ESPN Honolulu Rainbow Wahine play-by-play voice Tiff Wells with his six biggest takeaways from the most recent week.
1 – One Last Time Against Two? Week Five of conference play was the week where you play two teams just once. You travel to one school and host the other. For Hawai`i, the one school you travel to is just added onto another road trip. In essence, this past week away from home meant a stretch of three matches over a five-day span. After playing a back-to-back with stops in Long Beach and La Jolla, Hawai`i stayed on the mainland ahead of the UC Irvine match. As this is the last year for UH in the Big West Conference, the Tuesday match inside The Bren Events Center possibly represented the final time for the Bows to play at UC Irvine. The previous time UH played in the venue, they hoisted the 2024 conference trophy as tournament champions for a second consecutive season. What started as a 15-1 Set 1 deficit became a 25-7 loss as UH recorded just three kills and hit -.310 in the set (3-12-29). An 82-minute 3-0 loss to the Anteaters also gave UCI the tiebreaker should the two teams end up tied in the conference standings at the end of the regular season. After winning 47 of the first 48 meetings in the series, the Bows have dropped their last three (and maybe last?) matchups with UCI. The 13th loss of the season is also the most in a single season in program history. Playing their first home match in 13 days, Hawai`i faced Cal State Fullerton for the lone meeting of the season. Hitting .092 through the first two sets, UH saw themselves up 2-0 before an 11-point third set victory for their fourth 3-0 win of the season. Unless both teams qualify and face one another in the conference tournament, Saturday marked the 52nd and possible final matchup. 52 meetings, 52 UH wins. With Hawai`i moving to the Mountain West Conference next fall, it remains to be seen when…or if UH has either UC Irvine or Cal State Fullerton on future non-conference schedules.
2 – Another 20-Piece For Leyva. Some starters may not register nine digs in an entire match, let alone in a single set. Victoria Leyva hit the nine-dig mark before the first media break of Saturday’s match. An 11-dig opening set performance paved the way for yet another 20-dig match for the sophomore libero, the seventh time this season and of her career she’s reached that mark. In a stretch of the season where Hawai`i had been out-dug in five of their last six matches, the Bows dug in to win the category by 20 (62-42). Leading the UH backrow charge was their El Paso, Texas native. Digs were contagious as Cha’Lei Reid added 12 for her third career double-double. The three other UH littles (Jaci Miyasaki, Kāhea Moriwaki and Leilani Lopez) got involved too as they combined for 10 digs. The first-year starter at Libero took a stranglehold of the position during the season and hasn’t relinquished it. Sitting at fifth in the conference in digs per set and one of just four players with 300 or more digs this season, UH will need to rely and depend on QB-1 of the backrow as they look to make a climb in the standings with just eight conference matches left.
3 – Miyasaki’s Three Of A Kind. It’s been a six week whirlwind for Jaci Miyasaki. From originally planning to go to college on the mainland to thinking of heading to a community college here on island, the Kalani High alumna enrolled at UH for the fall semester. With season-ending injuries to both Tali Hakas and Stella Adeyemi, it took a call to the coaching staff to give notice there was a former high school player that wanted to be a team manager. With the need to add passers to the roster, she was added ahead of the Portland series. Thrust in as mostly a backrow replacement, Miyasaki at times has split the court with Victoria Leyva as UH experiments with a two-player serve receive formation. There have been a few key digs and assists over her short time as a Rainbow Wahine, none larger than a diving play to keep the second set alive for UH on Saturday. There might not be a tougher position than serving sub. Come off the bench cold and expected to get the serve in, maybe create some chaos in the process. For Miyasaki, Saturday’s match may have been the most productive one of her young career. 19 total serves (no errors) over three sets resulted in the first three aces of her Rainbow Wahine career. Adding in six digs, this former UH floor wiper/ball shagger also went 17-for-17 on serve receive during the 3-0 match win.
4 – Gunderson, Early & Often. With Cal State Fullerton’s starting middle blockers listed at 5’9” and 6’1,” Hawai`i felt they held the advantage as they started Miliana Sylvester (6’1”) and Bri Gunderson (6’3”). After the performance at UC Irvine where she had just three kills and hit negative (-.200), there was heightened sense from UH to run the middle and get Gunderson going against the Titans. With the passing enabling Adrianna Arquette to run the middle, Gunderson rewarded that good passing as she recorded seven of her 13 kills in the opening set. Finishing the night with 13 kills and a .417 hitting percentage, Gunderson helped Hawai`i pick up their fourth conference win of the season. Her success also allowed her counterpart Miliana Sylvester to find seams in the block as the sophomore notched nine kills on 18 swings, with some great connections on the slide attack. On a night where the pin hitters combined for an .022 hitting percentage (Morghn Monahan: -.143, Tyla Reese Mane: .028, Cha’Lei Reid: .182), the middles led the way in the two-hour, seven-minute victory.
5 – Bren Not Too Big For Monahan. The lights inside The Bren Events Center weren’t too bright for Morghn Monahan this past Tuesday. Making her fourth straight start, the senior provided both offense and positivity on a night where collectively nothing went right for the Rainbow Wahine. Playing loose and free, the Senior went for a UH career-high of seven kills and hit .357. The Lake Oswego, Oregon native also was given the green light to serve (something that she doesn’t do in practice) and kept all three of her serves in play. In a match where nearly nothing went right for UH, Monahan was singled out by her Head Coach after the match for her steady play. While she did have a couple of assists, one dig and one block against the Titans on Saturday, Hawai`i will continue to need some offense from the right-side to free up both the middles and left-sides. In a season unlike any other in program history, one can always depend on the smiles and positive vibes to come from the one wearing the No. 6 Hawai`i jersey.
6 – Sixth Time A Charm For Control. Sometimes the hardest point to win is the one that closes out the set. After Cha’Lei Reid’s 8-0 scoring run to close out Set 1 where UH won 12 of the final 13 points to take a 1-0 match lead, Hawai`i was serving for Set 2 at 24-22. Forced into deuce, the Rainbow Wahine had to fight off a Cal State Fullerton set point (25-24) as well. Five of Cha’Lei Reid’s match-high 14 kills came in Set 2, with three of those five being the final three points for UH as they won the overtime set 30-28 to take a 2-0 match lead. A team that has not only seen late leads disappear and the opponent go on length scoring runs, Saturday was a refreshing moment for the young squad to win the first two sets the way they did. What could have been a 1-all match score or even an 0-2 deficit, Hawai`i came out in the third set with the 2-0 match lead and in front of many alumnae in house, they closed out the third set and the match hitting .412 (17-3-34) and siding out off first-ball contact at 78% (11-14). With eight matches left, UH is now tied for sixth with UC Irvine.