Wahine hit the court

Good. Very good.

Not great. Not yet.

Much was learned during Saturday’s Hawaii women’s volleyball scrimmage at the Stan Sheriff Center, including:

» Junior Emily Hartong and sophomore Jane Croson are the top two left-side hitters.

» Junior transfer Alyssa Longo looks like she’s always been in the Wahine lineup, not five time zones away at Penn State.

» Battles continue to rage at middle blocker and on the right side.

Less than a week away from Friday’s season opener against Albany, No. 8 Hawaii continues to put the pieces together. The even level of the talent has created problems — albeit good problems — for Dave Shoji as he enters his 38th season with the Rainbow Wahine.

“Today was typical of how things have been going in practice,” he said after the official end of two-a-days. “Some players had good days, some didn’t have good days. But at least now we have some statistical data to form some opinions. There were a lot of good plays today, a lot of good plays on both sides of the net.”

And some answers. One of the question marks had been about Hartong, a returning second-team All-American, being in the passing rotation. A stint with the U.S. women’s national A2 team this summer has sharpened her back-row skills, so much so that “if she passes like she did today, we can be in our normal (passing) alignment,” Shoji said.

But if not, the Wahine have plenty of options in the passing department. And with the number of substitutions increased to 15 from 12, it will allow even more chances for the defensive specialists to be on the court.

The lineups Saturday varied each set with the idea to balance the sides as well as showcase the 20-player roster for the some 100 boosters, family and friends in attendance. The only constant was junior setter Mita Uiato’s team winning all four sets, 25-14, 33-31, 25-20, 15-10.

“It was challenging when everyone has different verticals and arm swings,” Uiato said. “I’m adjusting to them, they’re adjusting to me. It’s all about getting reps (repetitions), and the two-a-days helped us get a lot of reps.”

The talent level, while high, is more even than in past years. It’s a good thing, Hartong said.

“We are at the same level and we’re feeding off that,” Hartong said. “I thought things went really well today. There’s still some things that need to be worked on, some small things, but we’ll be ready for Friday.”

Longo was impressive throughout the afternoon, with solid serve-receive, passing and setting when needed.

“She played well,” Uiato said. “She’s vocal, she directed traffic, played great defense.”

The transition has been smooth, Longo said.

“Everyone has been super welcoming and that has made it,” said Longo, who led Penn State in digs (397) last season. “Today was tons of fun, actually getting to play in the arena in front of people. It was similar (in crowd size) to what we got (at Penn State), but that was in a smaller venue. Both sides were really competitive. It was awesome.”

The team takes today off before returning to 6:30 a.m. practices Monday and Tuesday. Practices shift to the afternoon Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for game-day mode.

The Chevron Classic opens with Friday’s 5 p.m. match between No. 6 Stanford and Saint Mary’s. The Wahine face Albany in the second match.