It is a team sport, but success in volleyball also depends on the play of individuals. To that end, Hawaii’s first practice following its first loss focused on individual skills.

Consistency was the word of the day.

"I know I personally have to be more consistent with my jump serve, and move my feet better on serve-receive," Rainbow Wahine freshman hitter Jane Croson said after Tuesday’s morning practice. "Losing was a huge bummer, but there’s nothing we can do to change that.

"What we are doing is working to fix the mistakes we made in the game. Everybody doesn’t want to have the feeling again. It definitely showed what we need to work on."

A few things were made obvious in the four-set loss to UCLA, particularly Hawaii’s inexperience at key positions and lack of height nearly all through the lineup. Still, the only damage done in the second week of the season was to the Rainbow Wahine’s ranking — dropping to No. 12 from No. 10 — and the end of their perfect record.

Asked how 5-1 felt, Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said, "Well, we were 5-0 before Sunday and 6-0 would have been nice.

"We all feel it was a winnable match. If we had made a couple of plays at the end of Game 2 to win it, then it would have been 1-1. And then who knows what happens."

Hawaii had set point three times, the last at 26-25, only to have UCLA score three straight to win 28-26. The Wahine came back to win Set 3, but gave up a 6-0 run sparked by Rachael Kidder, the tournament’s most outstanding player, to trail 17-8 in Set 4.

The Bruins went on to win 25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 25-17.

"We fought really hard until the end, when No. 11 (Kidder) went on that run," junior libero Emily Maeda said. "We battled, but we didn’t make the plays we needed to. We have to make those plays and make fewer errors.

"What we learned is not that we have to change our game, but we have to be on top of our game all the time. I think we’re going in the right direction, working on coverage, consistency in serving and passing. We know we could have won. We need to keep working on our skills. We know we’ll be seeing taller teams later this season."

This week’s Verizon Challenge doesn’t have any ranked teams other than host Hawaii. Shoji said that doesn’t matter.

"I told the team, if we don’t play well, we could lose to any one of these teams," he said. "We can’t just show up. We need to show up and play with emotion.

"I thought UCLA played really well and we didn’t do a very good job (stopping) their lefts (left-side hitters). That’s something we need to do better, regardless of the size across the net. And we do need to be better at the right-side position."

Currently, senior Chanteal Satele, listed at 5 feet 10, is on the right. She struggled hitting (negative .158) against the Bruins, who averaged 6-3.

One option would be to move 6-2 sophomore middle Emily Hartong to the right and replacing her with one of two freshmen middles. Kalei Adolpho, 6-1, played briefly against UCLA but had two quick net violations; Jade Vorster, 6-4, hasn’t played and Shoji’s hope is that she can redshirt.

Another option would be to keep Hartong in the middle and put 6-1 sophomore Kaela Goodman outside. Goodman also played sparingly against the Bruins, mostly as a blocking sub, and took one kill attempt.

Shoji said he’s been fairly pleased with the play of sophomore setter Mita Uiato, who was a reserve last season.

"She can make every set, is very accurate," Shoji said. "But it’s a matter of set selection, going with the hot hitter.

"She’s young and hasn’t played enough to be able to see the kinds of things we’re seeing from the bench. She and Hartong are connecting well, but the connection with (junior middle Brittany) Hewitt needs to get better. We need to go to our middles more."