Velocity isn’t everything when it comes to Hawaii’s effectiveness from the service line — but it sure doesn’t hurt, either.
Through seven matches, the undefeated Rainbow Warriors rank sixth in the nation and second among Big West men’s volleyball teams in service aces with 37 total and 1.61 per set. On the other side of the net, UH’s three opponents have landed just 16 against them over 23 sets.
While the Warriors aren’t shy about bombing away from the back line, the radar gun isn’t the only, or even most telling, measure of UH’s approach to dictating points with their serve.
“The aggression’s not always velocity, that’s a bit of a myth,” UH coach Charlie Wade said. “You can have a deliberate intent to create point-scoring without just swinging out of your shoes every single time.”
Playing at home (finally) figures to add another level of comfort for the Warriors after going 7-0 through two trips to Southern California to open the season. They’ll make their first appearances at SimpliFi Arena in 2021 on Friday and Saturday in a two-match series with UC San Diego. UH swept a series with the Tritons on Feb. 24 and 25 to cap a four-match, season-opening road trip, firing eight aces to the Tritons’ one over two matches in San Diego.
The Warriors practiced in the arena for the first time this season over a bye week following their sweep of No. 3 UC Santa Barbara two weekends ago and Wade could see an uptick in UH’s efficiency while maintaining their aggression.
“Serving is something we spend a lot of time on and we’ve actually been more of a focus recently,” Wade said. “You see guys having really good turns. They can go back and repeatedly serve the ball in at their near maximum velocity at a really high percentage.”
Wade noted a run by senior Colton Cowell in Tuesday’s practice when “he went more than half a dozen in a row in-bounds all over 70 miles per hour, 71 to 74.”
With several players who can light up the gun, “If you’re going to hit it hard, you’re going to take your chances, if you hit a seam or a sideline, you’re scoring directly,” Wade said. “But even if it’s right at them and it’s got that kind of pace on it, more time than not it’s more of a dig and it’s just way off the net.”
Yet there are situations when, like a pitcher on the mound, location is the greater factor in effectiveness.
“There’s times when you want to target more and move someone into a certain location or make sure one guy plays it or make sure one guy doesn’t play it,” he said.
While UH’s point-scoring potential from behind the service line is just another weapon in the Warriors’ arsenal, Wade is more concerned with the Warriors’ efficiency in creating opportunities than the total in the ace column. He also credited veterans such as Cowell and fellow seniors Rado Parapunov and Patrick Gasman for knowing when to ease off a bit to avoid streaks of service errors.
“Those first two nights (at UC Irvine to open the season) … we were over 90% both nights,” Wade said. “We’ve kind of hovered around there, for us that’s kind of the gold standard where we want to be, and that’s with every guy trying to be as aggressive as possible and create points scoring for us.”
Cowell leads the Warriors with nine aces and ranks fourth in the Big West at 0.39 per set. Fellow senior Parapunov is right behind with eight and another five players have at least three. Middle blocker Patrick Gasman led UH with 18 in last year’s abbreviated 15-match season and has four so far this season.
UH also has fewer service errors (71) than their opponents (78). Yet, the Warriors see room for improvement.
“I think collectively we still have yet to have our best serving night,” Cowell said, “and I think fortunately with the lineup we put out there … we have people who will go on significant point-scoring runs and I think that’s been a very big advantage for us.”
BIG WEST MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
At SimpliFi Arena
No. 12 UC San Diego (1-5, 1-1 BWC) vs. No. 1 Hawaii (7-0, 2-0)
>> When: Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
