Last week’s lessons serve as preparation for this week’s test.
Over the opening weekend of the women’s volleyball season, Hawaii lamented tight sets that slipped away in a loss to Marquette and converted the experience into a sweep of Texas A&M.
The late-set tension also highlighted the value of fast starts heading into a challenging road trip to face three teams that qualified for last season’s NCAA Tournament.
“We learned that we have to come out stronger … and get into the rhythm a little faster this weekend,” UH senior middle blocker Skyler Williams said prior to the team’s first flight of the season.
The Rainbow Wahine (2-1) open their road trip today in a 1 p.m. match against Utah Valley (0-2) in Orem, Utah. They’ll then play in the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City and face No. 22 San Diego (1-1) at 8:30 a.m. Friday and No. 19 Utah (2-0) at 3 p.m. Saturday.
“I’m super excited, especially with this group of girls that are just so fun to be around,” Williams said. “We didn’t get much team bonding (activities) during camp, so I’m really excited for all the memories we’re going to create now.”
After dispatching Fairfield in last Friday’s season opener, the Wahine held leads late in the first two sets of Saturday’s matchup with Marquette only to see the veteran Golden Eagles surge ahead in extra-points on their way to a 26-24, 27-25, 25-21 sweep.
The pivotal points went Hawaii’s way in Sunday’s tournament finale against Texas A&M with the Wahine closing the tournament with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 sweep of the Aggies.
“Our motto after Saturday night was ‘L is for learning,’” UH assistant coach Kaleo Baxter said, “We learned from Saturday and executed on Sunday.”
Said Williams: “When we get into those tight spots where it’s point for point, we can’t play tight, that’s something we did learn. … We have to play loose, we have to go after every ball. If we make a mistake it has to be an aggressive mistake.”
UH outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle led the Big West and ranked third nationally with 6.22 points per set with 47 kills, two blocks and seven aces over the season’s opening weekend. She twice set career highs with 16 kills against Fairfield on Friday and 17 against Texas A&M on Sunday.
“We’ve always known Brooke has that capability. She showed it all in 2019 and she did it again in the first weekend,” Baxter said. “She’s a special player. She’s super agile, super quick and athletic, so any way that we can find an opportunity for her to score we’re going to feed her the ball.”
Mylana Byrd played most of the opener at setter, shared time with freshman Kate Lang against Marquette, and went the distance against Texas A&M. Byrd’s 10.5 assists per set rank second in the Big West.
UH also got a solid performances from its freshman class with libero Tayli Ikenaga providing steady play in the back row and outside hitter Mia Johnson sparking the attack against Texas A&M with 14 kills in her first career start.
“That’s something we saw the entire fall camp,” Baxter said of Johnson’s performance. “So to see her be that successful in our opening weekend was tremendous.”
Utah Valley, led by 23rd year coach Sam Atoa, made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in the spring after winning the Western Athletic Conference tournament. The Wolverines opened the fall with with two losses to Utah in a home-and-home series last Friday and Saturday, hitting a collective .081 against the Utes. Senior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa put down 17 kills with 13 errors in 48 attempts in a four-set loss in the opener.
San Diego opened with a loss to No. 1 Texas then bounced back with a four-set win over Texas-San Antonio. Grace Frohling, a 6-foot-5 opposite, posted 19 kills while hitting .381 against UTSA.
Utah outside hitter Dani Drews averaged 4.14 kills per set in hitting .301 in the series with Utah Valley. The Utes also returns senior middle blocker and Kahuku graduate Phoebe Grace.
RAINBOW WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
At Orem, Utah
>> Hawaii (2-1) at Utah Valley (0-2)
>> When: Today, 1 p.m.
>> TV: None
>> Live stream: ESPN+
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
