There was at least one good thing to come out of Hawaii failing to advance to the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
When Clay Wieter decided to transfer with one year of college eligibility remaining after spending four seasons at Lindenwood in Missouri, a coach on the staff pushed him to reach out to his dream school.
Wieter sent an email to Hawaii volleyball coach Charlie Wade later that day, and within two hours, he got a phone call in return.
“It was an incredible day. He was like, ‘Yeah, Clay, we’re never in the portal at this time of the year because we’re usually in the tournament,’ ” Wieter recalled. “He said he logged into the portal and my name was at the top and I kind of checked all of the boxes they look for in a transfer guy.”
Wieter felt he needed to keep his options open, but looking back now, he realized the decision had already been made once he heard back from Wade.
Now the 6-foot-6 senior, who admitted he wasn’t a very good player when he started playing in college, is the starting outside hitter for the fourth-ranked Rainbow Warriors volleyball team, which returns to the home court for matches tonight and Friday against Harvard.
“I didn’t know what my dream in life was until I got out here and realized this is my dream, to be at this school,” Wieter said. “I realized I reached the point where I was where I wanted to be and now I had to work hard to be a starter, and getting that spot is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
Wieter is one of 11 newcomers on the roster this season and brings a rare experienced player at the NCAA level to a team with three freshmen and an 18-year-old sophomore in the starting rotation.
He’s also shown an all-around game valuable in the UH lineup. He’s one of three players with 20 kills, is hitting .390, is second on the team in total digs and leads the team in total blocks.
He’s also one of four players to record an ace.
“There’s no question, having experience, more than anything, helps you gain perspective,” Wade said after Friday’s season-opening win. “You can look at things and not be freaked out by it.”
That includes the more than 4,000 fans who attended UH’s season opener against McKendree on Friday after drawing a similar number in the exhibition against British Columbia.
Last season’s home opener for Lindenwood drew 196 people, according to the box score.
Wieter said it’s likely more people watched UH’s home opener against the Bearcats than the combined attendance total of every Lindenwood home game last season.
“I’ve been watching Hawaii since Joe Worsley and Rado (Parapunov) and those days when they were competing against TJ DeFalco and Long Beach, so I’ve been a fan for so long, and to get this opportunity to play in the Stan is so incredible,” Wieter said. “That first game against UBC, I didn’t even know I was starting until I asked Tread (Rosenthal), because Charlie didn’t tell me, so I got in there, and the moment when everyone was waiting outside and there were 500 to 1,000 people waiting in line to get in and we started high-fiving everyone, that was the moment that I realized what a dream come true this is.”
Last season, Wieter helped the Lions finish No. 16 in the final AVCA poll and made the All-Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association second team after leading the team in kills and aces.
He did it hitting from a setter, Connor Sheehan, who was listed on the roster as 6 feet, but Wieter said was more like 5-foot-11. The last time the two saw each other, they joked about Wieter now hitting from a setter who is a foot taller in the 6-foot-11 Rosenthal.
“When I was having the ball being set from a whole foot higher than it normally was, it was certainly a little bit of an adjustment,” Wieter said. “It’s honestly incredible to have such a tall guy setting us and being so good at setting. He actually touches higher than I do. It’s insane. I’ve never seen anything like it, so to be on a team with a guy like that is extra special.”
One of Wieter’s first lessons he learned when transferring to Hawaii was to bring an extra shirt to practice.
His first impression of his new team was that it was going to take a lot of work to catch up to the guys.
“When I got into the first practice, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and I remember (assistant coach) Milan (Zarkovic) going all in 100%, and I had never sweat so much in my entire life,” Wieter said. “He was like, ‘Clay, you need to bring two shirts to practice.’
“It’s been a lot of hard work, but this is what I am here for.”
RAINBOW WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
No. 4 Hawaii (2-0) vs. Harvard (0-0)
>> When: Today and Friday, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum (Tonight only)
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
