It’s the ultimate omiyage, the Japanese word for souvenir or remembrance of a trip.
In September 2018, the Hawaii men’s volleyball team went to Japan for a week of training as well as volleyball and cultural exchange. The Rainbow Warriors returned with a new-found appreciation of the Japanese style of play, including the efficiency that translated into Hawaii destroying hitting percentage records with a .435 last season. (The rally score-era mark was .375, traditional score-era was .420).
This week, the Warriors return the favor by hosting Nittaidai University in a pair of exhibitions. No. 1 Hawaii (14-0) looks to use these not just as a tuneup for next week’s two matches with No. 2 Brigham Young (15-0) but a gift that keeps on giving for the rest of the season and beyond.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority is sponsoring Nittaidai’s trip, and discussions are being held about the Warriors going to Japan in 2021 for a regular-season match. It all came about after the Warriors had another NCAA team scheduled for this week but “when that team bailed out, we had a puka to fill,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “I went to (UH athletic director) David Matlin about seeing if HTA would sponsor. Now we’re in discussions about going there during the regular season. I think it’s win-win-win, a positive for a lot of different reasons.”
The benefit was visible after the 2018 trip.
“I thought our trip there helped last year’s team really improve in a short amount of time,” Wade said. “This will be a contrast in style of play against a team that is really efficient.
“They serve-receive at a high level, so you’re not going to ace them very much. If you’re serving super aggressively and miss, you’re just giving them points. We need to put the ball in play and work really hard to defend.”
“Their style is definitely different,” Warriors senior middle Patrick Gasman said. “They run a lot faster offense and their defense … nothing hits the floor.
“It will be interesting to see how we respond. They will give us a push and it will be a good challenge.”
Hawaii is coming off a bye week, which has been a good break from competition, Gasman said. Those matches next week with BYU, followed by the start of Big West play, have been difficult not to think about.
“It’s really important for us to focus on this week and then use what we can and go into next week,” he said. “It’s going to be go, go, go from now on.”
Next week looms large with the matches between the two remaining undefeated teams in the country. The Warriors and Cougars again stayed 1-2 in Monday’s American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Top 15. Hawaii received 12 of the 16 first-place votes, BYU the other four.
The Big West has five of the top seven teams ranked, starting with Hawaii. UC Santa Barbara (10-2) is at No. 3 and Long Beach State (8-1) at No. 4. UC San Diego (12-3) jumped four places after defeating UC Irvine for a second time this season, moving the Tritons up to No. 6 and dropping the Anteaters a spot to No. 7.
MEN’S EXHIBITION VOLLEYBALL
At Stan Sheriff Center
>> Who: Nittaidai vs. No. 1 Hawaii
>> When: Wednesday and Friday, 7 p.m.
>> Radio/TV: None
>> Video/audio stream: bigwest.tv
