Up in the coaches poll, down in the RPI, five out of seven starters earning Big West honors.
It’s reflective of Hawaii’s somewhat of a roller-coaster volleyball season.
The Rainbow Wahine (21-6) opened coach Dave Shoji’s birthday week — he turns 68 Thursday — by moving up two spots to No. 23 in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25. Hawaii also picked up Big West honors Monday, with four players named to the first team and one on the all-freshman squad.
Sophomore hitter Nikki Taylor earned first-team honors for the second consecutive year. She had double-figure kills in five of Hawaii’s last six matches, including the program’s first triple-double in the rally scoring era against Cal Poly (10 kills, 10 digs, 11 blocks).
Named to the first team for the first time were senior middle Kalei Adolpho, junior middle Olivia Magill and junior hitter Tai Manu-Olevao.
Magill and Adolpho ranked 1-2 in the conference in blocks at 1.36 and 1.32 bps, respectively, and Magill led the Big West in hitting percentage (.416) and Adolpho was sixth (.320).
Manu-Olevao led Hawaii in kills (276) and was the league leader in aces per set (0.39).
Kalei Greeley was named to the all-freshman team. She ranked third in kills (252) for the Rainbow Wahine while also coming up with 217 digs and 49 blocks while playing in all 27 matches with 24 starts.
Big West champion Long Beach State swept the top conference honors. Junior setter Jenelle Hudson was named Player of the Year, middle Ashley Murray the Freshman of the Year and Brian Gimmillaro the Coach of the Year.
It was the first time since 1994 that Wahine had not won the Player of the Year award outright or shared it.
Hawaii was scheduled to leave Tuesday for Seattle, where the Wahine will face Duke (22-7) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday. Host Washington (29-2) take on American East champion New Hampshire (20-11) in Friday’s second match.
Washington matched its No. 3 tournament seeding with its poll ranking Monday. The Huskies, moving up two spots, handed previously undefeated Stanford its only loss of the season last Wednesday.
That loss didn’t affect Stanford, which was named the top seed in the NCAA tournament and stayed at No. 1 in the poll.
BIG WEST FIRST-TEAM VOLLEYBALL The conference selected 17 players for its top team:
» Long Beach State (5): Jenelle Hudson, Tyler Jackson, Bre Mackie, Chisom Okpala, Alex Reid » Hawaii (4): Kalei Adolpho, Olivia Magill, Tai Manu-Olevao, Nikki Taylor » Cal State Northridge (3): Danetta Boykin, Casey Hinger, Cieana Stinson » UC Irvine (3): Marisa Bubica, Allison Lee, Cassidy Pickrell » UC Santa Barbara (1): Ali Barbeau » UC Davis (1): Kaylin Squyres |