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The competition for starting spots on opening night begins at dawn Monday.
With a long-delayed season opener now less than three weeks away, the University of Hawaii women’s volleyball team will convene today for meetings and report to Gym 1 for the first of two Monday practices as Robyn Ah Mow and the Rainbow Wahine coaching staff begin the process of evaluating the 17-player roster.
“That’s my motto, you just have to earn it,” Ah Mow said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re freshmen or seniors, if you’re doing what you’ve got to do in practice and you deserve to play and you’re one of the best, then you play. They all know that.
“You’re not set in one spot every day. … We have games and you have to come out and you have to produce in order to get on that floor in game time.”
After having its 2020-21 season canceled, UH ends its 20-month hiatus with a match against Fairfield in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic on Aug. 27. The Wahine also face Marquette and Texas A&M on the season’s opening weekend.
The Wahine return eight letterwinners from the Big West champion 2019 team, with nine yet to step onto the Taraflex in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH’s top three leaders in kills per set — Jolie Rasmussen (3.52), Hanna Helvig (3.16) and McKenna Ross (2.45) — have moved on, opening up opportunities for a deep group of outside hitters led by senior Brooke Van Sickle. The Wahine also have experience in the middle with the return of senior Skyler Williams and sophomore Amber Igiede.
With Norene Iosia and Bailey Choy completing their careers in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the setting competition will feature two newcomers from Texas in transfer Mylana Byrd and freshman Kate Lang.
Byrd joined the roster as a transfer from Alabama in the spring 2020 semester and worked out with the team before the pandemic shutdown. Lang arrived for a fall season that was eventually canceled.
“They both work hard and they’re going to battle, which I like,” said Ah Mow, a two-time Olympian at the position.
“It’s just about managing how you as a setter can manage your team. We have eight outside hitters and it’s about who can figure out which ball is best for each hitter. … It’s not just about setting, but it’s figuring out what you have on the court and how you can best score with what you have on court.”
Following is a look at the position groups heading to the start of practice.
Middle Blocker
Returnees: Amber Igiede (6-3, So.), Skyler Williams (6-1, Sr.)
Newcomer: Anna Kiraly (6-3, Fr.)
Williams led the Wahine with a .393 hitting percentage while averaging 2.19 kills per set in 2019. Igiede’s 211 total kills as a freshman is the most among the Wahine returnees. She also led the Wahine with 125 total blocks (1.33 per set), followed by Williams with 109 (1.28 per set). Kiraly is the program’s first player from Hungary and was part of the national team before enrolling at UH last year.
Outside Hitter
Returnees: Brooke Van Sickle (5-9, Sr.), Riley Wagoner (6-0, So.), Tiffany Westerberg (6-3, So.), Braelyn Akana (6-0, So.)
Newcomers: Martyna Leoniak (6-3, Fr.), Ilayda Demirtas (6-5, Fr.), Kendra Ham (6-0, So.), Annika De Goede (6-3, Fr.), Mia Johnson (5-11 , Fr.)
Van Sickle began her college career at Oregon in 2016 and returns for her second season with the Wahine after averaging 2.43 kills per set in 2019. Her 20 aces ranked third behind Iosia (46) and Choy (27). Wagoner started 14 matches as a freshman. Westerberg and Akana can also move to the middle if needed. The 2019 roster topped out with two players at 6-foot-3 in Igiede and Westerberg. This year’s team has six players 6-3 or taller with the influx from Europe in Kiraly, Leoniak, Demirtas and De Goede. Ham had 16 aces as a freshman at Cal Poly in 2019.
Setter
Newcomers: Mylana Byrd (6-2, Jr.), Kate Lang (5-10, Fr.)
Byrd enters practice with the edge in height and experience, but Ah Mow expects a spirited competition for playing time. Although the team was limited in workouts last year, Ah Mow said they came out of the spring skill sessions “right next to each other.” Byrd started nine matches as a sophomore at Alabama in 2019 and averaged a team-high 7.48 assists per set.
Libero/Def. Specialist
Returnees: Kyra Hanawahine (5-2, Sr.), Janelle Gong (5-9, Jr.)
Newcomer: Tayli Ikenaga (5-5, Fr.)
After Rika Okino, one of two players to see action in all 30 matches in 2019, Hanawahine returns with the most experience in the back row. The Kamehameha graduate and Oregon transfer posted 35 digs and 12 aces (including four in a win over UC Irvine) in her first season in Manoa and had no errors in 34 serve receptions. Gong enters her fourth year in the program and Ikenaga was a Star-Advertiser Fab 15 selection as a Moanalua outside hitter in 2019.
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