There are many ways into the Hawaii volleyball starting lineup. Brook Sedore used the service entrance.
Sedore’s success as a serving substitute led to a starting job in the Warriors’ two-match sweep of Pepperdine last weekend.
"He led the team in aces with one turn a set," UH coach Charlie Wade said of Sedore’s role in the first seven matches. "We wanted to get him three turns a set."
Sedore, a 6-5 sophomore, served well and hit even better against Pepperdine to secure the opposite attacker’s job for matches against Stanford on Friday and Saturday. Sedore had 17 and 15 kills and hit a combined .406.
"It’s easier to free up," Sedore said of his strike-first duties as an opposite. "All I do is really hit. I don’t have to pass anymore."
He also blocks more efficiently on the right side. Sedore’s key to blocking?
"Brook is not overthinking it too much," Wade said. "He’s getting in front of the (opposing hitter) and (jumping) big. Let’s not overthink the room. Get in front of the hitter and touch some (spikes)."
Serving remains Sedore’s speciality.
"He has worked at it," Wade said. "It was the one thing I walked away from when I watched him at Junior Olympics (a few years ago). Very few guys at that age have pre-serving routines. He was very consistent. He already had the foundation for a good routine."
Sedore, who was raised in Canada, said he was 14 when a mentor taught him the importance of going through the same motions before each serve.
"He said: ‘You might not think it’s serious now, but it’s a huge deal,’" Sedore recalled.
Before each serve, Sedore takes a deep breath.
"If it’s late in the match and you’re going to serve after a long rally, you might be panting," Sedore said. "If you take that one deep breath to relax, it frees up a lot. Your heart rate slows down. You can focus a lot more."
Sedore said serving involves more than hard swings.
"It’s more of a confidence thing," he said. "Anybody can go out and crush a serve. I’ve seen our liberos crush serves. It’s going back there and having the confidence in your arm and hitting it. When I miss my serves, it’s usually in mid-toss and I think, ‘Oh, this toss is off.’ If I have a negative toss, it’ll come off as negative. But if I’m behind (the service line) and throw it up and bang it, the outcome is pretty positive."
Sedore said he works extra on the toss. He wants it high, straight and slightly forward. He used to struggle when the toss was off-center.
"If I over-rotate it and it goes left, then it’s got too much spin and too much momentum," Sedore said.
Finding consistency with the toss was on Sedore’s bucket list while training with a Canadian national team last summer.
"I would put a bucket 3 feet inside the court," Sedore said, "and throw up spin tosses and try to get as many in the bucket as I can. That’s really helped me a lot."
