Rainbow Wahine back in poll, earn league honors

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DARRELL MIHO / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
Hawaii’s Nikki Taylor and Kalei Adolpho teamed up for a block against Cal Poly’s Raeann Greisen on Saturday.

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The week has started off very well. Hawaii can only hope that it ends the same way.

The Rainbow Wahine were back in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 volleyball poll, had two players honored by the Big West and remained at 30 in the Ratings Percentage Index on Monday. All Hawaii can hope for now is that closing out the regular season with two more wins will be enough for the selection committee to give the Wahine an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament during Sunday’s bracket announcement.

Both the RPI and the coaches poll are part of the postseason selection criteria. Hawaii (19-6, 13-3 Big West) has had a 30 RPI for five straight weeks, and the Wahine returned to the coaches poll after a six-week absence, coming in at No. 25. with 76 points.

Last week, Hawaii had 44 points, which put it at 28th. The only other time the Wahine were unranked since the poll began in 1981 was for the final four weeks of 1992, when the injury-plagued team finished 15-12.

The 1992 season is the only time Hawaii has not made the playoffs. The Wahine have been ranked in 465 of the 476 polls, third-most all-time. Only Stanford and Nebraska are above the Wahine, having been ranked all 476 weeks.

This week, Stanford (28-0) remained the unanimous No. 1, receiving all 60 votes. Long Beach State, which clinched the Big West title last weekend, moved up two spots to No. 16.

Hawaii doubled up on conference honors Monday.

Sophomore Nikki Taylor was named the Defender of the Week and hitter Kalei Greeley the Freshman of the Week in helping the Rainbow Wahine to two road wins at UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.

Taylor recorded the program’s first triple-double in the rally-scoring era Saturday against Cal Poly, with 10 kills, 10 digs and a career-high 11 blocks in the four-set victory. On Friday, the Kaiser High product had 16 kills and a career-high 21 digs in the five-set win over UC Santa Barbara.

Taylor also was nominated for Player of the Week. The honor went to Long Beach State senior Chisom Okpala, who helped the 49ers clinch the Big West title.

Greeley earned her third weekly honor with two double-doubles on the road trip, hitting .347 overall. She hit .432 with 19 kills and 13 digs against the Gauchos on Friday and 11 kills and 10 digs against the Mustangs on Saturday.

Hawaii, currently second in the Big West, finishes out the regular season with Big West matches against UC Riverside on Friday and UC Davis on Saturday, both at 8 p.m. following Wahine basketball games.