The new week opened with hope and disappointment.
When Hawaii returned for its final week of volleyball practice for the regular season, the Rainbow Wahine were greeted by encouraging news of a rise to 39 in the Ratings Percentage Index as well as the discouraging news that senior Kalei Greeley likely would not play in the NCAA tournament should they receive an at-large bid on Sunday.
The injury-hampered Greeley went down with a knee injury on Saturday with Hawaii leading 23-14 in Set 3 at UC Irvine and closing in on the sweep of the Anteaters. The senior, who had been relegated to a defensive specialist’s role the past two seasons due to shoulder injuries, went up for an attack out of the back row and landed awkwardly, resulting in a torn ACL in her left knee.
On Tuesday, Greeley arrived at practice on a motorized scooter and with a knee brace. She had played in just 15 of Hawaii’s 27 matches but had made a noticeable difference on serve-receive and defense, with a combined 33 of her 68 digs this season coming in the past three matches.
“She had been doing really well the last three weeks, in practice and the games, helping with our passing,” Wahine coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos said. “She’s obviously probably not going to play the rest of the season, but she can still be a focal point for the team, especially the seniors, with the girls playing for her and her cheering and supporting the team.”
Hawaii is hoping to be able to use “Play for Kalei” next week. The move in the RPI — the computer-generated system used by the NCAA for seeding and team selection — saw optimism for an at-large berth on both sides of the globe.
Former Wahine coach Dave Shoji, in Italy to watch his sons play professionally, texted Ah Mow-Santos on Monday that “by my calculations, we’re in!”
The calculations listed the 32 automatic bids and the next 32 at-large teams based on current RPI. Hawaii came in at 26th out of the 32.
Hawaii has missed the postseason just once, an injury-plagued 15-12 campaign when the NCAA field was 36 teams.
