Middles should help ‘Bows make a strong move

The University of Hawaii volleyball team is trying to use its middles to emerge from the middle of the pack.

Entering Wednesday’s match against California Baptist, the Rainbow Warriors, at 5-3, are in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The teams will meet again on Friday night in the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Warriors are coming off consecutive three-set road victories over Cal State Northridge last weekend. In both matches, the Warriors passed well, established the middle attack and then spread the offense.

That series marked middle Nick West’s return after missing six matches while recovering from a broken pinkie on his left (non-hitting) hand. His left pinkie and ring finger are taped together and covered with a foam padding when he practices and plays in matches.

"It’s a nice little brace, I guess," West said. "It’s worked out."

At 6 feet 8 with a snap-quick swing, West is "just a tough matchup," UH coach Charlie Wade said.

Wade said West and Taylor Averill give the Warriors "six rotations at middle where offensively they are going to occupy some attention. They have to. It just opens up some stuff for the pins."

Joby Ramos, a senior who is in his second season as UH’s starting setter, has spread the sets. Of the starters, 47 percent of the sets have gone to outside hitters on the left side or the middle back, and 26 percent each to the opposite attacker and middles. Five UH starters average at least two kills per game, led by opposite Brook Sedore’s 3.47 average.

"It’s a credit to all the guys how Joby is smart enough to see the other middles commit on both me and Sunny (Averill)," West said. "We’re a good enough offensive presence to spread the love to everyone else. It’s kind of a team success. That’s always better knowing we all did it together."

Wade said accurate passing has expanded Ramos’ menu.

"There’s almost never a bad choice," Wade said. "We don’t have ‘the guy,’ but we have a lot of good guys. If you look at our distribution, of the five starters, they’re all over two kills a set. We don’t have a five-kill-a-set-guy and a one-kill-a-set guy, we’ve got everyone around two or three."

West also is providing a surprising boost behind the service line. In his first two UH seasons, West often attempted jump serves. This year, he has tinkered, coming up with a hybrid float-spinner.

Wade said West is a "pretty big guy, and (his serve) has a sharp angle on it. You don’t see that one a lot."

West is second among the starters in accuracy, placing 88.3 percent of his serves in play. The Warriors have scored natural points on 46.7 percent of West’s 60 serves. West usually is replaced on his third service turn of each set. But West has been more productive than his replacements (42.9 percent in producing natural points.

West is between jump-servers Siki Zarkovic and Sedore in the rotation.

"It’s good to mix it up between our jump servers," West said. "They’re able to fire away. Then I can place it to one guy with a really weird spin (on the serve). It can really help if I can get really good at it and keep it up and get some aces and confuse (an opponent’s) offense a little bit."