Wahine setter spot: ‘the best one will play’

Depth is a good thing. But too much of a good thing can also be a problem.

The Hawaii volleyball team opened preseason camp with four setters — one of whom will redshirt — but that still leaves three battling it out for the starting position. All have their strengths and their weaknesses, which will continue to add to the dilemma as to who will start against No. 4 Wisconsin in 13 days.

“I like all of them,” said first-year assistant coach Lindsey Berg, a three-time Olympic setter. “They all want to work hard and get better. It will be a tough decision.”

Vying for playing time are 5-foot-9 senior Tayler Higgins, 6-1 junior Kendra Koelsch and 5-11 freshman Norene Iosia; 5-8 Faith Ma’afala will redshirt after transferring from Southern Utah.

Prior to leaving for the Rio Olympics, head coach Dave Shoji said he didn’t intend to redshirt anyone, adding “the best one will play.”

Nothing has changed after four days of practice.

“I’m really happy with all four of our setters,” associate head coach Jeff Hall said. “Faith will redshirt, but she has really nice hands, too.

“In seven short practices, I think they’ve all gotten better from Lindsey’s coaching. They’ve made some technical changes and I think we’re already better than we were last year.

“I don’t think it has even happened where one three-time Olympic setter had replaced another three-time Olympic setter in the same program, but as I told our returning setters, you guys have the unbelievable opportunity to learn from two three-time Olympic setters.”

Berg was hired last month to replace former Rainbow Wahine All-American Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, who moved to Nevada due to her husband’s military re-assignment.

“It’s a different type of vocabulary with Lindsey, but it’s been good,” said Higgins, who has played in 86 matches with 55 starts in the past three seasons. “Norene’s been a good addition, it’s nice to have some young’uns.

“We’re all working hard, and if we keep doing that it will be a good season.”

A conflict with summer school has had Koelsch coming late to afternoon practice, but she’s come in early and stayed late to get her reps in. She also played some outside hitter during Thursday’s practice when her side ran a modified 6-2 with her and Higgins sharing setting duties.

“That was fun,” said Koelsch, who started five matches last season in place of an injured Higgins. “We have really good setters and they’re all doing really well. Norene has really good hands and she’s making us better.

“We knew it would be hard to replace Robyn, but Lindsey has added a different perspective. It’s good to see things through a new lens.”

Iosia, who had a highly decorated prep career at Redondo Union (Calif.) High, said getting used to the college level was a little nerve-wracking at first. “But now it feels normal,” she said. “The workouts have been pretty intense and my focus is on getting better and working on my relationship with my teammates.”