Hawkeyes soak up sun, aloha spirit

When bringing their teams to play in Hawaii, coaches always talk about giving their players "the island experience." That usually translates into a trip to Pearl Harbor, a luau and some beach time because, for some, this will be their one and only trip across the Pacific.

Bond Shymansky knows his Iowa volleyball team will get a lot out of participating in this week’s Hawaiian Airlines Classic. But it’s what the Hawkeyes’ coach remembers from 2003, when he brought Georgia Tech to the Stan Sheriff Center for the NCAA regional.

"It was how friendly and giving the people of Hawaii were, how friendly the fans were and how much they appreciated the sport," Shymansky said. "We were expecting to come out and have 9,000 people hating us, only wanting their team to win.

"That’s not what we experienced. It was a privilege to have coached here previously and we learned about the aloha spirit."

To that end, Iowa will do more than "getting their toes in the sand," Shymansky said. On Thursday, the Hawkeyes are visiting Variety School and its 30 students ages 5 through 22. The school is geared toward helping children with learning challenges, including attention disorders and autism.

"Our premise is to teach for life, not for a test," said Variety executive director Duane Yee. "We don’t use grade levels, it’s about developmental levels.

"It’s not every day that something like this happens for our kids. We’ll never have sports teams, compete in a league. We’re setting up nets and they’re going to be doing mini clinics and sharing with our kids. We’ll share with them, we know some of those girls have never seen an ocean."

Iowa was looking for a community service project and Variety School was suggested by Lynden Keala, father of Hawkeye junior setter Loxley. Loxley (‘Iolani) transferred from Missouri this past spring.

"The Kealas embodies the spirit, the pride, of Hawaii," said Shymansky, who coached at Marquette for five seasons prior to taking the job at his alma mater. "That’s part of what our players will experience. It’s already surreal for them just by landing here.

"But, on the other side, everyone has struggles and hardships. We’ll be doing this, giving back, with a dash of humility and reality."

No. 17 Hawaii (3-0)

The Rainbow Wahine opened up with three victories for the first time since 2012, sweeping Idaho and Oregon State, and defeated Wichita State in four to win the Chevron Invitational for the ninth time in 11 events.

Junior opposite Nikki Taylor averaged 5.20 kills in 10 sets, with a career-high 25 against the Shockers, and was in on a team-high 15 blocks. The Kaiser High product earned most outstanding player tournament honors Sunday and, on Monday, was named the Big West’s player of the week for the first time in her career.

Also named to the all-tournament team were senior middle Olivia Magill, who has 34 kills and 13 blocks in 10 sets, hitting .415; and junior setter Tayler Higgins, the team-leader in assists (115) and digs (32). Taylor (1.50), Magill (1.30) and sophomore middle Emily Maglio (1.43) all are averaging a block per set.

Coach Dave Shoji (41 seasons, 1,153-196-1) has a deep roster that he utilized last week, including using all 15 available players Sunday against the Beavers. Perhaps making the biggest impact was freshman outside hitter McKenna Granato (Punahou) who was brought in to stabilize the back-row passing when senior Tai Manu-Olevao struggled, and had three aces against Oregon State.

Two-time two-year college national player of the year Annie Mitchem made her debut Friday, about three hours after being cleared to play by the school.

No. 25 UCLA (1-1)

The Bruins make their 36th consecutive trek to Honolulu after splitting their home openers in the Wooden Center, sweeping Virginia then being swept by Loyola Marymount, 25-15, 25-23, 29-27. In Set 3 against the Lions, UCLA held off four match points and had one set point (25-24) in the see-saw battle but, at 27-27, LMU closed it out, sweeping the Bruins for a second consecutive time.

UCLA, picked eighth in the Pac-12, had no players on the preseason all-conference team. One fixture had been All-American opposite Karsta Lowe, now a rising star on the U.S. national team.

Former Hawaii associate head coach Mike Sealy (6th season, 112-52) rebuilds around returning outside hitters Reily Buechler, a sophomore, and junior Haley Lawless, as well as junior libero Taylor Formico. West Virginia transfer Jordan Anderson, a junior hitter, had a team-high 14 kills against LMU, a match that was anything but pretty: The Lions hit .158 to the .105 by the Bruins.

Setting is Pepperdine transfer Ryan Chandler, a redshirt sophomore. Senior defensive specialist Rachel Inouye (Punahou) had 17 digs in playing all six sets.

Director of Volleyball Operations is former Hawaii setter Cayley Thurlby (2003-06).

Hawaii leads the series with UCLA 37-35 with the Bruins closing the gap with last season’s sweep of the Wahine. The teams have met at least once beginning in 1974, the first year of the Hawaii program. UCLA has traveled to Honolulu every season starting in 1980, trailing in the series when played in the islands 28-23.

American (3-1)

The Eagles opened their season with wins over Howard, Georgetown and George Mason in the D.C. Volleyball Challenge before falling 24-26, 25-20, 25-15, 25-23 to No. 4 Florida, a match that drew a District of Columbia volleyball attendance record of 2,629 in the Bender Arena on Sunday. American was poised to force a fifth set with leads of 17-11 and 23-18 in the fourth. Florida rallied for seven unanswered points to close out the match.

Senior opposite Kristyna Lindovska was named the MVP of the D.C. Challenge, a performance that included double-doubles against the Hoyas and the Patriots. She also earned the Patriot League’s first player of the week honors on Monday.

Freshman middle Carmen Unzue made the Challenge all-tourney team as well and the Patriot League’s rookie of the week award after averaging 1.43 kills and 0.86 blocks per set while hitting .340.

Lindovska (Czech Republic), a 2013 AVCA honorable mention All-Ameircan, and Unzue (Spain) are among the six international players on the roster. Setter Monika Smidova (Czech Republic), the reigning conference player of the year, playing as a graduate student, and senior hitter Allison Cappellino (New York) were preseason all-Patriot League selections as the Eagles were picked to defend their PL title.

The Eagles also feature former ‘Iolani team captain Hoakalei Dawson a sophomore libero who is leading the team in digs (4.14 dps).

Coach Barry Goldberg is in his 27th season (649-234). This will be the first meeting between American and Hawaii.

Iowa (2-1)

The Hawkeyes opened the year at the Northern Illinois Invitational, sweeping South Dakota State, edging Pacific in five then dropping a 3-1 contest to the host Huskies.

Both junior Lauren Brobst put down 51 kills, including a season-high 21 against NIU, and sophomore hitter Jess Janota, with 31 total kills, earned all-tournament honors

Making an immediate impact is junior setter Loxley Keala (‘Iolani), a transfer from Missouri. She had 134 assists in three-matches.

Second-year coach Bond Shymansky (14-17) has a fairly young squad (4 freshmen, 4 sophomores) but DI experience in additional transfers Ashley Mariani (Tennessee), a junior OH/MH, and sophomore libero specialist Annika Olsen (Georgia Tech). Five of the newcomers started last week.

Iowa was picked 11th out of 14 teams in the numerically challenged Big Ten. The Hawkeyes are 0-2 vs. Hawaii, the last meeting — a sweep by the Wahine — coming in the HAL Classic in 2000.