The best place to find the Hawaii volleyball team these days is the proverbial wall, where its collective backs are pressed.
The Warriors, at 4-10, are 11th in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The top eight advance to the league playoffs. The Warriors have had the toughest strength of schedule through the first 10 weeks of the season.
"Just being the underdog and playing the top teams and going out, that’s great and all, but at some point we have to do a better job and win," said UH coach Charlie Wade, whose Warriors play Southern California on Friday night and Sunday afternoon in the Stan Sheriff Center. "We’re going to try."
The Warriors were lackluster in two four-set losses to Cal State Northridge this past weekend. Wade conceded illnesses and a family death factored into the Warriors’ distracted mood.
"I don’t look at things as fair or unfair," Wade said. "It just is. It’s just what life is."
The Warriors were without ailing outside hitter JP Marks for the first Northridge match. Marks’ accurate passing and consistent serving were missed.
Marks is a sophomore from Germany, but he already is the Warriors’ most experienced player. He has played 93 percent of the Warriors’ 173 sets the past two seasons.
Marks serves hard and effectively, with more than 80 percent of his jumpers in play.
"It’s something he’s worked on a lot," Wade said.
Wade is hopeful opposite Brook Sedore will regain his serving touch. While Sedore is averaging 3.60 kills per set the past 10 matches, his serving has slumped. In the past six matches, his serves have been in play 64.6 percent of the time. He has committed 29 service errors during that stretch.
"I think his ineffectiveness is self-inflicted," Wade said. "They’re not siding out on his serves a ton. He’s ending that turn (with service errors)."
Wade said Sedore often relies heavily on a powerful jump serve when a well-placed serve would be more useful.
"The analogy I use with him — and he played a fair amount of golf as a kid — is, at times, he’s trying to play the entire round with a driver," Wade said. "If you’re in a sand trap, the driver is largely ineffective. It’s not what you would choose to score in that moment. He has to recognize that in some situations, just pulling out a driver is not what we need now."
Wade said he does not expect lineup changes. That means setter Joby Ramos, who struggled in the first Northridge match, remains in the opening lineup.
"If he struggles, it’s nice to know that Max (Wechsung) can come in and do the job," Wade said.
Friday’s match begins at 7 p.m. Fans can join the team, cheerleaders and marching band in the Warrior Walk beginning at 5:30 p.m.
