Hawaii women’s volleyball: Rainbow Wahine sweep awards: Norene Iosia POY, Hanna Hellvig FOY, Robyn Ah Mow co-COY
Hawaii took home the big awards in the Big West Conference postseason women’s volleyball honors announced today.
After UH won its first outright conference title since 2016, senior setter/hitter Norene Iosia was named the BWC Player of the Year; Hanna Hellvig was named Freshman of the Year; and Robyn Ah Mow was named co-BWC Coach of the Year along with Cal State Fullerton’s Ashley Preston.
Four players made the All-BWC first team: Iosia, Hellvig, Sky Williams and Amber Igiede. McKenna Ross and Brooke Van Sickle were named honorable mentions.
Hellvig and Igiede were named to the all-freshman team.
Hawaii WVBʻs Hanna Hellvig speaks about being named Big West Freshman of Year pic.twitter.com/S010qo4L7J
— Cindy Luis (@Cindy3Luis) November 27, 2019
From the Big West:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR • NORENE IOSIA, HAWAII
Senior • Setter • Torrance, Calif. • Redondo Union HS
• 10th Hawai’i player named Big West Conference Player of the Year, and first since Nikki Taylor won back-to-back in 2015-16.
• Third setter in 21 years to be named player of the year.
• Four-time All-Big West First Team member.
• Finished the regular season ranked second in the league with a .42 service ace average.
• One of three Rainbow Wahine to play in all 104 sets this season.
• Posted 17 double-doubles on the season.
• Led Hawai’i with 293 digs and posted a dig average of 2.82 to rank 10th in the Big West.
• Paced UH this season with 577 assists, 293 digs, and a career-high 44 service aces.
• Finished the regular season ranked in the UH career record books at No. 10 with 1,137 career digs, No. 9 with 3,080 career assists and No. 4 with 135 service aces.
• Named Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week on October 28 after registering a career-high eight blocks against Cal State Fullerton.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR • HANNA HELLVIG, HAWAII
Outside Hitter • Stockholm Sweden • Allebergs Gymnasiet
• Becomes the First Rainbow Wahine to be tabbed freshman of the year since Nikki Taylor earned the distinction in 2013.
• Earned All-Big West First Team Honors as well as All-Freshman Team accolades.
• Finished seventh in the conference in kills with a 3.12 set average, while pacing UH with 324 kills.
• Ranked third on the Rainbow Wahine squad with 72 blocks.
• Tallied five double-doubles.
• Named Big West Conference Freshman of the Week five times.
CO-COACH OF THE YEAR • ROBYN AH MOW, HAWAII
• First coach of the year honor for Robyn Ah Mow, and seventh overall for Hawai’i.
• Led Hawai’i to its first Big West Conference title since 2016.
• Rainbow Wahine posted 24 wins during the regular season, the highest win total since 2015.
• She has Hawai’i headed to the team’s 38th NCAA Tournament, 27th consecutive.
• UH finished the season winning its last 11-straight matches—its longest streak of the year and longest since 2015 when UH won 24-straight matches.
CO-COACH OF THE YEAR • ASHLEY PRESTON, CAL STATE FULLERTON
As it should be!
Congrats and well deserved.
Brooke was robbed IMO.
Phillips from Cal poly has at best, average stats. Under 2 KPS, Just above .300 at .309 and under a BPS. Hardly all conference numbers.
Amber and Skyler 1st team and HM Brooke and Ross. Hapoy for Ross who some doubted her value
So awesome! I knew Coach Rob and Hellvig were locks, but Iosia winning POY is out of this world! I think it’s the fact that she led her team to the ship, and she’s four time all-conference that got her in over Dvoracek.
I’m also stoked to see Ross getting an HM nod. Too bad UH couldn’t get five players on the first team, otherwise Van Sickle would be there for sure.
Congratulations to all!
3. Happy
Congrats to Norene, Hanna, Robyn and all the honorees! Well earned!
