Tiff's takeaways for UH Women's Volleyball - Week 3

By Tiff Wells

1. O-1 Producer

Panna Ratkai averaged four kills per set during the Outrigger Invitational and received its top honor…Most Outstanding Player. A day later, the Outside Hitter became UH’s first ever Mountain West award winner in being named MW Offensive Player of the Week. Opening the two-match series against Central Arkansas, she picked up where she left off as she notched seven of her match-high 14 kills in the opening set. Adding 10 digs, it gave the senior her third double-double of 2026. Multiple serving runs (4-0, 8-0) in Set 2 on night two helped UH take the 2-0 match lead before winning in straight sets for a second consecutive night. Two more aces to her ledger gives her a team-high of 11. While the night two productivity (match-high 15) had one more kill than the previous night, the array of shots she has allowed her to hit for an efficient .314 on 35 swings. The senior has also strung together five straight matches with double-digit kills (six in the first eight matches). Productive, efficient…both will be needed from the Hungarian with Cha’lei Reid out with that right shoulder injury, which has held her out of the last five matches. UH is 5-0 without having Cha’lei Reid available.

2. Defense…Defense

Two weeks into the season and the Central Arkansas offense just hadn’t been able to do much of anything. Having won a total of two sets, the Sugar Bears were hitting .109 through their first five matches. The Hawai`i defense followed their scout to frustrate the visitors over the two-match series. UCA managed only 23 kills on night one as they hit a mere .027 and didn’t hit better than .081 in any set (.081, .023, -.031). 24 hours later, it was more of the same from UH as they held Central Arkansas to 29 kills and an .079 hitting percentage. Only in Set 3 did UCA hit over .081 (.225). All-in-all, the Sugar Bears hit under .100 in five of the six sets and two of those were in the negative. While the blocking numbers (five on night one, six on night two) didn’t produce that many points, the numerous touches at the net allowed the backrow to hold advantages on both nights (58-43 night one, 44-34 night two). Over the course of the two matches, UCA committed 41 hitting errors. With the Sugar Bears hitting .027 night one and .079 night two, Hawai`i has now had three matches of holding an opponent under .100 and it’s now a fifth time where an opponent has hit under .200. The defense has had a lot say and is one of the many reasons why the Rainbow Wahine are off to a 6-2 start.

3. Man-O-Mano

14 of the 15 players had seen match time through the first two weeks and some were wondering when they would get their first chance at seeing her play for the first time as a Rainbow Wahine. Mano Antiga made quite the first impression to the fans in her UH debut during the second match against Central Arkansas. Two digs, five-for-five on serve receive (with most of them being perfect passes), the freshman from Poland was second on the team in kills (9), while hitting for an efficient .316. More noticeable was the power behind those right-handed swings from the 6’0” Antiga as she got more comfortable as the match went on. It also gives Head Coach Joshua Walker another option on that left side.  

4. Purser’s Bag

After her first ever match as a Rainbow Wahine, Rachel Purser did say it was a little nerve racking playing in The Stan. It was a real good thing that the nerves got out during an exhibition match. She has felt more comfortable through three weeks of the season. She, along with Miliana Sylvester have entrenched themselves as the two starting middle blockers. In the six sets over the weekend, the Las Vegas native hit .342 while putting away 12 kills on a combined 29 swings with just two hitting errors. The connection she’s developed with Adrianna Arquette also has forced opponents to stay with her on the net as she’s become a viable option for UH’s offense. Unafraid to play the first ball on a short serve, UH has been able to run a diversified offense. When the time called for it, the freshman kept her serve in play and got UCA out of system. Quick attacks through the middle, going on the slide, gap sets, hitting wrist-away or crossbody, she’s developed multiple shots in hitting from different spots on the floor. Through three weeks, she’s hitting .328 (48-9-119) and in Week 4, she’ll get a chance to play in front of a lot of family and friends as UH heads to Las Vegas to take part in the Lucky Aces Women’s Volleyball Invitational.

5. HI 5-0

A first-year head coach that was hired two and a half months prior to the start of the season. A non-conference schedule that was put together by the previous coaching staff. No one on this roster was recruited by this staff. No one really knew what to expect out of this group for this season, let alone in the non-conference. Three weeks in and this team has already faced adversity with the injury to a starter (Reid). Two five set victories (one where UH was up 2-0, the other where UH trailed by a set twice), coupled with three sweeps, the Bows have found different ways to win matches. In doing so, they’ve put together a five-match winning streak, the longest for the program since 2023. At 6-2 with three matches left in the non-conference, Hawai`i has guaranteed themselves a winning record entering conference play. There are two more chances to bolster the resume as they play both Iowa State and UCLA this week in Las Vegas. As mentioned in a post-match press conference over the series, “winning is a habit.” It’s been contagious and these Bows continue to play with confidence under this first-year coaching staff.

6. Sideout Bows

Serve and pass. You hear every coach say it when asked what’s the key to winning a match. Over the six sets played during the weekend, UH had 14 service errors. A little over two service errors per match, Hawai`i was relatively clean from the service line. There were only six aces, but the constant service pressure had Central Arkansas out-of-system and made their offense very predictable. UH also served in bounds at 90%. Outside of two Sugar Bear scoring runs in the second set on night two, the Rainbow Wahine were pretty good at siding out off first ball contact. Four sets they were over 70% on siding out and in two of them they were over 80% (including 92% in Set 1 on night 1). For the weekend, UH was right around 71% siding out off first ball contact. UH gave up just six aces in the six sets played and between the primary passers of Victoria Leyva, Panna Ratkai and Tali Hakas (then toss in Jaci Miyasaki when she subbed in), the Bows were in system for the majority of the weekend. They took care of some tough float servers and allowed Adrianna Arquette to run what she wanted, when she wanted. Hawai`i does want to work on its first ball touch to get it a little closer to the net for Arquette, but all-in-all you’re pleased overall in how quick UH sided out to get the serve right back.

Photos: Jace Okamoto