Wahine get a look at their chances of hosting in the NCAA tournament

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Hawaii outside hitter Kirsten Sibley put down one of her five kills against UC Riverside on Sunday.

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It’s just the way it is.

And what it is leaves Hawaii already doubting it has a chance of hosting the first week of the NCAA volleyball tournament — this nearly seven weeks before “Selection Sunday” on Nov. 27.

On Monday, the No. 12 Rainbow Wahine (11-4, 4-0 Big West) opened at 21 in the first Ratings Percentage Index of the season. The RPI is used to help seed teams in the postseason based on a team’s record and its strength of schedule.

The current formula uses winning percentage (25 percent), opponents’ winning percentage (50 percent) and the winning percentage of opponents’ opponents (25 percent). It also gives bonuses and penalties for wins over top-50 teams and losses to teams ranked 285-309 in this first RPI.

The top 16 seeds have the opportunity to host the first and second rounds if they put in a bid to host. This season, there are no predetermined regional sites, so the highest remaining seed in each region will host one of the four regionals.

“It’s right about where I thought we would be,” Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said on Monday. “We need our preseason opponents to do well and for us to keep winning.

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“Because our conference RPI is low, we’ll drop almost every week regardless of winning or losing. It’s just the way it is.”

The good news for the Wahine is that they have wins over four teams rated in the top 50: Arizona (38), Pacific (47), UC Santa Barbara (48) and Cal Poly (50). The bad news is they missed out on bonus points when they lost to Top 25 rated Wisconsin (1), UCLA (10), Washington (11) and Kansas State (16).

The ugly news is the Big West teams that the Wahine play twice. Following Hawaii, UCSB, Cal Poly and Long Beach State (51) are the other five teams that rate from 123 (Cal State Northridge) to 270 (UC Riverside).

The RPI for Hawaii’s other nonconference opponents — all Wahine victories — are 67 (Missouri State), 71 (Northern Illinois), 94 (Pepperdine) and 170 (Utah Valley).

Hawaii last hosted in 2013 and was swept by BYU in the second round. Last season, the Wahine finished 29-2 with a final RPI of 15 after reaching the elite eight of the NCAA tournament.

The Big Ten dominated the first RPI, with five teams in the top 12, led by top-rated Wisconsin (12-1) and Minnesota (12-1) in second. Defending national champion Nebraska (12-1) came in at 4, Purdue (11-4) at 7 and Michigan (13-3) at 12.

Also on Monday, the Wahine moved up a spot to No. 12 in the AVCA Coaches Top 25. Minnesota replaced Nebraska at No. 1, receiving 61 of the 64 first-place votes. Wisconsin also moved up one place to No. 2, while Nebraska (12-1, 3 votes) dropped two spots to No. 3 after losing to Ohio State on Saturday.

Rounding out the top 10 were Texas (12-2), San Diego (13-2), Kansas (13-2), Stanford (9-3), Washington (12-2), North Carolina (12-2) and Washington State (14-2). The Cougars continued to leap up the poll, going from unranked to No. 17 last week and up another seven spots this week after opening Pac-12 play with four consecutive wins (Washington, UCLA, Stanford and Cal).