Congrats to them all and the team for a great season so far! Both the team and the coaching staff did a great job of adjusting as key players got injured. They are among the most mature, resilient and determined teams to play at UH. Hoping for a deep push into the tournament and some All American recognition.
YES!!!! Well deserved rewards for Norene, Hanna, and Coach Rob.
Also thankful Amber and Skyler made 1st team too. IMO, Amber will become am All American before she departs. She will become a vocal leader and captain too. She plays with so much confidence and enthusiasm for a Freshmen. I remember the coach for St. Michaels mentioned that Amber would remind us of former LBSU All American. Danielle Scott. She is surely that type of player.
I am very happy Brooke and Ross made the Honorable Mention. They are possibly the 2 BEST 5’7 and 5’9 OH in the country.
Brooke hands down would be 1st Team ALL Conference if she didn’t have that knee/hamstring injury. She is the “most athletic” specimen we have seen in a long time.
All I know every single one of these athletes would trade their awards for the coveted 2019 National Champions trophy!
Let’s Go Get it Bows!!!
Agree about Brooke – pound for pound, inch for inch, probably the most exciting volleyball player on the team.
Scoop !!! Congrats to all honorees.
I’m also happy for Ashley Preston, whose positive demeanor in the face of adversity I have long admired.
Wow!!! Great news for all!!!
Good team effort supporting all the Wahine who received honors, including Coach Rob!!! Congratulations!!!
As I have posted previously, last year was the first year since the rally scoring era began in 2001 that no Rainbow Wahine player was selected as an AA.
According to new rules, AVCA will select 42 student-athletes (down from 85 in 2018) as AVCA All-America Honorable Mention. Of these 42 selections, “athletes named Player of the Year from their conference AND AVCA All-Region, will automatically be named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention.”
There are two interpretations to the above statement: (1) if you are named your conference’s POY, you are automatically named to the AA HM list; or (2) if you are selected as your conference’s POY AND also selected to the All-Region team, you are automatically named to the AA HM list.
Anyway, congrats to COY Robyn Ah Mow, POY Iosia, FOY Hellvig, and 2019 Big West All-Conference team members from the University of Hawaii Igiede, Williams, Van Sickle and Ross.
2. Van Sickle missed 5 out of the 16 matches so I’m sure that had some effect.
13. we’ll see how the AA committee votes. If you remember Taylor was two-time POY in Big West. but only got 2nd team AA both years, despite having spectacular national numbers and being a 6-rotation player. that was where Shoji got angry. bunch of players got AA and only played front row.
Is Ross the only walk-on to get conference honors.
Although not mentioned let us not forget Robyn’s right-hand “man”, Angelica Ljungqvist. The woman behind the scenes who not only helped recruit (Hanna Hellvig) but took care of the paperwork, logistics, training, coaching the middles, and tracking progress of the girls. I’m sure Robyn would not mind sharing the credit where credit is due.
I’m wondering whether there have been other setters or OHs that won BW POY without winning a single POW that season.
One can only wonder what this all conference team would be like if BVS and JR were healthy all season. I’m a bit iffy on the COY being shared though. Not taking anything away from Coach Preston but given what Coach Rob has done with this team and what they’ve accomplished, it’s pretty hard to beat. In the end, so deserving for these ladies and Congratulations to all!
Go Bows! Very proud of this team and congrats to Iosia, Hellvig, and Ah Mow!
It’s amazing to see the journey they have been on this year. And, it’s fun watching Iosia’s matches from her Freshman year. Her maturity, leadership and self-lessness serves as a great example to our young athletes.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy, and be safe. To bad the girls from out of State can’t be at home with their families on this holiday, so guess they have to make do with the Hawaii Ohana.
Congratulations. I agree whole heartily with tongo’s #7 comments. Excellent observations.
Hoping to see the team in action in the SSC next week.
