Igiede earns All-America third team, trip to NCAA semis

Nearly two weeks after Hawaii’s season finale, Amber Igiede earned one more road trip to cap her junior season.

The Rainbow Wahine middle blocker was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America third team on Wednesday, and the final addition to her stack of in-season and postseason honors came with a trip to Omaha, Neb., site of today’s national semifinals.

“I feel it’s a great way to represent Hawaii,” Igiede said after the announcement and before a red-eye trip to the Midwest. “But just watching the final four is going to be awesome because I know a few people and just to see the high level volleyball, I think it’s going to be a fun atmosphere to be in.”

Granted, Igiede would rather be playing in the final week of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament, but the trip to participate in the All-America festivities marks another step in her ascent since arriving on the Manoa campus.

Igiede’s production and efficiency continued to track on a steep incline over her three years at UH and she finished the season ranked fifth in the country in hitting percentage at a school-record .433 while leading the Rainbow Wahine (22-7, 19-1) to a third straight Big West championship.

Now a three-time Big West first-team honoree, she was named the conference’s player of the year, made the AVCA Pacific North Region team after an honorable mention selection last season, and earned one of the 42 spots on the 14-player All-America teams.

By continuing her climb, Igiede became the 31st UH player named to one of the AVCA’s All-America teams and the first since Emily Maglio, another middle blocker, made the second team in 2017. Since then, setter Norene Iosia and outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle were honorable mention selections in 2019 and last season, respectively.

“It’s definitely very special, not just for her but for the team,” said coach Robyn Ah Mow, herself a first-team All-America setter for UH in 1995 and ’96. “Aside from the athlete part, she’s just a great person.

“It’s definitely an honor to have one of the girls that we’ve coached become an All-American.”

Igiede led the Big West with 4.89 points per set and ranked second in the conference with 3.79 kills per set and 1.29 blocks per set. She also had 29 service aces with just 24 errors.

She broke the UH single-season hitting percentage record set by Angelica Ljungqvist in 1996 while taking 130 more swings than last season, when she hit. 388. She raised her kill total by 90 to finish at 406 while committing just five more errors (73) over 2021.

Along with Igiede’s athleticism, Ah Mow also credited her ascent to “just being coachable.”

“She was athletic already and just working skill-wise and (doing) what she needed to do hence, All-American.”

Igiede’s physical traits captured the attention of Ljungqvist, then UH’s associate coach, and Ah Mow as they scouted the Baton Rouge, La., high schooler. But Igiede’s demeanor between points and on the sideline also convinced Ah Mow of Igiede’s ability to meld into the culture of the program.

“She did what she needed to do and the way she was interacting with her teammates, that’s the kind of player you wanted,” Ah Mow said. “She wasn’t the big-headed athlete, she was just very humble.”

Fittingly, Igiede said when she learned of the All-America honor she felt, “just extreme gratitude toward my parents, toward the club coaches and high school coaches, because they really made me who I am today.

“I feel like I’m representing the (Rainbow Wahine) and the work we’ve put through. We’ve worked really hard this season and I just feel so rewarded to represent the coaches and the staff and everyone who worked hard.”

Igiede was among three players with Hawaii ties to earn All-America recognition.

Texas setter Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres and Stanford libero Elena Oglivie, former ‘Iolani teammates, made the All-America honorable mention list.

Ka’aha’aina-Torres was earlier named the Big 12 setter of the year and Oglivie was the Pac-12 libero of the year. Ka’aha’aina-Torres leads Texas into today’s final four match against San Diego, which defeated Stanford in a regional final last Saturday. Pittsburgh takes on Louisville in today’s second national semifinal. The national championship match is set for Saturday.

UH played against half of the final four field — San Diego and Pittsburgh — in the season-opening Texas A&M Invitational in late August.

UC Irvine middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu also represented the Big West as an honorable mention selection.