Rainbow Warriors get ready for season’s first serve

The new year started a few days early for the Hawaii men’s volleyball team, as the Rainbow Warriors began prepping for 2017 with this afternoon’s session at Waialua High.

The high surf advisory aptly mirrors the Warriors’ high expectations as they battle, bond and team-build over the final four days of 2016. The optimism is that Hawaii, which opens with next week’s 23rd Outrigger Resorts Invitational, will be better than last year’s 16-12 team, and better than its preseason rankings of seventh nationally and sixth in its final Mountain Pacific Sports Federation campaign.

The retreat at YMCA Camp Erdman will include challenging skills courses. The practice gym will include players challenging at every position. The challenge for eighth-year head coach Charlie Wade will be to find the best combination out of a 22-player roster that includes 10 returnees and talented newcomers who will push the veterans for court time.

Among the intriguing story lines is the long-awaited appearance of Larry “Tui” Tuileta on a UH roster. The three-time two-sport All-State selection out of Punahou originally committed orally to the Warriors for volleyball with the idea he would walk on for football; on National Letter of Intent signing day in 2014, he announced he would play both at USC.

Tuileta was a reserve quarterback for the Trojans in 2014, but did not play; he played in 26 volleyball matches before leaving USC after spring 2015. Since then, he concentrated on becoming academically eligible and will have three seasons to play volleyball.

Where the 6-foot-2 Tuileta will fit in is as big a question as who will fill the shoes of departed All-America libero Kolby Kanetake. Wade said he will look at Tuileta, Volleyball magazine’s national high school player of the year as a senior outside hitter, at libero.

“As good as he and Kupono (senior hitter Fey) are as attackers, the best part of their games is receive,” Wade said. “Tui walks in (officially today) and we’ll have to consider where he fits in as a six-rotation player (outside hitter) or libero.”

The others vying for the libero spot are redshirt sophomore Mamane Namahoe, who played in eight matches last season; sophomore Colton Cowell, used as a serving specialist in nine matches as a freshman; redshirt freshman Kahiau Machado; and true freshman Evan LaRochelle, a 2011 Waiakea High graduate who spent the past four years in the Air Force.

As happened last season, the battle will continue to wage at setter between Jennings Franciskovic, one of four Warrior seniors, and sophomore Joe Worsley, who competed for Team USA along with freshman hitter Austin Matautia at last summer’s NORCECA Continental Championship.

Competition at opposite also is ongoing between sophomore Stijn van Tilburg from the Netherlands and freshman Rado Parapunov, named best spiker in 2015 and best server in 2016 at the European Championships while playing for Bulgaria. Both are dynamic and the option could be to move van Tilburg to his natural position on the left side.

If there is one part of the Warriors’ game that Wade expects will be improved it is serving. Last season, senior Siki Zarkovic was the only one able to bring the heat (60 mph and above) consistently, but Wade says he has six potential starters who can do so, including van Tilburg and Matautia.

The biggest change for Hawaii is, in its last year of the MPSF, there are only 19 league matches as opposed to 22, which opened things up for the Warriors to take a trip to the Midwest (playing McKenree and Lindenwood) to help with the RPI. The Warriors only play UC Irvine, UC San Diego and Cal Baptist once and the other eight teams twice.

Hawaii moves to the Big West next season, along with Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge and UC San Diego. Long Beach State will host the conference tournament in 2018, with Hawaii in 2019 and UCI in 2020.

Wade said Hawaii has put in a bid to host the final four in 2020. The school hosted for the only time in 2004.

“We’ll enjoy our last season in the MPSF,” Wade said. “The megaconference is coming to the end in a humane way. Teams from the MPSF were (so) exhausted from beating up each other every night that, by the end of the season, it took its toll, something you saw in the postseason.

“It’s going to be good for us and good for men’s volleyball.”