A hui hou
congratulations to all the winner. so happy Norene got player of the year, she deserved it. the other team members also deserved their recognition but I was somewhat disappointed that Rika did not garner at least second team or honorable mention. she was supper.
The All Conference Team list escaped me at first but did find it:
https://twitter.com/BigWestSports/status/1199419468620763136/photo/1.
Congratulations to all. Good chance Cal Poly and UCSB get invited to the NCAA post season tourney.
What time is selection Sunday. I think wahine basketball will be on spectrum @ the time. Will spectrum have a special for football and wahine VB. It would be nice to have a call the coach, like Rolos having right now with Robyn. Hosting will be the icing on the cake..
15. don’t know. you’d have to ask the other teams.
17. you can easily find that out. the Big West record book is available online. although it’s only updated through 2017. don’t think the sport is a priority with them. They announced Hawaii winning the title today under the headline ICYMI
As mentioned earlier somewhere, the weekly honors are voted on by the sports information directors. The all-conference honors by the coaches.
19. most college athletes aren’t at home with families for Thanksgiving, especially those who play fall sports.Many of the families were here for senior night and Sunday’s banquet.
Hawaii will be spending Thanksgiving feeding the homeless in Waimanalo. It’s something that Mahina Eleneki-Hugo, family and friends have been doing for the past 15 years or so. Believe this is the first time the Wahine are doing it.
As for Rika, it would have been nice. but people seem to forget this is not the All-Hawaii team. There is no second team just first and HM. Perhaps when the conference expands next year they’ll have a second team.
My 15 comment is if UH has ever had a walk on win conference honor. Akiu got honored but she was walk on then she wasn’t.
22. my original post had the link to the Big West PDF but it got deleted when some other stuff got added.
23. NCAA selection show on ESPNU at 3:30 p.m. HST
conflicts with basketball. Team will be watching at someone’s home, not at the arena.
I suggest you call Spectrum and ask.
26. thanks for the clarification.
2. True that Meredith Phillips was mediocre. She won’t win any AA honors for sure. I think that the only one on the Cal Poly team who could win those honors is Maia Dvoracek. As for Brooke van Sickle, she will have one last opportunity next year and if she stays healthy, she could possibly win AA honors as well, if not higher. As for the UH team, the farther they go in the playoffs this year, the more All-American awards they’ll reap, even team awards, whether third, second or first team awards.
In general, I’m glad that the UH fans are happy and yes, all the awardees are well deserving and congrats to them all.
What is the status of Jolie Rassmussen? She should be fully healed by now.
28 to 27🙂
Can you wait for next year?
Congratulations to the entire team for getting to where they are now. It took a lot of hard work and perseverance on everyone’s part. So proud of them all. All I can say about Norene is IT’S ABOUT TIME she got the recognition she deserved!!
Someone mentioned that Allie Andrew was the recruit with Kate on senior night. Was there any feedback about her visit?
GO BOWS!!!
30. when we last saw her Friday she wasn’t cleared to play. She’s limited in what she does in practices. Mostly tossing balls to servers. Wasn’t fully cleared to participate. She hasn’t been jumping.
don’t think you can say “she SHOULD be healed.”
it was a severe sprain, believe the sixth time this ankle has been sprained and it takes longer to recover each time.
only she knows how much pain she has.
33. I didn’t speak to her. Coaches can’t talk about her because she’s a junior.
IF it is Andrew … She plays for Aloha Volleyball which is run by the Van Sickles. listed at 6-4.
Believe she wants to play indoor and beach.
Someone on previous thread mentioned a couple of other schools in the running. May be between Hawaii and Pepperdine. All she can do is give a non-binding oral commit. Can’t sign until 2020.
Not that I know anything. just putting out how the process goes.
NCAA post season, info online already for us, when I was looking @ UH website. Nothing on cost, just a FYI on stuff.
nice they are being pro active
https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/2019/11/27/2019-ncaa-womens-volleyball-championship-ticket-information.aspx
https://www.hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=52190
New thread up with ticket info and T25 results