Wahine on a winning roll

Call it tunnel vision.

It’s what Hawaii volleyball coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos is trying to get her team to see after another sluggish, somewhat sloppy start. For the second night in a row, the Rainbow Wahine gathered, not in front of their bench after Set 1, but in the adjacent tunnel for a “chat.”

Whatever was said echoed loudly, perhaps resonating the most with McKenna Granato. The junior hitter put down seven of her match-high 16 kills in Set 2 to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 26-24, 25-17, 25-20 sweep of UC Davis in a Big West match on Saturday night.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,454 saw senior middle Emily Maglio finish with 12 kills — seven in Set 3 — and junior hitter Casey Castillo add 10 kills as Hawaii won its sixth straight. Senior libero Savanah Kahakai, one of four Wahine with double-digit digs, had 14 to give her 1,203 for her career, 18 shy of passing All-American Kanoe Kamana‘o for No. 6 on the program’s all-time dig list.

The Aggies (8-7, 0-1), who left six players at home due to illness, were led by freshman opposite Mahalia White’s nine kills. Junior libero Malia Bolko had 25 of Davis’ 56 digs.

Hawaii, the last Division I team in the country that hasn’t played a road match, hits the road this week, at Cal State Fullerton on Friday and UC Riverside on Saturday. The team has begun to look ahead to Monday’s practice, saying the focus has to be on starting out matches better.

“We need to work on everything, but especially starting off strong,” said Granato, who had reached her double-double by the end of Set 2. “For me tonight it was about finding a rhythm and stop thinking.”

“A win’s a win, but we could have played better,” said senior hitter Kendra Koelsch, who added eight kills. “I want our team to plow through these other teams. Maybe we’re playing down.

“We work on siding out on that first ball in practice and we didn’t play like we practice.”

That was evident in Set 3, when it took Hawaii seven swings at finishing off Davis. The fans were on their feet for aloha ball starting at 24-15 and through 24-20, sitting down during a timeout, then back up for the sixth attempt that Maglio put away to end it after 100 minutes.

It mirrored how Hawaii played, Ah Mow-Santos said.

“I’m getting tired of this up, down, up, down, slow and having to come back,” she said. “I’m happy how she (Maglio) ended up (eight kills in Set 3).

“It’s the little things that you need to remember, especially at the end of the game. It’s a good feeling going 2-0 (to start conference), but I am a little nervous about how we’ll play on the road if we’re so up and down at home.”

The roller-coaster ride began in Set 1 with 15 ties and eight lead changes. A kill by Castillo gave Hawaii set point at 24-23, only to have junior middle Kelechi Ohiri tie it. Ohiri hit wide on an overpass, setting up the Wahine’s second chance at ending it – Granato did with her third kill.

Granato got hot in Set 2, with seven kills and five digs, putting her at 10 each. Koelsch also came up big giving the Wahine a 2-0 lead, with two kills and a solo block of junior hitter Brianna Karsseboom to pull away for good at 14-12.

Sophomore setter Norene Iosia finished with her sixth consecutive double-double (41 assists-11 digs) and sophomore hitter McKenna Ross added 10 digs.

Hawaii outblocked Davis 7-4 with half of the Aggies’ blocks coming on two of their final three points. The Wahine have now swept the Aggies in their last four meetings.