to a 17-10 set lead. Hawaii stormed back though and a combined seven kills from Mylei Vargas-Deason and Delaney Tate would not be enough to tie the match. 

The Rainbow Wahine took control in set three to close out the Highlanders in set three. 

Mylei Vargas-Deason led UCR in kills for the third time this year and second since September 2 at the Houston Baptist Tournament, registering seven on Saturday at Hawaii while adding five digs and a block. Tayler Hifo came two digs shy of a fourth consecutive double double, finishing with 23 assists and eight digs. 

Vargas-Deason eclipsed 90 sets played in her UCR career, now standing eight shy of 100. 

UC Riverside opens its home schedule on Thursday, September 29 when the Highlanders welcome UC San Diego to the SRC Arena for a 6:00 p.m. first serve. Admission is free for Thursday and all UCR home volleyball matches this season.