UH Wahine Volleyball preview: Scrutiny continues for Rainbow Wahine

The microscopic scrutiny began the day her hiring was announced. Robyn Ah Mow was returning to the program that hadn’t been in the NCAA championship match since she was the senior setter in 1996.

Tradition-rich Hawaii would now have just its third head coach since its 1974 inception, and it would be someone who had never been a collegiate head coach. Plus, she was replacing her former coach and mentor, the legendary Dave Shoji, whose first match with the Rainbow Wahine in 1975 came 44 days after Ah Mow was born.

It was Feb. 20, 2017, and it came as a surprise to many. Some questioned whether the two-time All-American would last through her initial three-year contract, given the weight of the expectations from an entire state.

But if there is a word that has followed Ah Mow around since her playing days at McKinley High, it is “overachiever.” How else to explain the journey taken by the 5-foot-7 player from Manoa to three Olympics, sandwiching a successful European pro career in between?

It hasn’t been easy, but nothing worth having ever is. Consider that Hawaii lost as many matches (four) in the first two weeks of Ah Mow’s first season as she lost in her final two seasons as a Wahine (66-4).

Still Hawaii finished second in the Big West the past two seasons, the only losses coming to eventual champion Cal Poly, three of those in five sets. And the Wahine made the NCAA tournament both times, both times losing in five in the first round.

Using an objective lens, Year 3 is really Year 1 for Ah Mow. She has her first full recruiting class, one with a global perspective that has five freshmen from three states and two foreign countries: Braelyn Akana (Hawaii), Hanna Hellvig (Sweden), Amber Igiede (Louisiana), Riley Wagoner (Ohio) and Tiffany Westerberg (Canada).

“Definitely they all have the potential to help us,” said Ah Mow, who was not really involved with recruiting during her five seasons as Shoji’s assistant (2011-15). “The people we brought in are more physical, their volleyball IQ is high, and ball control is at a point where we’re now teaching and correcting little things here and there.”

The newcomers include four transfers with Pac-12 experience, three from Oregon (Kyra Hanawahine, Jolie Rasmussen and Brooke Van Sickle) and one from Utah (Bailey Choy).

“I think girls want to transfer here because they know I will give them a chance,” Ah Mow said. “They know that only six can play at one time and that we want the best six on the court.”

The lineup is something that can be controlled. Scheduling … not so much.

The continually increasing emphasis on the Ratings Percentage Index when it comes to the NCAA tournament selection process has made it more difficult for Hawaii — in a non-Power Five conference — to bring in higher profile teams during the nonconference season that will excite the fans but, more importantly, help the Wahine’s RPI (a combination of one’s win-loss record, that of its opponents and that of its opponents’ opponents).

It happened under Shoji as well, where schools will ask who else is in the tournament before deciding to make the trip. Or schools want more of a guarantee than Hawaii is able to provide. Or administrations decide the expense isn’t worth it.

This week’s opening event — the Hawaiian Airlines Classic — is one of the better tournaments in the country, with Nos. 13 (Washington) and 21 (San Diego), along with St. John’s. The Huskies were picked fourth in the Pac-12 preseason poll, the Toreros second in the West Coast Conference and the Red Storm third in the Big East.

Something that also will help Hawaii’s RPI is the rare nonconference road trip, traveling to Waco, Texas, for the Baylor Invitational on Sept. 21-22. The Wahine face Missouri (fourth in the SEC preseason poll) and the host and 20th-ranked Bears (second behind Texas in the Big 12).

Baylor, which ended Hawaii’s season in the NCAA tournament last year, reached out in spring to see if Ah Mow was interested in a trip.

“We said yes if we were able to do it,” Ah Mow said. “It is getting more and more difficult to schedule. We told the administration that if the RPI stuff was going to be put on us and we can’t get anyone to come out, we’re going to have to go (on the road).

“It’s a good tournament and it’s a good road trip. We’re crossing our fingers because we’re going to be on the road for 12 days.”

Hawaii will remain on the mainland through its Big West openers at Long Beach State (Sept. 27) and Cal State Northridge (Sept. 28).

Currently the only other ranked team on the schedule is two-time defending Big West champion Cal Poly at No. 23. Hawaii received points (13) in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason Top 25, as did two of its opponents: Missouri (100 points, one spot out of the Top 25) and UCLA (7).

Last season, Hawaii’s final RPI was 46. Among the Wahine’s nonconference opponents, Baylor (17), Washington (25), Missouri (31), Denver (40) and UCLA (45) were higher. All made the NCAA tournament except for UCLA, which was ineligible due to an overall losing record (13-14).

Cal Poly, an NCAA tournament team, finished at 23. The Big West did no favors for the Mustangs nor the Wahine with UC Irvine (78) and UC Santa Barbara (97) the only ones with RPI in the top 100, and Cal State Fullerton at 301 among the 336 Division I teams.

Life under the microscope for all 336 teams begins today.