Slow start, fast finish. That trend is OK with Hawaii volleyball coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos … to a point.
As long as the end result is a victory, everything is good. But it’s the getting there that has been the frustrating part.
“Our players still take a while to make the changes,” Ah Mow-Santos said as the Rainbow Wahine prepared for today’s nonconference match at Pepperdine. “They know their assignments. They say ‘Yes, Coach” when you ask them. Then …
“We need them to do their job, but do it from the very beginning.”
The job is pretty simple for Hawaii (16-7, 12-2 Big West), which has two conference matches remaining. The Wahine need to win out, including today in Firestone Fieldhouse, and then play the waiting game for an NCAA tournament bid.
“We tell the girls play every night as if we still got a chance,” Ah Mow-Santos said.
It’s the same on the other side of the net for the Waves (16-8, 10-4 West Coast), currently in third place in the conference, 3 1/2 games behind top-ranked Brigham Young (23-0, 13-0). Pepperdine also is hoping for an at-large bid, but it didn’t help that the Waves dropped a 25-23, 24-26, 15-25, 30-28, 21-19 marathon on Saturday at Pacific (10-14, 5-8), dropping their Rating Percentage Index to 54, one spot ahead of Hawaii (55).
“The loss hurt, but I don’t think it knocks us out,” Pepperdine coach Scott Wong said of the 2-hour, 25-minute defeat. “But we know we can’t lose many more.
“At Pacific … I’ll steal Robyn’s line. We didn’t start very well. The first set we didn’t execute the way we should have. We did some really good things, but Pacific played well, especially at the end. It was a tough thing to fly out of Sacramento with that loss, but we’re ready to move forward.”
That first step comes against Wong’s former team. He was Hawaii’s associate head coach under Dave Shoji for five seasons (2010-14), a staff that included Ah Mow-Santos the last four seasons.
Hawaii is in Malibu, Calif., for just the second time in program history, and the first since 1998. Wong said seeing the Wahine in the gym brought back “a lot of good memories.”
“I think it’s going to be a fun match to play, and play a really good team,” said Wong, a Punahou graduate who was a three-time All-America honoree for Pepperdine. “I think it’s exciting that Hawaii gets to have (Ah Mow-Santos) as the head coach.
“The cool thing about Robyn is she is able to get a lot out of each of her players. Our concern about them? They play good volleyball and they make you have to beat them.”
Hawaii’s concern is the quick offense that Pepperdine runs, something with which the Wahine have struggled, including against Oregon and even Cal State Northridge. Senior setter Blossom Sato, ranked 30th nationally at 10.99 assists per set, has three options at the pins, all of whom have over 200 kills this season: 6-foot junior Hannah Frohling, 6-2 sophomore Shannon Scully and 6-4 freshman Rachel Ahrens.
Anchoring the Waves’ defense is junior libero Hana Lishman, a Punahou graduate who has 315 digs this season and has been in double digits in all but two matches.
“Lishman’s been awesome, maybe our steadiest players out there,” Wong said. “She’s steady as can be defensively and gets better every day.”
Note
Hawaii has won both matches against Pepperdine in Malibu, in five in the second match of 1978, and a sweep on Oct. 28, 1998. The Wahine have won the past 13 meetings.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
>> Today, 4 p.m.
>> Hawaii (16-7, 12-2 Big West) at Pepperdine (16-8, 10-4 West Coast)
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1420-AM
>> Online stream: TheW.tv
>> Series: Hawaii leads 31-3
