Down in rankings, Wahine gear up for 49ers rematch

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DARRELL MIHO / OCT. 8

UH coach Dave Shoji implored his team during a timeout in the fifth set against Long Beach State in a match played at the Pyramid. The Wahine lost in five and they play a rematch on Friday at Stan Sheriff.

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Up in the win column, down in Monday’s NCAA Women’s Volleyball Ratings Percentage and the AVCA Coaches Top 25.

That’s where Hawaii stands heading into Friday’s critical Big West match with Long Beach State. The Rainbow Wahine, who swept both conference road matches last week, dropped six spots to 40 in the RPI, the computer-generated ratings that measure a team’s strength of schedule, and slipped one place to No. 15 in the national ranking.

Hawaii (16-5, 9-1) is tied with Long Beach State (15-6, 9-1) atop the Big West. The 49ers host Cal State Fullerton tonight before traveling for their match at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii, the lone Big West team ranked in the AVCA poll, has the highest RPI in conference. In Monday’s RPI, Long Beach State fell nine places to 55.

The 49ers lost to UC Irvine 3-2 last week, a result that Long Beach State officials said would be protested, although a Big West official on Monday said the conference had not yet received any protest paperwork. On Friday, 49ers coach Brian Gimmillaro was assessed two yellow cards in Set 5, which resulted in a red card and an automatic point, the point giving the Anteaters the 15-12 victory.

The Sept. 24 match at Irvine, Calif. — won by the 49ers 3-2 — also was protested by UCI. Last week, the NCAA upheld the UCI appeal and that match will be replayed from the point of the contested ruling, at 20-18 in Set 2, in a match where the Anteaters had won Set 1.

On Monday, defending national champion Nebraska (20-1) remained atop both the RPI and Top 25. The Huskers received all 64 first-place votes.

The Big Ten had three of the top four teams in the RPI: Nebraska, Wisconsin (second, 18-3) and Minnesota (fourth, 17-4). The West Coast Conference had two of the top six in San Diego (fifth, 19-3) and BYU (sixth, 20-3).

Besides Wisconsin, Hawaii’s other nonconference opponents ahead of it in the RPI are UCLA (19-4) at 8, Washington (19-3) at 10, Kansas State (17-6) at 14 and Arizona (14-10) at 37. Behind the Wahine are Missouri State (19-7) at 46, Pacific (14-10) at 60, Northern Illinois (19-5) at 67, Pepperdine (10-14) at 98, and Utah Valley. (11-13) at 155.

The RPI of the other Big West teams are 63 (Cal Poly), 73 (UC Santa Barbara), 136 (Cal State Northridge), 147 (UC Davis), 163 (UC Irvine), 264 (UC Riverside) and 278 (Cal State Fullerton).