Rainbow Wahine round into form

It’s never too late to throw some wrinkles into the offense. With one regular-season volleyball match remaining, Hawaii did just that Thursday night, throwing UC Davis off by using junior setter Norene Iosia as a front-row hitter and not relying as much on a middle attack.

Iosia tied her career high with six kills and the Rainbow Wahine used errorless hitting by outside hitters McKenna Granato and Kendra Koelsch to dispatch the Aggies in 78 minutes on Hamilton Court at The Pavilion in Davis, Calif. Granato finished with 14 kills on 23 swings, hitting for a career-high .609, and Koelsch added nine kills, hitting .600, in the 25-18, 25-11, 25-12 victory.

Hawaii (19-7, 13-2 Big West), looking to keep its NCAA tournament at-large berth hopes alive, conclude the conference season at UC Irvine (21-6, 9-5) on Saturday (6 p.m. Hawaii time). The Wahine can notch their 24th consecutive 20-win season with a victory over the Anteaters.

“I think there’s a little pressure (on us) for Irvine,” Granato, who surpassed the 700-kill mark for her career (708), said in a telephone call. “We need to take care of business, show the NCAA (selection committee) that we can continue to blow teams out.

“Tonight, our middles did a good job at pulling their blockers and giving us open looks. Norene did a really good job getting us that, and she did a really good job at hitting. She can really bang it. We had good focus, taking care of the plays, and when we do that, it flows well.”

The Wahine were effective and efficient on offense, hitting .400 for the night. They finished with six hitting errors — four in Set 1 and two in Set 3 — and had 16 kills on 26 errorless swings in Set 2.

Middles Emily Maglio and Natasha Burns, who combined for 30 kills with two errors on 43 attempts against Long Beach State on Nov. 4, each had three kills on a combined 22 swings Thursday. Maglio had three of the Wahine’s four hitting errors in Set 1 and Burns the other.

Maglio was blocked as the Aggies closed to 15-14 in Set 1. Hawaii did not have another hitting error until Set 3, when Casey Castillo netted on her follow-through, cutting the Wahine lead to 18-8.

“I felt we came out strong and were in sync,” said Iosia, who tied her career high with six kills, mostly on sets from junior reserve Faith Ma‘afala. “Everyone took care of their assignments. (The Aggies) were definitely all over our middles, so we adjusted to that. Coach Robyn (Ah Mow-Santos) said to spread the offense, get to the pins.

“For me, getting to hit was fun. I’ve bugged Coach Robyn to let me do it and, when she did, I needed to take advantage. It was something different and (the Aggies) probably didn’t know what to think.”

Given Hawaii’s strong middle presence this season, it appeared that was what UC Davis thought the Wahine would go with on Thursday.

“They scouted us pretty good, doubled up on our middles,” Ah Mow-Santos said. “It’s one of the reasons our outsides were open when they stacked the block.

“I’m happy about tonight. We were pretty efficient, we got everyone in. It’s too bad we’re climbing at this time. We’re blocking better, we’re passing better, our serving is better. It’s a good thing for the team and I’m hoping (the NCAA) gives us a chance.”

The Aggies (16-13, 8-8) were led by freshman hitter Mahalia White’s 13 kills. Junior libero Malia Bolko added a match-high 14 digs.

Highlighting Set 1 was senior libero Savanah Kahakai passing Tita Ahuna (1,384) for No. 3 on the program’s career digs list, her eight digs giving her 1,388. Senior Kalei Greeley added a team-high 12 digs.

Hawaii outblocked Davis 9-2, with Iosia in on four. The Wahine used all 14 on the travel roster.