It was THE event on the Valley Isle on Friday night, with fans lined up for hours outside War Memorial Gym to see the "home team" back on Maui for the first time in more than 20 years.
The only disappointment for the sold-out crowd of 2,100 was that it didn’t last longer. But it was long enough for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team, which fell to Nebraska 25-23, 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 in a spring exhibition match.
The Huskers, getting exceptional play from senior outside hitters Gina Mancuso (16 kills) and Hannah Werth (15 kills, 17 digs), were just too much for a young Rainbow Wahine team searching for chemistry and consistency.
"We have a lot to work on," said junior hitter Emily Hartong, who finished with a match-high 18 digs. "We’re going to have some growing pains and just need to play together more."
The Huskers found their rhythm midway through Set 1. With the Wahine leading 19-18, Nebraska setter Lauren Cook went on a 6-0 run that put her team ahead for good at 24-19. The Wahine held off four set points, closing to 24-23, but Mancuso put down her fifth kill to end it.
Hawaii never fully recovered. Nebraska was able to string together points while not allowing the Wahine to do so.
"That was the best thing about tonight," Huskers coach John Cook said. "We were able to go on runs and not let them go on runs.
"That’s something we work on a lot, and it’s hard to do, especially in your first match (of the spring season)."
Cook got a pleasant surprise from senior walk-on libero Paige Hubl, who finished with a match-high 19 digs. Hubl anchored the Nebraska vacuum that finished with 48 digs to Hawaii’s 23.
The taller Huskers had a 23-20 edge in blocks, while also taking advantage of numerous Wahine overpasses.
"I’m just disappointed that we didn’t put on a better show for the Maui fans," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We’ve been working really hard this spring and we didn’t show it tonight.
"I’m not worried about our left sides (Hartong and Jane Croson). We’ve got some pop out there from them — not enough tonight, but I’m not worried. But we need to get better in the middle and definitely on the right side."
Shoji used all three of his middles — Kristiana Tuaniga, Kalei Adolpho and Jade Vorster — in various combinations. He also used three different liberos (Emily Maeda giving way to Courtney Lelepali and Elizabeth Blake) and took a good look at redshirt freshman Ginger Long on the right.
The crowd went wild whenever Long (Kamehameha-Maui) and Adolpho (Molokai High) took a swing or got a dig or a block. Adolpho, back from the Wahine basketball team just a few weeks ago, finished with four kills, with some impressive step-outs and showing her athleticism off to newly named UH basketball coach Laura Beeman, who was in the stands.
"I thought the crowd was amazing," Adolpho said. "But we didn’t show all we could do. We want to get back in the gym, get a little more chemistry going. I think we’ll be OK."
One thing that never got going for Hawaii on Friday night was Croson’s serve. She normally uses a sky-ball toss but altered it due to the low-hanging poles of the raised basketball backboards.
"She never got her serve going, not even in warmups," Shoji said.
Croson finished with eight kills, five coming after Set 1.
Vorster and setter Mita Uiato both finished with five block assists.
The Wahine did accommodate the fans who stayed late for an autograph session. The session lasted nearly as long as the match (1 hour, 48 minutes).
