Searching for a spark following a rough road trip, Hawaii will rekindle a dormant women’s volleyball rivalry in its return to Manoa.
The Rainbow Wahine (2-4) resumed practice on Monday looking to shake off and learn from last week’s 0-3 stay in Utah while preparing to face Southern Cal (3-3) in the two-match Outrigger Volleyball Series starting Friday at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The 41-match series dating back to 1975 is highlighted by 10 postseason matchups — including UH’s win in the 1982 NCAA final — although Friday’s meeting will be their first since UH’s five-set win in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
The 42nd and 43rd renewals will feature teams hunting for consistency with conference play two weeks away.
For the Wahine, the series marks their final tests before the start of the Big West schedule. After facing USC, they’ll have a bye week before going on the road to face UC Riverside on Sept. 23 and UC Davis two days later.
“We know the (Big West) season is knocking on the door, and that’s going to be huge for us,” UH assistant coach Nick Castello said. “So there’s definitely some urgency to find those pieces that are going to be our core group moving forward. But at the same time we’re not trying to look too far away. We’re just focused on can we get after it in practice (this week) … and come Friday we play SC.”
The Wahine are looking to end the program’s first three-match skid since 2017. They dropped a five-set match to Utah Valley, which was followed by a quick sweep against No. 22 San Diego. The Wahine then split the first two sets with No. 19 Utah and threatened to force a fifth set before the Utes closed out the match.
“Against Utah we were able to free it up a little more and play a little bit more team volleyball,” Castello said. “It was fun to watch. Obviously it still ended in a loss, but just the way they came together after the first two and found a way to pull together and fight, that was good to see.”
The UH coaches shuffled the lineup during the trip with senior outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle, sophomore middle blocker Amber Igiede and freshman libero Tayli Ikenaga the only players to appear in all 21 sets so far this season.
Van Sickle led the Wahine in kills in each of UH’s six matches and her average of 5.24 points per set (4.38 kills per set, 11 total aces) leads the Big West.
The other outside hitter spots remain fluid with sophomore Riley Wagoner and freshman Mia Johnson splitting time last week. UH head coach Robyn Ah Mow noted sophomore Braelyn Akana’s blocking ability in moving her into the starting group against San Diego and Utah with freshman Martyna Leoniak, who started the first four matches, contributing off the bench.
Freshman Annika de Goede also made her UH debut during the Utah trip as did freshman middle blocker Anna Kiraly.
Junior Mylana Byrd has seen the bulk of the playing time at setter with 193 assists, 74% of the team total, with relief from freshman Kate Lang (22 assists).
“Every game matters, but this is the time for us to experiment, to see who jells with one another, what side of the court they like to play on,” Castello said. “We’re competing, but we’re also in that experimental phase where we’re seeing what works and maybe it means a lot of different lineups, but it’s not a frazzled, ‘we have to do this and this.’ It’s, ‘we have options, let’s explore these options.’ ”
USC arrived in town early this week coming off a 1-2 finish in the Bluegrass Battle in Kentucky. After a sweep of Northern Iowa, the Trojans lost a five-set battle with Creighton (which entered this week’s AVCA Top 25 at No. 19) and were swept by defending national champion and then-No. 3 Kentucky 25-15, 25-12, 25-22 last Saturday.
Outside hitter Brooke Botkin, a second-team AVCA All-American in 2018 and an All-Pac-12 pick last season, leads the Trojans with 4.09 kills per set with a .307 hitting percentage. Botkin leads USC with 212 total attacks (9.6 per set) followed by Brooklyn Schirmer with 105 (6.2 per set).
USC went 7-8 in an abbreviated Pac-12 spring season with seven matches canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
“There is that storied rivalry between SC and Hawaii,” Castello said, “but for us, we’re just really been focusing on our side and SC just happens to be the next game in front of us, so that’s the most important one.”
Wahine Volleyball
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
Southern Cal (3-3) vs. Hawaii (2-4)
>> When: Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.
>> TV: Spectrum OC16
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM (Friday); 1500-AM (Saturday)
