UH preps for final homestand, 6 on road

It’s all about building this week for No. 6 Hawaii.

Building confidence. Building momentum.

The Rainbow Wahine already have built a pretty good resume this volleyball season with 13 consecutive victories, a block that leads the country at 3.5 bps and a defense that has held opponents to .135 hitting percentage, third-best nationally. But, at the midway point of the Big West season, there’s still some construction and re-construction being done as Hawaii (18-1, 8-0) preps not only for its final two home matches this week but for ending the conference season on the road with six straight.

Having nearly two weeks off has helped the Rainbow Wahine refocus and recharge as well as recuperate. Hawaii, which last played on Oct. 17 against UC Irvine, had to tweak its lineup when dealing with injuries to starters Tayler Higgins, the junior setter (ankle); sophomore hitter Kalei Greeley (knee and shoulder) and junior hitter Nikki Taylor (concussion protocol).

While the three have been cleared to play in Friday’s match against UC Riverside, junior middle Annie Mitchem may be out for another month following last week’s surgery. The two-time national two-year player of the year, in her first start on the right side in place of Taylor, fractured the little finger on her right hand against UCI.

Even with all the lineup changes and configurations, Hawaii was able to extend its winning streak to 13 and remain unbeaten in conference. It wasn’t easy, particularly against the Anteaters with both Taylor and Greeley out and Higgins returning in Set 2 after missing the past four matches.

"Honestly, with three starters out and Annie having just one practice on the right … that was a lot," said co-captain Tai Manu-Olevao, one of two seniors who will be honored after Sunday’s home finale. "It was a sketch match.

"But either we crumble or we step up. Those were the choices. That’s what the team did. Step up."

"I’m really proud of our team for that," middle Olivia Magill, the other Wahine senior, said. "But that’s the cycle of sports. You won’t always have your starters so when the next person comes in you have to work with them. It takes a lot of maturity and understanding of how things work. You have to be ready and play hard.

"I think that it shows we’re ranked where we’re meant to be ranked. If we were to lose without a couple on the court, it would show that we’re not as good as we think we are."

This week’s competition isn’t expected to be quite as tough as next week’s when Hawaii travels to play at Long Beach State (17-5, 7-2) and CSUN (5-15, 4-4) on consecutive nights. Friday’s opponent UC Riverside (7-15, 2-7) and Saturday’s foe Cal State Fullerton (0-20, 0-8) are at the bottom of the conference standings.

"We can’t look ahead," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "Obviously we have to take care of this week. We have to win.

"We have to get some momentum going for next week. We need to start building momentum and finish the second half of the season strong."

Hawaii’s taken care of business in the first half with its only loss coming against current No. 8 UCLA (17-3, 8-2 Pac-12) the sixth match of the season. Most impressive has been the Wahine block, which continues to rank No. 1 nationally at 3.5 blocks per set and has helped keep their opponents to a .135 hitting percentage, second-best in the country.

Hawaii features the top three blockers in the Big West, led by Magill whose 1.69 bps puts her No. 3 nationally. Sophomore middle Emily Maglio is second (1.35) and Taylor third (1.29). Taylor also leads the conference in ace average (.49 aps) and is second in kill average (4.32 kps).

Shoji said he was relieved to have his team back intact for the most part this week. While he did lose Mitchem, he gained 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman middle Natasha Burns (fractured hand), who was cleared to practice on a limited basis last week and fully cleared this week.

"It’s good to have almost everyone back," he said. "It’s all coming back together now and we need that."

On the depth chart, Mitchem was the third middle and backed up Taylor on the right. With the 6-2 Mitchem sidelined, 6-3 freshman Casey Castillo will fill those roles.

"Casey will split time at the two positions and will take reps at both," Shoji said. "We’ll need her to pass and she’s pretty good at that. And she’s a really good blocker.

"She’s pretty versatile and that’s valuable to us."

Hawaii holds a 17-0 edge over UC Riverside, including the sweep on Oct. 3 when Greeley was injured in Set 1. UH leads the series with Cal State Fullerton 33-0, the last meeting a sweep on Oct. 2 where Higgins went out in Set 1.