How would they respond? That was the question after Hawaii spent as much time Saturday night in Gym I following its loss to San Diego as it did when being swept by the Toreros in the Stan Sheriff Center.
The 90-plus minute “tough love” session — the extra time spent soul-searching as a team — paid off Sunday. Not with a victory that will show up in its record — No. 20 Hawaii ended up falling to No. 13 UCLA in Sunday’s finale of the Texaco Invitational 23=25, 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 15-10 — but something that the Rainbow Wahine will build on this volleyball season under first-year head coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos.
“This game … I felt like I won, that the team won,” Ah Mow-Santos said
“We knew they had the fight but did they have the rest of it? I’m excited about what we saw tonight. Obviously I was not happy with the effort (Saturday) and we did some extra work. I told them, ‘Hey, I’m trying to build a team culture.’ They blew me away tonight.”
Junior hitter McKenna Granato, who had been dealing with the loss of her grandmother last week, put down 29 kills and added a career-high 19 digs in the two-hour, 32-minute match. The Rainbow Wahine, opening a season 0-3 for the first time since 1980, also saw career performances from junior hitter Casey Castillo (15 kills), senior setter-turned-hitter Kendra Koelsch (10 kills) and senior libero Savanah Kahakai (28 digs).
A crowd of 4,542 saw the Wahine nearly pull it out at the end. Up 8-6 at the changeover, Hawaii was unable to bring the momentum to the other side of the court. The Bruins began chipping away, tying at 8 then using a 6-0 closing run to remain undefeated (3-0) and top the Wahine for a fourth consecutive season.
It was the 75th meeting between the two rivals. UCLA now has a 38-37 edge in the series that began in 1974, the first year of the Hawaii program.
The Bruins were led by freshman hitter Mac May’s 18 kills. Junior libero Zana Muno finished with 34 digs.
Hawaii has a quick turnaround, with a Hawaiian Airlines Classic opening match against Western Carolina (1-2) on Thursday. Ah Mow-Santos said she feels optimistic heading into the new week.
“We got through things we needed to get through,” she said. “I’m going to walk out of here happy because I know now my team is on the right track. If we keep doing that, we’re good. This is only the first three matches, there’s a lot more to come. Yes, I’m very excited.”
Hawaii saw the return of Kalei Greeley, who had a second shoulder surgery during the offseason then was hampered by a back issue. The senior hitter only played in the back row but stabilized the Wahine’s passing in a morale-boosting performance.
Hawaii went back to a “normal” lineup with Emily Maglio remaining in the middle and Castillo on the outside. The pair had flopped positions the previous two nights.
One concern was freshman middle Sky Williams going down with a tweaked ankle in Set 5 with the Bruins leading 12-10. Hawaii will know more today.
“It was key Saturday, we needed the extra tough love reminder,” Kahakai said. “At 8-6 … we just got to learn how to finish, how to finish when we’re ahead. We can’t allow the other team to come back on us. If they score a point, we’ve got to sideout quick. I think what we saw tonight was everyone seeing what we can do when we’re being a team.”
Koelsch agreed.
“We were more of a team tonight,” she said. “We played like we did in practice. We were more focused. Norene (sophomore setter Iosia) set amazing, made all the hitters look good.”
In Sunday’s opener, No. 22 San Diego needed just 76 minutes to sweep Marquette, 25-20, 25-29, 25-18, and claim second place
San Diego 3, Marquette 0: Jayden Kennedy put down 12 kills and Kaity Edwards added 10 for the Toreros (2-1). Allie Berber led the Golden Eagles (1-2) with 13 kills.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Emily Maglio, Hawaii; Allie Barber, Marquette; Kristen Gengenbacher, San Diego; Jayden Kennedy, San Diego; Mac May, UCLA; Madeleine Gates, UCLA; Reily Buechler (MOP), UCLA
