It’s “Plan B” time. The “B” being “The Beach,” as well as what Hawaii does if senior opposite Nikki Taylor is unable to play in Friday’s critical Big West volleyball match with Long Beach State.
Taylor, who has battled several injuries during her career, was not cleared to practice on Tuesday. In her stead, the Rainbow Wahine worked on different lineups to see what might be the best combination.
Should Taylor be unable to practice today, “we’ll work harder on that right lineup,” Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said.
Taylor asked to be taken out of Saturday’s match late in Set 2 at Cal State Fullerton. She landed awkwardly after digging a ball earlier in the set but remained in, serving for seven straight before leaving with the Wahine up 21-13.
Taylor missed the first three matches of the season with an injured left elbow. She missed one match last season due to concussion protocol and seven matches as a sophomore with an elbow injury.
Taylor wasn’t the only one missing on Tuesday. Freshman hitter Kirsten Sibley is out for this week after spraining her right ankle during a practice on Oct. 25. Sophomore Casey Castillo, who has played both middle and outside, practiced Tuesday but isn’t 100 percent with a nagging leg problem.
“We are more limited than we have been,” Hawaii associate head coach Jeff Hall said. “Injuries are part of the business of athletics. You have to be resilient and look at the next person stepping in.
“We’ve had multiple players playing multiple positions, and the beauty of it is we can plug them in. It’s a luxury and a testament to Dave that he had the vision at the start of this season to train kids at multiple positions.”
There’s also multiple pressure on No. 15 Hawaii this week, looking at successfully defending its conference title as well as getting into the NCAA tournament. Friday’s match likely will decide the Big West championship, and, along with it, the automatic NCAA berth. Although Long Beach State lost Friday to UC Irvine, the 49ers already have a win over the Wahine, a 3-2 victory on Oct. 8 at The Pyramid.
With Hawaii sitting at 40 in the Ratings Percentage Index — and its RPI expected to continue to drop the remainder of the season — the Wahine might not make it as an at-large selection in the NCAA tournament should they finish second. The computer-generated RPI is used by the NCAA selection committee to seed the top 16 and fill out the 64-team field.
“It’s kind of like Louisville in football,” Shoji said. “We don’t have the opportunity to play anyone who will help raise our RPI.
“Long Beach didn’t help us by losing (to UCI). We still have to win Friday. It still comes down to us and them.”
Despite playing what the Wahine agree was their worst match of the year, Hawaii still had a chance to win last month’s contest. The Wahine led 8-6 and 12-11 in the fifth set but couldn’t close, the fourth time in five meetings the outcome was decided in the fifth.
Note
Both Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge warmed up for their trip Honolulu on Tuesday with home sweeps over Hawaii’s two most recent opponents. The 49ers rolled past Cal State Fullerton 25-12, 25-11, 25-20 and the Matadors downed UC Riverside 25-22, 25-22, 25-19.
