By Tiff Wells
1. Day And Night – For visiting teams, it usually takes them about a set to get acclimated to playing in The Stan. Toss in it being the season opener for Loyola while Hawai`i had two matches under their belt and it was a recipe for working out the kinks versus relatively clean volleyball. A highly anticipated top-seven matchup was all No. 2 Hawai`i on night one. The Rainbow Warriors came in hitting .517 on the season and behind an 81% sideout percentage (43-of-53 off first-contact), UH hit .426 for the match (Loyola hit .172). Despite seven service errors in the opening set, the Bows won by seven points. Outside of two ties each in Sets 2 and 3, Hawai`i never gave up the lead. A 6-0 Set 2 scoring run behind Justin Todd’s serve was the difference in the 25-19 win. A 15-12 Set 3 lead became a 25-15 win as UH closed the set on a 10-3 run for a 94-minute sweep. Hawai`i didn’t give up a reception error (Ramblers had 13 service errors) in a match for the second time this season. For a two-match series, the team that loses the first match will usually make more adjustments and the night one victor expects an even tougher match. No one wants to lose both matches in a two-match series. After not recording an ace on night one, Loyola served eight aces in the match (four of which came from Ryan McElligott in Set 1). A normally efficient UH offense was held to a season-low .254 percentage as they were out-blocked for a second straight match (9-7 match 1, 15.5-10.5 match 2) en route to their first loss of the season.
2. Serve And Pass – It’s a cliché that is used by every coach out there. If you don’t win the serve and pass game, more than likely the match won’t be won. With Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko among the returnees for #WarriorBall26, Hawai`i brought back two of their three main passers in their serve receive. Add in transfer Quintin Greenidge and UH’s passing pattern was off to a great start as through three matches, they’d only been aced twice. Setter Tread Rosenthal was the recipient of great first touches and with a lot of one-on-one situations for hitters, Hawai`i was efficient in hitting .486 through three matches. Throw in 18 service aces while going on lengthy scoring runs, UH established separation and hadn’t really been pushed late into a set. The Bows did struggle on serve receive during the second match and it began in the opening set. Fans also weren’t used to seeing the sure serve-receiver Adrien Roure have an off-night (aced five times). When not aced, 6’11” Setter Tread Rosenthal was doing a lot more setting on the run with numerous bump sets as Hawai`i was forced to run their offense from well off-the-net. That, coupled with a formidable Loyola block equaled 25 hitting errors. A team that prides itself on efficient serving, the Bows had a season-high 20 service errors. Serve and pass is always key.
3. Welcome Back Kainoa – To say it was a busy summer for Kainoa Wade is an understatement. The opposite out of Kamehameha-Kapalama competed with Team USA at both the NORCECA U21 Pan American Cup and FIVB U21 World Championships, while also with the senior national team at the NORCECA Final Six. Gold was won at both the Pan American Cup and Final Six. He was named the best server at the Final Six after notching a tournament best 17 aces. However, fans had to wait a week to see No. 4 on the floor as he wasn’t medically cleared for participation in the NJIT series. The ovation was quite loud for the sophomore as he entered the substitution zone for the first time this season in the second set. He didn’t score a kill in match one against the Ramblers, but his impact was felt as a service sub, especially in Set 3. A 6-0 run, including back-to-back aces put the set and match on ice. Given the opportunity in the second match to play an entire set, Wade scored four kills. It’s not depth if you don’t use it and UH was very happy to get its backup opposite cleared ahead of the Loyola series.
4. Fightin’ Bows – The Rainbow Warriors expected a tighter match in Night 2 and they got one. For the first time all season, an opponent reached the 20-point mark. Not only did Loyola reach the 20-point mark in all four sets, they quieted a season-high crowd of 5,811 by handing UH its first set loss of the season. It became even quieter after UH headed to the locker room down in the match 2-0. Playing from behind in Set 3, Hawai`i trailed 20-13 and it appeared as if an off-night for UH would lead to a very rare 3-0 loss at home. Not so fast my friends. A Kainoa Wade service run here, a diving scramble from Tread Rosenthal there and the crowd was back in it. The seventh man (or eighth in volleyball one could say) buoyed the home team late in the set and the team fed off it. Not holding a lead until it was their first set point at 25-24, UH ended the frame on a 10-4 extended run to force a 4th set. A total of 13 ties in the 4th set and Hawai`i fought off a total of four match points but couldn’t do so a fifth time as UH saw their 15-match January win streak snapped by the Ramblers. While it’ll go down as a loss, as a fan you like seeing the fight from a team that did come into the season with a lot of high expectations. Down 20-13, there was no quit and it also showed a comeback can happen for this team, no matter the starting point it comes in a set.
5. Teachable Moments – Nearly every team at every level does this in practices: simulated scrimmages with the score at 20-20. Race to five or winning by two, how productive and efficient can you be to close out a set. In a match where all four sets were decided by three points or fewer, closing out sets was of utmost importance. Set 1 featured Loyola scoring three of the final four points to win by two. Blocking error, service error (also gave Loyola the 24-23 lead) and reception error to end the set as the Ramblers didn’t score a kill in any of the final three points in the set. Hawai`i led Set 2 21-19 and saw the visitors close the frame on a 6-1 run. Of those six points, Loyola had just one kill. UH had three hitting errors, a blocking error and a reception error to end that set. Hawai`i also had crucial errors late in Set 4 as well (service error to make it 21-20 Loyola, hitting error to give the Ramblers a 22-20 lead, service errors at 25-all and 27-all. Yes it’s a tough loss to end the weekend, but the season is very, very young. We’re only two weeks in. One loss isn’t the end of the world. And falling to the seventh ranked team in the country doesn’t equate to a bad loss on the resume. Take away an unforced error or two here or there and the set outcome may change. The opponent scoring is one thing but if they are to win the set, you’d want them to be earning it and not be routinely given points on unforced errors.
6. Not At 100% Health – Two weeks into the season and UH’s trainer Raiki Miyazato has been quite busy. The Bows have been anything but at full strength. Kainoa Wade wasn’t medically cleared for Week 1 and had to sit out. Luckily for UH, he was good to go for Week 2. However, the same cannot be said for Roman Payne. The 7-footer has missed the first four matches of his freshman season with lingering foot issues. No timetable has been established for his return. Back issues have held out MB Trevell Jordan (one match) and reserve S Vlad Kubr (all four matches). We also learned after the Loyola series that Tread Rosenthal experienced some back issues that held him out of practices all week. It was noticeable that Kristian Titriyski was grabbing at his back in the middle part of the second match and Kainoa Wade was brought in to replace him for the final set and a half. Injuries are part of sports and while it shouldn’t discredit to the way Loyola played to earn a split in the series, one could clearly see that Hawai`i wasn’t at full-strength with its top roster on the floor. With a week where UH plays the most matches it does in a season, depth will be on display as Hawai`i plays four matches in three days in hopes that perhaps some of its ailing starters can get healthy ahead of the first road-trip of the season that comes at the end of this month.