Count Fairfield coach Todd Kress among those curious to see how Hawaii will shape up in its return from a nearly two-year women’s volleyball hiatus.
Kress opens his 12th season leading the Stags by bringing them to Honolulu for the first time in his career and faces a Rainbow Wahine roster featuring eight holdovers from the 2019 roster blended with nine newcomers eagerly awaiting their UH debuts.
“Just from a statistical standpoint, we have no idea what to expect,” Kress, Fairfield’s all-time wins leader, said Thursday. “But we do know traditionally they’re a great program. We know that we’re going to see a very good, polished squad.
“They obviously didn’t play (last season), but they had the opportunity to train. So it’s their first weekend to play after a couple of years, I’m sure they will be so fired up and (have) a ton of energy from the other side of the net.”
The Rainbow Wahine will make their long-awaited return tonight when they meet the Stags in the second match of a season-opening doubleheader in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
UH will face Marquette on Saturday and close the opening weekend against Texas A&M on Sunday.
“Coming into this past, like, week, we were all doing the countdown during practice, like today’s six days, today’s five days …” freshman setter Kate Lang said. “I’m so excited. I cannot stop thinking about game day.”
UH coach Robyn Ah Mow gave the Wahine a taste of game night when she took them into SimpliFi Arena for the first time during camp last week and let them wear their jerseys for some six-on-six work.
“All the new ones, they were just running and looking around because they’d never been in here,” said Ah Mow, who opens her fourth season tonight.
The atmosphere for the matchup with Fairfield will be decidedly more like their practice sessions than their last game-night appearance in the arena, when they swept San Diego in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Dec. 7, 2019.
The return of the fans will have to wait at least past the opening weekend with restrictions on gatherings in place due to the COVID-19 surge. But the Wahine entered the week focused on the opportunity ahead.
“When we found out that there couldn’t be anyone watching the games, it was really heartbreaking,” said sophomore outside hitter and Kamehameha graduate Braelyn Akana. “All of us were really hurt by that. … Being local I know how important it is to go and support UH athletics. But definitely we did look at the positive side and we’re just really grateful that we’re having a season.”
Kress, too, had hopes of sending the Stags onto the court to play in front of a Hawaii crowd.
“Obviously I think everyone participating this weekend is disappointed,” Kress said. “It’s one of the best places, if not the best atmosphere in the country in regards to volleyball. The fans are so appreciative of the sport and just the atmosphere in that arena. Obviously, Hawaii is going to miss their fans, but I think, we were looking forward to that energy that the fans bring as well.”
Ah Mow and the UH coaching staff have spent the past two weeks evaluating a roster that returns All-Big West middle blockers Skyler Williams and Amber Igiede and has experience at the outside hitter spots in senior Brooke Van Sickle and sophomores Riley Wagoner, Tiffany Westerberg and Akana. The returnees and coaches have also praised the talents of an international trio of freshmen in Annika de Goede, Martyna Leoniak and Ilayda Demirtas.
Lang and junior Mylana Byrd have been locked in a tight duel for setting duties heading toward their UH debuts.
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES RAINBOW WAHINE CLASSIC
SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
>> When: Today-Sunday
>> TV: UH matches on Spectrum Sports
>> Radio: UH matches on 1420-AM/92.7-FM
Today
Marquette vs. Texas A&M, 4:45 p.m.; Fairfield vs. Hawaii, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Texas A&M vs. Fairfield, 4:45 p.m.; Marquette vs. UH, 7 p.m.
Sunday
Marquette vs. Fairfield, 2:45 p.m.; Texas A&M vs. Hawaii, 7 p.m.
TOURNAMENT CAPSULES
Fairfield Stags
>> Coach: Todd Kress (234-103, 25th year)
>> Conference: Metro Atlantic Athletic
>> Outlook: Kress led Fairfield to the MAAC regular-season title in a highly compacted nine-match season in the spring, going 9-1 over five doubleheaders played within three weeks in March. The Stags are favored again in the MAAC preseason poll, with setter Manuela Nicolini, middle blocker Luci Albertson (2.29 kills per set in the spring) and right-side hitter Joelle Battles (3.09 kps) named to the preseason all-conference team. Nicolini was named the MAAC Player and Setter of the Year in 2019, when she averaged 10.91 assists and 2.94 digs per set and led the team with 43 service aces.
Marquette Golden Eagles
>> Coach: Ryan Theis (157-57, eighth year)
>> Conference: Big East
>> Outlook: The Golden Eagles return to Honolulu for the first time since 2017, when they handed the Rainbow Wahine a five-set loss in Robyn Ah Mow’s debut as UH head coach. This season, Marquette returns all six starters and was voted second in the Big East preseason poll behind Creighton after going 10-4 overall and 4-2 in conference in the spring. Taylor Wolf, a 6-foot-2 graduate student, pulled double duty as a hitter and setter and led the Eagles with 2.28 kills per set. She ranked second on the team with 5.02 assists, trailing junior Claire Mosher’s 5.49. Middle blocker Savannah Rennie (6-2) led the team with 51 blocks while hitting .312 and averaging 2.12 kills.
Texas A&M Aggies
>> Coach: Laura “Bird” Kuhn (49-30, fourth year)
>> Conference: Southeastern
>> Outlook: After reaching the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 in a 23-8 2019 season, the Aggies broke even in the spring at 9-9 and were picked seventh in this season’s SEC preseason coaches poll. They return five starters, led by 6-foot-1 senior setter Camille Conner. A 2019 All-SEC selection, Conner ranks fourth in program history with 3,945 assists. Senior Morgan Christon led the Aggies with 3.59 kills per set last season, while Lauren Davis put away a team-high 170 (2.43 per set). Senior middle blocker Mallory Talbert (6-3) was in on a team-best 65 blocks, while London Austin-Roark (6-4) hit .456 with 34 total blocks.
