One school of thought teaches that more is learned from a loss than a win.
That’s the knowledge that No. 4 Hawaii packed Wednesday morning when leaving for its toughest road trip of the year. The Rainbow Warriors (9-2, 4-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) play four volleyball matches in five days starting Friday, the first of back-to-back matches with No. 6 Stanford (8-2, 6-2).
Hawaii is coming off its first home loss in a year — a five-setter to then-No. 1 UCLA on Saturday— and “we know we didn’t play our best either night,” Warrior junior setter Jennings Franciskovic said. “And still, we beat them in four (Friday) and it went five (Saturday).
“This is a lot of travel for us, something no one else (in the MPSF) has to go through. We know it will be grueling and this is a big trip for us. These games will give us perspective of where we will be this year.”
MEN’s VOLLEYBALL
At Stanford, Calif.
>> Who: No. 4 Hawaii (9-2, 4-2 MPSF) at No. 6 Stanford (8-2, 6-2 MPSF)
>> When: 5 p.m. Friday & Saturday
>> TV/Radio: None
>> Streaming video: Saturday, pac-12.com
Currently Hawaii is in fifth place, a game behind Stanford, which has played two more matches. After facing the Cardinal Friday in Burnham Pavilion and Saturday in Maples Pavilion, the Warriors fly down to Los Angeles Sunday to prepare for matches at USC Monday and Tuesday.
“Once a year, we do the back-to-back thing and double up with teams,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “Unfortunately this year, it’s a NorCal-SoCal thing. It was easier when it was all NorCal with Stanford and Pacific (which has since dropped its program).
“Some of it is money, we do save on plane tickets when not taking two trips, some of it is class time. It’s not ideal but it is what it is. A trip like this is always a concern.”
What concerns Wade the most are the issues on his side of the court. In Saturday’s loss, the Warriors’ offense became somewhat predictable after Set 3 with the Bruins out-blocking Hawaii 7-0 in the final two sets. Fifteen of the 25 sets in Set 4 went to either senior hitter Siki Zarkovic or freshman opposite Stijn van Tilburg, and 14 of the 17 sets in Set 5 went their way as well.
“We want to have everyone contribute and not feel like we only have two hitters,” assistant coach and former Warrior Joshua Walker said. “It makes it tougher on the other team when we are using more options and we have players on the court who can score. We want our offense to be more dynamic.
“I like our guys and I like our chances on this trip. I like our chances with the passers we have to be in-system. We know this will be a tough trip. It’s always tough playing on the road. But these are the weekends you train for when you come to UH.”
