Wahine volleyball looks in fine form in exhibition win over Iowa State

Balanced. Efficient.

Still some things to work on.

But for much of Friday’s exhibition against Iowa State, Hawaii looked to be in fall form, not spring.

The Rainbow Wahine gave the Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 1,533 a glimpse of what the upcoming volleyball season might look like with a 25-19, 25-11, 25-22, 23-25 win over Iowa State. (The teams agreed to play four sets).

Freshman McKenna Granato had 15 kills in four sets and junior All-American Nikki Taylor added 11 in three sets for Hawaii, which used all 12 healthy players.

Only sophomore Kalei Greeley (shoulder surgery) did not play, which gave hitting and passing opportunities for freshmen Granato and Casey Castillo, as well as reserve setter Kendra Koelsch on the outside.

Also getting back on the court after injuries were junior middle Annie Mitchem — who missed the last 12 matches last year with a fractured pinkie — and redshirt freshman middle Natasha Burns, who broke her hand during preseason practice.

“We got a lot out of tonight,” Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. “Spring is more about individual development and we got to see players who hadn’t played much for us like McKenna and Casey. They passed well. I was encouraged by a lot of things.

“And Nikki is Nikki.”

About the only thing that stopped Taylor — who hit .360 — was Shoji, who sat his opposite for Set 4, helping rest her for today’s beach match against Loyola Marymount at Queen’s Beach.

“We never slowed down No. 14,” Cyclones coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said of Taylor. “We saw what an elite team is.

“We knew they’d be good and they played great defense.”

So did Iowa State, with 16 of its 66 digs coming in Set 4 when Hawaii used 10 players and seemingly as many combinations. Sophomore libero Abby Phillips may have won the job to replace graduated Caitlin Nolan, the two-time Big 12 Libero of the Year; Phillips finished with a match-high 28 digs.

Hawaii lost the dig battle 66-56 but won the block war 8-4.

Still … “I didn’t think we blocked particularly well,” Shoji said. “That’s something we need to work on.”

“He might not have thought they blocked well, not by the numbers, but they’re big and they put pressure on all night,” Johnson-Lynch said.

Mitchem showed glimpses of returning to the form that made her a two-time national two-year player of the year at Irvine Valley. She was in on seven blocks, including one solo.

Castillo, who trained as the backup opposite and middle last season, had impressive shots on the left side, finishing with 10 kills. Granato added a double-double with 10 digs.

Incoming senior setter Tayler Higgins and Castillo each had three aces. Sophomore libero Savanah Kahakai finished with 19 digs.

“It was fun tonight,” Castillo said. “It was nice to be out there and work on our chemistry.”

Rising senior Morgan Kuhrt led Iowa State with 13 kills. Junior middle Samara West added 10, half coming in Set 4, and junior middle Alexa Conaway also had 10 kills with just one error, hitting .409.