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How good is Big West volleyball this season?
As good as the 1980s, when three of the league’s teams — Hawaii, Pacific (which left after 2012) and Long Beach State — won six of the eight NCAA tittles between 1982 and 1989? The decade in which the Northwest Regional usually had four Big West teams fighting for one spot to the final four?
Probably not.
As good as 2013, when the tri-champions (Hawaii, Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara) all got NCAA bids, the most for the conference since 2006?
Probably better.
In 2013, Hawaii (24) and CSUN (23) had 20-plus wins heading into Selection Sunday and UCSB was at 18.
This season, the Rainbow Wahine already are at 20 with four regular-season matches remaining. The Gauchos could hit that mark Saturday with a win at Cal Poly, the second of this year’s Blue-Green Rivalry, the outcome of which will break the current tie for second place.
More importantly, all three are in the top 50 of the Ratings Percentage Index, the computer-generated system used by the NCAA to select the 64-team field and seed the top 16. If the selection show were today, and not Dec. 1, the Wahine (RPI 11) would host the first and seconds rounds, something they haven’t done since 2013, the Gauchos (26) would get an at-large bid and the Mustangs (41) would have a good shot as a bubble team. (Hawaii’s RPI was 46 when selected as an at-large last year.)
Projections around the country have the trio in … barring a collapse the rest of the way.
If UC Davis coach Dan Conners were on the committee, “Yes, the Big West absolutely deserves three teams.
“Hawaii, UCSB and Cal Poly have strong nonconference records that include some big wins for each program,” he said. “They have the talent and ability to compete nationally and up to this point have each proven themselves worthy of a bid.”
Conners and his Aggies (14-11, 6-6) get to test out that theory in person today at The Pavilion against the Rainbow Wahine (20-3, 10-2). The last time the teams met, Hawaii rallied for a reverse sweep, 22-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-12 at the Stan Sheriff Center on Oct. 20.
In that match, junior hitter Brooke Van Sickle came off the bench for Hawaii in Set 3, her first appearance since being injured during the five-set home loss to UC Irvine on Oct. 4. Seven kills, eight digs and two aces later, some saw Van Sickle turning the No. 2 on her jersey into an “S” a la Supergirl.
The Wahine acknowledge that the 5-foot-9 Van Sickle brings a different energy to the court. Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow calls it something different.
“It’s just the chemistry on the court when she’s there,” Ah Mow said.
It also allows Hawaii to change up the lineup, with Van Sickle mainly hitting on the left and freshman Hanna Hellvig moving from left to right-side hitter, a position at which the reigning conference Freshman of the Week has said she feels is more natural for her.
Hellvig had 16 kills in the earlier match with Davis, with a combined eight kills on 12 errorless swings in the final two sets.
Of concern this week for the Wahine is Aggies sophomore hitter Mahalia White, the 2017 conference Freshman of the Year. Hawaii didn’t slow down the 6-footer until Set 5 in the last meeting, when White had just one of her match-high 17 kills.
Lauren Matias, a 6-2 senior outside, added 15 kills and sophomore opposite Leonie Strehl 11 for the Aggies at the Sheriff Center. In Tuesday’s 20-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-7 win over Cal State Fullerton, Matias had 24 kills and 14 digs while White did not play.
Asked about the key to defeating the Wahine today, Conners joked: “To score more points than Hawaii in three of the sets.”
The only time the Aggies were successful in the series was in The Pavilion in 2013, a match that went five sets. Davis has lost the past 12, which means today is the last chance for the senior class of Matias, Ally Reyes and Jackie Graves to defeat the Wahine in their final home match.
BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL
All times Hawaii
>> No. 19 Hawaii (20-3, 10-2) at UC Davis (14-11, 6-6) When: Today, 5 p.m. Radio: 1500-AM Streaming video: BigWest.tv Series: Hawaii leads 14-1
>> No. 19 Hawaii at UC Riverside (6-17, 2-10) When: Sunday, noon Radio: 1500-AM Streaming video: BigWest.tv Series: Hawaii leads 26-0
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