All goes well at Wahine’s first practice

Energy, focus and commitment. It was all there, even at 6 a.m. Tuesday when Hawaii opened its first practice of the volleyball season.

It was all still there at 5:30 p.m. after the second session at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It also was still very much “Dave’s World,” with a poster of Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji — currently at the Rio Olympics — hanging on the baseline railing.

“Having ‘Virtual Dave’ here was good. It was nice having him in his little corner,” senior All-America opposite Nikki Taylor said. “We miss him, but I’m used to having Jeff (associate head coach Hall) as my coach on the beach and we work closely indoor. So it’s nothing new.

“I thought today went really well. The first week is really redundant, the same reps over and over again, but our energy was still good. Everyone was very involved in what they were doing.”

That included the newcomers. The 19-player roster has five true freshmen, a redshirt freshman and a junior transfer.

“It’s a great group of girls, with great hearts,” Taylor said of her new teammates. “When we had open gym (over the summer) they were all hanging, and hanging great. It was awesome to see. They were very much adapted to this level and it allowed us to work at a faster pace.”

As expected, there was a little rust on both sides of the white board. With three new additions to the staff — assistant Lindsey Berg, volunteer coach Tom Pestolesi and Director of Volleyball Operations Kaleo Baxter — the coaches were getting used to being in the gym together as well, drawing inspiration from a legendary coach.

Written on the white board was a quote from the late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden: “A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.”

“We all want to have that growth mind-set,” Hall said. “We’ve waited a long time to be back in the gym with our returnees — and longer to finally be able to work with our newbies. It’s really cool to be here now and be off and running.

“I haven’t been in too many gyms where the first practice was bad. Everyone is focused and committed to being in the moment. We’ll see where we’re at on Day 7 with our energy, but today was awesome.”

Faith Ma’afala had no words to express it. The Kamehameha Schools graduate has transferred back home after two years setting at Southern Utah.

“I grew up watching the Wahine — this has been my dream,” said Ma’afala, who will redshirt this season. “It’s amazing, honestly a privilege to play for UH and I can’t thank Coach Dave enough for the opportunity.

“How cool? I can’t begin to explain it to you, being home with family and friends, from being one of the fans way up there (in the stands) and now you’re down here (on the court). It’s awesome.”

It was apparent that the Big West coaches had a good feeling about Hawaii this season. The Rainbow Wahine left their first practice Tuesday morning as the preseason favorite to repeat as conference champions.

Hawaii, which ran the table last season at 16-0, was the unanimous No. 1 choice by the coaches, earning 81 points. Conference runner-up Long Beach State was picked second (68 points) and Cal Poly (66) was third.

Rounding out the voting were UC Irvine (47), UC Davis (44), UC Santa Barbara (39), CSUN (29), UC Riverside (20) and Cal State Fullerton (11).

Hawaii, 29-2 last season, ranked No. 7 in the AVCA’s final Top 25, the highest since 2011, when it ranked No. 5. The preseason Top 25 will be announced today.