The risk-reward element of serving has tilted heavily in Hawaii’s favor three matches into the men’s volleyball season.
Taking aggressive swings from the service line can ignite a rally whether by scoring directly with an ace or forcing an opponent out of system. Conversely, pumping one long or into the net can snuff momentum just as quickly, and staying conservative often leads to easy scores coming back across the net.
So far this season, the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors (3-0) have created scoring opportunities by keeping their serve inbounds on 89% of their attempts and have fired 25 aces while allowing just four entering today’s 5 p.m. rematch with Edward Waters (0-1) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH coach Charlie Wade was quick to point out the Warriors’ overall efficiency following a sweep in the Tigers’ debut match on Friday.
“We were productive and efficient,” Wade said after the Warriors committed nine total errors (four serving, four hitting, one ball-handling) in the 25-11, 25-7, 25-10 win.
“It’s something we’ve prided ourselves on for years. We spend a lot of time snapping and spinning balls over the net. We don’t make many hitting errors, we don’t make many serving errors and when you’re more efficient than your opponent you have a decided advantage.”
A total of 15 Warriors saw playing time on Friday, with 12 going back to serve. They were on target on 69 of their 73 service attempts, with 11 aces against an Edward Waters rotation that played nine freshmen and a junior in the program’s first official match.
UH setter Jakob Thelle had five aces (all in the first set) in 12 attempts without an error to raise his season totals to 14 aces while serving in at a 93% clip. Five UH players recorded aces in the match, with sophomore Keoni Thiim contributing three.
Thiim, the grandson of former UH coach Mike Wilton, graduated from Kalani High School in 2019 and spent two years at Santa Barbara Community College. He transferred to UH this season and had one serving opportunity in the Warriors’ season-opening series with Loyola Chicago. He quickly went back to the bench after firing long in his first UH appearance on Jan. 7.
Wade said he was still on campus last Tuesday night when he went back to Gym 1 to retrieve an item he’d forgotten. He walked into the gym to find the lights on and balls scattered across the court, with Thiim working on serves on his own.
“I thought on the drive home, ‘Yup, he’s going to get plenty of opportunity this weekend,’ and he cashed in on it,” Wade said.
Thiim, a 6-foot outside hitter, had one error in 11 serves on Friday and punctuated the opening set by hammering a kill out of the back row.
On the other side of the court, steadying the reception was among Edward Waters coach Brandon Reeves’ takeaways from the Tigers’ debut and a priority entering the rematch.
“Our serve-receive was probably the most negative thing we had (Friday). But at least we picked it up in the third set, cut down on receiving errors,” Reeves said. “So we’re going to back into the lab and continue to work on our serve-receive. We know we got the offense. If we get a good ball up in the air, they can put the ball away. But it starts with the first contact.”
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Rainbow Warriors Volleyball
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Edward Waters (0-1) vs. No. 1 Hawaii (3-0)
> When: Today, 5 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
>> Tickets: etickethawaii.com, Stan Sheriff Center box office
