Moments after closing the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge a disappointing 1-2, Hawaii senior hitter Riley Wagoner had only one thing to look forward to about this week’s road trip to Texas.
“Just getting the chance to play again,” Wagoner said on Sunday. “Getting a chance to redeem this loss and really just play again.”
One week after earning its first national ranking in four years at No. 23, the Hawaii women’s volleyball team fell out of the latest AVCA/Teraflex Top 25 after losses to Liberty in five sets and UCLA in four sandwiched around the first sweep of the season against Pepperdine.
The Rainbow Wahine (5-3) close their nonconference portion of the schedule with the first road trip of the season at the Fight in the Fort Tournament at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
UH opens with the host Horned Frogs today before matches against Western Carolina on Friday and Florida State on Saturday.
TCU (4-4) has won four of five entering its first home match of the season after starting the year with losses to current No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 9 Minnesota.
“Semi-tall teams, offensively kind of the same as if you put a Liberty, UCLA together a little bit,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said of the tournament opponents. “It’s almost sort of the same kind of teams (as last week). (We’re) worried about our side more than the other side.”
It’s the second year in a row Hawaii will play its nonconference tournament in the state of Texas.
Hawaii opened last season in a tournament hosted by Texas A&M and opened 0-3 before finishing 3-5 in nonconference play.
UH also played two matches in a tournament hosted by Baylor in 2019 in its lone nonconference road trip.
“I think it’s just a coincidence,” Ah Mow said. “We kind of just look at what’s good for us RPI-wise. Nobody wants to come to Hawaii late in the season, make that over the water trip, and then we just kind of find the tournament that suits us.”
UH landed in Texas at 4 a.m. on Wednesday. It completed a two-hour practice inside the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in the late evening.
Wagoner, one of three Rainbow Wahine averaging at least three kills per set, has been in double figures in kills in all but one match this season.
She hit a season-best .355 in the three-set sweep of Pepperdine and led Hawaii with 17 kills in the loss to the Bruins.
“Practice was a little tough today. We had a long day yesterday coming in so I think that kind of factored into how we did today,” Wagoner said. “We’re just hoping tomorrow that our serve and pass is better than today.”
Wagoner thinks the quick turnaround will help the Rainbow Wahine, who are now six spots out of the Top 25.
Ah Mow said everything needs improvement.
“I like the grit that they come out and they just keep grinding, but I really think that we need to focus,” Ah Mow said. “I know they know what they need to take care of. Serving tough. We need to pass well to run our offense. We’re a high ball team but if we can get our middles involved and balance out the offense I think that’s a plus for us. But we need to work on everything.”
Today’s match against TCU is the only of the three available on streaming on ESPN+.
Florida State, which closes out the tournament against the Rainbow Wahine, took No. 3 Florida to five sets on Tuesday before losing 16-14 in the fifth.
University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Volleyball
Fight in the Fort Tournament
At Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena, Fort Worth, Texas
>> Today: Hawaii (5-3) vs. TCU (4-4), 1 p.m.
>> Friday: Hawaii vs. Western Carolina, 9 a.m.
>> Saturday: Hawaii vs. Florida State, 7 a.m.
>> TV: ESPN+ (Today only)
>> Radio: KKEA 1420-AM/97.5 FM
