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The Hawaii volleyball team went south on the 405 and then north in the league standings ahead of today’s road match against UC Irvine.
The Warriors are coming off Saturday’s five-set victory over UCLA but remain in a challenging stretch against top Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opponents.
Of the top seven MPSF teams, Irvine will be the sixth the Warriors will have played in a two-match series in the first two months of the season.
"Four (series) are on the road," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "Even three and three would have been nice. It didn’t work out that way."
The Warriors have won four of their past six, with a two-match sweep of Pepperdine and splits against Stanford and UCLA.
"Any win against this group is significant," Wade said. "It’s not like the next group is chopped liver, anyway. There are teams getting better and working to improve."
The Anteaters are top grade. The defending national champions entered the season at No. 1, a ranking they are expected to reclaim when the new national poll is released this week. Their most significant offseason loss was head coach John Speraw, who now leads UCLA’s program.
"They have the most talent in the country," Wade said of the Anteaters.
UC Irvine’s speedy offense often involves the middles. That might force the ever-evolving Warriors to take the blue pencil to the blueprints.
Serving substitute Johann Timmer was used as a middle, and reserve Harrison Phelps was summoned as a defensive specialist in Saturday’s match against UCLA. Timmer was set only once, but he provided rhythm-breaking serves and was functional as a blocker. Davis Holt, a 6-foot-9 middle, might have to be used more against the Anteaters’ inside attack. But UH still would like to craft a role that would enable Timmer to get at least three serves per set.
"We’ll see what the matchup is," Wade said. "Timmer can play for six rotations. It’s not crazy to think that at some point we can go without a libero or modify the role a little bit and try to get Timmer in the game more."
Freshman Kolby Kanetake has played well as the second libero. But it was decided that Phelps might offer a spark coordinating the Warriors’ defense.
"We saw that in practice the last month where he’s just been competing at a really high level," Wade said of Phelps. "We put him out there more for his leadership and energy that he can bring. (Saturday) night, it really paid off. I think he was a big leader in the match."
Wade has been open to new maneuvers, even at this point in the season.
"We’re willing to try some things, but we’re trying them based on things we’ve done in practice or things we’ve seen or things that are going to make us better," Wade said. "We’re going to continue to improve. I think there are some guys on the team who are going to contribute as we go forward. That part makes practice better for everybody. They know if they keep working and improving, they have a chance to help us win."
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