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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii’s Nikki Taylor hits down the middle past Washington’s Kara Bajema and Tia Scambray in the fourth set tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.
BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii’s McKenna Granato hits in the third set against Washington tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Junior hitter Crissy Jones put down 22 kills and junior hitter Courtney Schwan added 19 kills and 20 digs as No. 6 Washington used a huge rally in Set 3 to defeat No. 14 Hawaii 25-23, 17-25, 28-26, 23-25, 15-13 on Sunday for the title of the Outrigger Resorts Volleyball Challenge at the Stan Sheriff Center.
It was the fourth consecutive win for the Huskies (8-0) over the Rainbow Wahine (5-4) dating back to 2010. Washington trailed 24-20 in Set 3, held off six set points, to take the critical Set 3.
Senior opposite Nikki Taylor had a career-high 29 kills and sophomore hitter McKenna Granato added 17. Junior middle Emily Maglio added 11 kills and freshman setter Norene Iosia had a double-double (53 assists-20 digs) and junior libero Savanah Kahakai added 23 digs.
Jones was named the Most Outstanding player.
Maglio and Taylor were named to the all-tournament team from Hawaii. Also named to the all-tournament team were Washington’s Schwam and Tia Scambray, Utah Valley’s Lexi Thompson and Mary Grace Kelly from Northern Illinois.
They should have won the match in four. Set 3 six sets points and they couldn’t close.
Biggest concern now is Taylor and her left arm. Hope she will be okay. Next week on the road for conference play.Every win counts from here on.
Says who? They weren’t good enough to win, period!
Okay. I will say it. Taylor played junk. She had too many hitting errors for an All American. Every error is a point point swing if she kept the ball in play. Oh well, they had the momentum but lost it when the committed too many errors in set 3. C
Taylor is not 100% and probably never will be for rest of the season. She’s tasked with shouldering the offensive load because every other hitter on the team is “junker” than her by a mile. UH don’t even take it to 5 without her. Expecting miracles? Go to church and pray more.
Looks like when Granato is hitting from the left side, they are waiting for her to hit cross court which she did most of the time and at times got stuffed. Down the line might be an option.
I think you’re right about that. I was thinking the same thing during the match. Maybe some of the sets to her were too far out where the only option she had was a cross court shot.
“At times got stuffed…” This the first time you watched her play? She was hitting down the line when she could, it’s a lower percentage hitting option. She doesn’t get stuffed because of where she’s hitting, it’s because she’s not tall enough. No amount of strategizing is going to overcome that physical shortcoming. That’s just the way it is unless they find a miracle growth pill for her.
Why, oh why did they leave Taylor in at the end when she was literally crying in pain? That’s just wrong.
Where are you Cindy Luis? I am so anxious to learn the condition of Nikki Taylor. So many have commented that she was playing in pain the fifth set. Did she aggravate her existing injuries? Will she have to rest during the Pepperdine series? I guess I should be more patient; I’ll know soon enough.
Yeah, where’s Cindy now? She’ll drink Shogun koolaid until she’s passed out, she’ll write all the glowing bs about the Shogun “inner circle” worshippers, she’ll write all the bs about “depth” on the team, but she will NEVER have the guts to denounce the failure of the coaches in protecting the players and putting their success ahead of the health of an obviously hurting star player. Sickening!
Bad coaching as usual.
Coaches probably should have pulled her out of the game immediately, seeing her condition, she was nearly in tears.
As to winning over Washington, it likely would have put Hawaii in a decent position to finish in the top 16 rpi, providing of course, that they won out convincingly. Having said that, wasn’t it last year when Nikki suffered a concussion and was pulled from the game?
Would not, under any circumstances, jeopardize Nikki’s or any other player’s well being, for any game, even if it was the national championship game.
Extremely disappointed in our coaches. We heard that Nikki wanted to finish the game, but any coaches priority is the health and well being of their players, first and foremost. Doubt anyone would disagree.
This should put rpi into proper perspective once and for all. For those who complain about their team not making the final four, national championships are won by winning. But certainly, not at the expense of any players health and well being.
its time for shoji to retire. he is so predictable and gives little energy to the team spirit any more like the younger days. the UH deserves a fresh start in coaching, and it is reflected in his recent win-loss records. he has had a great run, but time to move on. it did not help that he spent two critical weeks in rio watching his sons play in the olympics, while the ‘new ‘ coaches ‘kept the practices relevant’. we are grateful to coach dave and his illustrious career, but its time to move forward for the university’s sake. go wahine!!!
One should NEVER criticize a father for spending a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bask in pride and glory of his sons.
Agree. Staying too long, just like Murakami. It’s time to go.
Typical arm chair whiner quarterbacks that think their knowledge of how to coach is better than the current coaches. You people crack me up with all these lolo comments.
three things became clear during the course of the game. 1) NaWahine are not a top ten team for so many reasons, one can go on and on with excuses. 2) All the the talk of Kahakai as a national type player is just talk from the coaches. For all its worth I think Emma Smith should be playing a lot more. 3) The coaching staff should be vilified for letting an obvious injured Taylor continue to play. At what cost, a win versus a player’s career.