Friends become foes when Illini meet Wahine

SEATTLE >> Keegan Cook has a sense about things, so much so that had the NCAA volleyball tournament bracket been a horse race, the Washington coach would have made money.

Before Sunday’s selection show Cook texted his friend Chris Tamas: “You’re coming to Seattle.” Sure enough, seven minutes into the broadcast, Tamas saw his Illinois team’s name pop up on the TV screen as part of the subregional hosted by eighth-seeded Washington.

Cook had a feeling about the Illini’s opponent as well. He said he never doubted that Hawaii would get an at-large berth and, given the NCAA’s previous history with sending certain teams to Seattle, Cook said he was not surprised that the Rainbow Wahine would be coming to town for the fourth time in eight postseasons.

“We should have known,” Cook said in a telephone call. “I’m stoked for our fans. By far this is the best subregional in the bracket. This is serious volleyball.

“I feel this is the most competitive tournament in years. There is such parity this season. It’s going to take skill and luck to win every night.”

Cook is not overlooking Friday’s first-round opponent LIU Brooklyn. The Blackbirds shared the Northeast Conference’s regular-season title then won the NEC tournament.

“You respect them as conference champions and I have deep respect for their coach Ken Ko,” Cook said. “We’ve known each other from when he was at San Francisco (head coach 2011-15) and I was at Saint Mary’s (assistant 2005-2012).”

Cook is intrigued by the Hawaii-Illinois match that opens Friday’s play.

“A number of similarities,” he said. “First-year head coaches, two of the top setters in the country, all-star middle blockers, great fan bases,” Cook said. “I had never been in the gym with Robyn (Wahine coach Ah Mow-Santos) as coach but I saw her coaching club in Las Vegas (summer of 2016) and I was blown away. The intensity, the work ethic. These were 15-16-year olds and she was coaching them at such a high standard.”

Tamas, Illinois’ first-year coach, has more of a personal relationship with Ah Mow-Santos. His wife, former Pacific All-American Jen Joines Tamas, was a teammate of Ah Mow-Santos on the U.S. Olympic team that took silver at the 2008 Games. The husband-wife duo also coached against Hawaii while at UC Riverside, Cal Poly and Nebraska (beach).

“We all trained together at the Olympic Center,” said Chris Tamas, who was on the U.S. men’s national team. “We are looking forward to the matchup and seeing Robyn. We have a lot of respect for her and Hawaii volleyball.

“Jen and I both played against Hawaii while we were at Pacific, and have played with the Hawaii greats on Team USA like Clay Stanley, Delano Thomas, Heather Bown, Robyn … We appreciate all of their history, their fans, and the amount of support the whole state gives the team and the beautiful game of volleyball.

“It should be a fun one.”

Ah Mow-Santos said she received an instant message from Jen Tamas after the selection show. “She’s a really good friend,” Ah Mow-Santos said. “She said, ‘Congrats. Can you believe we’re playing each other?’

“It’s going to be good to see them. Chris is a good coach, he’ll push his kids just the same as us.”

SEATTLE VOLLEYBALL REGIONAL CAPSULES

Washington (27-7, 14-6 Pac-12)

The eighth-seeded Huskies, battling injuries for part of the season, finished tied for second in a conference that sent the most teams (nine) to the NCAAs. The Pac-12 has five of the top 16 seeds.

UW is 8-2 in its last 10, with road losses at Colorado (3-0) and Oregon State (3-1). The Dawgs, however, are tough at home (13-3).

Washington had seven players named on the All-Pac-12 teams with senior opposite Carly DeHoog (2.89 kps, .307) and senior All-American hitter Courtney Schwan (41 aces).

Middle Lauren Sanders was named all-freshman and leads UW with 1.47 blocks per set, second in the Pac-12.

Coach Keegan Cook is in his second season, serving as an assistant to Jim McLaughlin at UW for two years. He also was at Saint Mary’s as an assistant for eight.

Hawaii (20-7, 14-2 Big West)

The Rainbow Wahine are making their 36th NCAA tournament appearance and 25th straight since missing in 1992, their only postseason absence.

Five of Hawaii’s losses came in five sets and all seven defeats were against teams that also made the NCAAs. The Wahine missed out on a Big West three-peat when losing twice in five to Cal Poly, their only loss in their last 10 matches.

Leading Hawaii are the four players who were named all-conference on Monday: senior middle Emily Maglio (151 blocks, 1.50 bps), senior libero Savanah Kahakai, junior hitter McKenna Granato (3.94 kps, 33 aces) and sophomore setter Norene Iosia (10.12 aps, 34 aces).

The Wahine lost senior Kalei Greeley to an ACL injury three points from finishing the sweep of UC Irvine in the regular-season finale. Relegated to the back row due to previous injuries, she had become a stabilizing force on defense.

Hawaii is 8-1 against Illinois and 9-6 against Washington. The Wahine have never met LIU.

Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, a three-time Olympic setter and two-time All-American at UH, is in her first season. She served as an assistant to Dave Shoji for five seasons.

Illinois (21-10, 12-8 Big Ten)

The Fighting Illini tied for fifth in a conference that sent eight teams to the NCAA, half of them seeded in the top 16. It’s their 24th NCAA appearance.

Illinois, 5-5 in its last 10, is riding a three-match win streak that began with a morale-boosting four-set win over Minnesota and added a 3-2 victory Saturday over Ohio State.

The Illini had four players honored by the conference on Tuesday, with junior setter Jordyn Poulter and junior middle Ali Bastianelli repeating on the first team. Poulter is the only player in the conference ranking in the top 15 in assists (10.83 aps) and blocks (0.95 bps). Bastianelli, who led the country last season in blocks, leads the Big Ten (1.59 bps) and ranks fourth nationally.

Illinois is 1-8 against Hawaii and 1-1 vs. Washington. The Illini have never faced the Blackbirds.

Coach Chris Tamas is in his first year. He’s been an assistant at UC Riverside, Minnesota, Cal Poly and the last at Nebraska.

LIU Brooklyn (20-9, 11-3 NEC)

The Blackbirds are in the NCAA for the 11th time, second in two seasons. They shared the regular-season Northeast Conference title and won the NEC tournament.

LIU is led by NEC Player of the Year Viktoria Fink, who averages a team-high 3.47 kps. Also named all-conference were junior hitter Nina Petranovic (3.06 kps) and sophomore middle Filippa Hansson (2.16 kps, 0.89 bps )

The Blackbirds rely heavily on foreign nationals with eight of their 13 players from outside the U.S. They are 8-2 in their last 10 and riding a seven-match win streak.

Coach Ken Ko is in his second year at LIU after five seasons as the head coach at San Francisco.

LIU has never faced any of the three teams in the subregional.