Wahine lineup continues to shuffle

Hawaii’s lineup has become a multiple-question quiz following its first conference volleyball loss of the season. Who plays left? Who plays middle? Who plays back row? Who sets?

The answer could very well be: Whoever is listed on the lineup card submitted prior to Friday’s first whistle against UC Irvine.

Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji threw out an audition challenge this week, saying that no starting position was secure. Last Saturday’s five-set loss at Long Beach State exploited the team’s weakness that had been exposed before but that Hawaii had managed to compensate, the foremost being the passing game.

Without it, the Wahine weren’t able to run an effective and efficient middle attack.

Consider that statistics against the 49ers where junior middle Emily Maglio — coming into the match with the conference’s top hitting percentage (.394) — hit .000 with just two kills, the first coming in Set 3.

Senior middle Annie Mitchem finished with 10 kills but half of those came in the final two sets of the 25-17, 23-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-13 loss.

And without the passing game, Hawaii’s offense got very predictable with senior opposite Nikki Taylor being set on nearly every bail-us-out ball. She took 68 of the team’s 191 swings, finishing with 28 kills.

The other major concern is the lack of a production from the left side. Sophomore McKenna Granato has had moments of brilliance but not enough; she had 10 kills Saturday but hit .067, dropping her season average to .210.

Freshman Kirsten Sibley had two kills, hitting .000, against Long Beach State. Sophomore Casey Castillo, moving to the left from middle, had three kills against the 49ers, also hitting .000.

What to do?

Perhaps move Taylor to the left. Maybe move Mitchem back to the left where she played three matches, which puts Castillo back in the middle.

Perhaps use more defensive specialists in the back row and hope not to run out of substitutions. Maybe go to a true 6-2 (two-setter) offense or a modified version.

Nothing seems out of the question on the Wahine chessboard.

“The lineup is not set,” Shoji said. “People have to win their positions this week.

“Long Beach served very intelligently, hit the weak spots in our (serve-receive) formation. It’s pretty open right now.”

If there was one encouraging take-away from Saturday, it was that Hawaii played poorly — particularly in Sets 1 and 3 — and still pushed it to five sets. But that is overshadowed by the disappointing trend that the Wahine can’t close when leading.

Saturday Hawaii led 8-6 and 11-9 in Set 5. The Beach came back from down 12-11, using an injury to Anete Brinke — who stepped on Taylor’s foot when crossing under the net — to rally in front of the largest home crowd since 2001 (3,212).

“It was unfortunate when she went down but I don’t think the team took that by the reins and used it like we could have,” Taylor said. “I think we learned that we need to keep our foot on the gas pedal, to smooth out some of the rough edges instead of having so many highs and lows.

“After the loss, we have a little fire under our butts. We’re playing two great teams and we really need to get it going again.”

UC Irvine ended a two-match skid with a 3-1 victory at UC Riverside last Saturday. The Anteaters also lost to visiting Long Beach State in five on Sept. 24, a match where they pulled to 11-10 and 12-11 in Set 5 but could get no closer.

UCI had three players in double-digit kills, led by senior hitter Victoria Dennis’ 23. Sophomore opposite Harlee Kekauoaha added a double-double (13 kills-13 digs), and junior middle Danielle Geiger had 11 kills and was in on four of the team’s nine blocks.

“Irvine is a dangerous team,” Shoji said. “They have weapons, they have size.

“We’ve got to play well on our side and shut down their top players.”

NOTE

Taylor, 14th on UH’s all-time kill list (1,230), ranks nationally in four categories. She is third in aces per set (.63), fourth in points per set (6.27), fifth in kills per set (4.96) and 19th in total aces (30). Taylor needs two kills to tie Karrie Trieschman for 13th.