Home and away, Hawaii has always drawn a crowd. This season, the 14th-ranked Rainbow Wahine are averaging 6,681 at the Stan Sheriff Center while playing in front of an average 1,397 on the road, a number skewed by the 3,212 at the Long Beach State match, the largest in The Pyramid for volleyball since 2010.
The crowd is expected to be smaller tonight at The Pavilion, where UC Davis (13-13, 6-7) is averaging 307. Still, just as in the past four seasons, the Aggies expect their largest crowd when Hawaii (19-5, 12-1) comes to town tonight.
And, as is the norm, the Wahine expect to have more supporters than the home team. Tonight’s stands will be filled with friends and family of Wahine freshman hitter Kirsten Sibley, including former teammates from Campolindo High, about an hour’s drive away.
Also watching tonight will be the newest member of the Hawaii volleyball ohana. Gage Worsley, younger brother of Rainbow Warriors sophomore setter Joe, signed his National Letter of Intent this week, the only scholarship player coach Charlie Wade plans to add in 2018.
It was a huge “get” for Wade. Gage Worsley has been considered the top libero in the country for several seasons and Hawaii won the recruiting war over UCLA and Brigham Young.
The determining factor?
“I wanted to play with my brother again,” Gage Worsley said in a telephone call. “There’s a number of guys on the team that I’ve played with or against, all really cool, good guys and it will be fun to play with them.
“They all have the same goal in mind, to win a national championship. I want to be a part of that.”
The 6-foot-2 Worsley said his first choice was UCLA, where family friend Micah Ma’a was an All-America setter as a freshman last season.
“I loved it. But then I came (to Hawaii on an official visit),” Worsley said. “I talked with my brother a lot and he convinced me that it was the place. I’m excited.”
So is Wade.
“Gage is one of the best players in the country and probably the best at that position (libero) since Erik Shoji,” Wade said of the former Stanford All-American, Olympian and youngest son of Wahine coach Dave Shoji. “I’ve known the family for a long time, going back to when Roger (Gage’s father) worked with the Wahine in 2000 (technical adviser). Gage is a proven commodity, a big-time player.
“To be one of the better teams you have to beat the other top teams first on the recruiting trail before doing it on the court. There’s some satisfaction that it’s against BYU and UCLA.”
While Worsley is the Warriors’ only signing, Punahou senior libero DJ McInerny committed as a walk-on.
Another Campolindo player will join Sibley on the Wahine roster next season. Cougars senior co-captain Janelle Gong, a 5-9 hitter, is walking on as a defensive specialist but won’t be at tonight’s match, as Campolindo is in the state playoffs.