Wahine volleyball team showcases its depth in scrimmage

Good. But how good?

That will be the question when the lights come on for real in five days.

Until then, the Hawaii volleyball team can feel fairly encouraged about how the final day of preseason practice ended on Saturday. The Green-White scrimmage at the Stan Sheriff Center showcased the depth, versatility and athleticism of the Rainbow Wahine, as all 16 healthy players saw court time.

Still …

“We have a long way to go,” associate coach Jeff Hall said. “I thought we played pretty good defense, struggled on offense — which is to be expected in this format — and were somewhat predictable.

“Our middles were the best offensive players we had out there. We can run our offense through the middle for sure. We got nice plays from everyone. It will be a tough decision as to who starts on Friday.”

The Rainbow Wahine, ranked No. 6 in the AVCA Top 25 preseason poll, open the season Friday against No. 4 Wisconsin. The first match of the Chevron Invitational features Arizona against Kansas State.

The White won the match 22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22, but with setters and middles switching teams, the statistics showed just how balanced it was: The White had 54 kills and 59 digs with 14 blocks, and the Green 52 kills and 54 digs with 16 blocks playing in front of family and booster club members.

“I’m so excited for the season to start,” said freshman setter Norene Iosia, who had a combined 38 assists. “It felt pretty normal today, but I’m sure once it gets filled up (with fans) I’ll feel more nervous.

“The newbies wanted to push the veterans. I thought our middles did awesome. Tash (freshman Natasha Burns) was working hard and has improved this week. Emily (junior Maglio) was getting up quick, her block was solid. I felt I got too predictable — obviously when you have Nikki (senior opposite Taylor) you go to her. But I need to create situations where she gets more one-on-ones instead of the block knowing where the ball is going.”

It was no surprise that Taylor had the most kills (20) when playing for the Green, but Hall wasn’t happy his All-American had the most attempts (57).

“We were somewhat predictable,” he said. “And our hitters also have to make better decisions. We were one-dimensional at times, not as balanced as we would have liked.

“I liked that we served with purpose, dug almost 10 balls a set. On Monday, we’ll definitely home in on the offense.”

For the Green, sophomore hitter McKenna Granato added 12 kills. Freshman hitter Kirsten Sibley debuted with 12 kills and junior libero Savanah Kahakai finished with 19 digs.

The White relied on middles Maglio (15 kills) and Burns (12). Maglio had a combined 16 blocks, 12 when playing for the White, and Burns was in on 13, nine for the White.

Junior hitter Kalei Greeley, taking limited swings while still recuperating from shoulder surgery, had 16 digs for the White.

“I think we have a lot of things to improve on, like communication,” senior setter Tayler Higgins said. “I thought our freshmen played really well — it’s not easy the first time in here with the lights, the Teraflex and the people. I think they all made some kind of statement.

“Collectively we need to work together, get better at certain things. There were a few hiccups, but for the most part we’ll be OK.”

Hall will be sending video and text a recap to head coach Dave Shoji, who is at the Rio Olympics. Shoji’s two sons are part of the U.S. men’s volleyball team that is playing for the bronze medal today.

“I’ll text him that the defense was good, the offense needs work,” Hall said.

Note

The Wahine were down to two middles with injuries to senior Annie Mitchem (fractured left pinkie, likely out six weeks) and sophomore Casey Castillo (minor elbow, likely back Monday). With only four hitters, junior setter Kendra Koelsch played some on the outside (six kills), as did freshman defensive specialist McKenna Ross (two kills).