Tiff's takeaways for UH Women's Volleyball - Week 7

By Tiff Wells

1. Island Defended Twice

To be a factor in the conference race, the math is kind of simple: win at home and at worst, split on the road. Five homestands (10 matches) and four road-trips (eight matches) is how the Mountain West Conference set up UH’s first year in the conference. It also just so happened with the conference preseason poll, Hawai`i hosts the teams picked below them and travel to the schools that were chosen above them. While it was last year and with a different coaching staff with a different lineup, those Rainbow Wahine that were here in 2025 remember the San Jose State 6-1 closing run that gave them the five-set victory and snapping a 42-match losing streak in the series. They wanted to atone for that home loss. Just like the first conference homestand against New Mexico two weeks prior, Hawai`i controlled every set of both matches against the Spartans to pick up two more 3-0 sweeps. While team and coaching staff will focus on the wins, which is the important aspect of it all, media and the fans can discuss what UH has done through three weeks of conference play. Six consecutive 3-0 wins is the longest such streak since 2016 when the Rainbow Wahine won eight-straight 3-0 matches. The 18 sets in a row won is the longest such streak, also since 2016 when they won 25 sets in a row. The two home victories (coupled with the two home losses for UC Davis against New Mexico) now has Hawai`i alone at the top of the conference by a two-match cushion. Payback from 2025 was a dish best served with not one, but two 3-0 wins here in 2026.

2. Hawai`i Vice Grip

The calling card of the 2026 Rainbow Wahine has been the defense, and it’s been the main reason why Hawai`i has won six in a row and 13 of their last 14 en route to a 14-3 start to the season. It’s been quite difficult for opponents to score points in bunches against Hawai`i, let alone points at all. This weekend was no different. San Jose State scored 20 or more points in just two of the six sets played in the series. The Spartans recorded 10 or more kills in just one set. They didn’t hit over .200 in any set. In the first match, Hawai`i limited SJSU to hitting just .112. Even though UH only had four stuff blocks, there were a ton of block deflections that made it easy for the backrow to pick up a dig where the Bows held that advantage 58-44. Freshman Cameron Holcomb led the way with a career-high 15 digs. Points were hard to come by for both sides in the first set on night two and with UH not being as efficient and clean as we’ve been used to during the season, they didn’t allow the lack of offense to affect how they played defensively. Just seven kills for SJSU in the opening set, Hawai`i recorded 13 but had nine hitting errors as well. Despite that, UH won the set 25-20. It would only get more difficult for the visitors as they would record just 11 more kills…for the rest of the match. SJSU hit -.172 in Set 2 and .000 in the third set. A -.033 hitting percentage became the new season-low for the Spartans as they lost for the seventh time in the last eight matches. For the Bows, it marked the 11th consecutive match where their opponent hasn’t hit over .200 and over the course of the season so far, UH has now done this 14 times. Prior to the UH series, San Jose State was hitting .221 on the season and in these two matches on the island, they hit .045. The Rainbow Wahine are in the top 10 nationally in opponents hitting percentage. A disciplined block that doesn’t chase, they help the back row in not only getting a lot of block deflections but funnel the attack to where the diggers are. As noted by Assistant Coach Will McDonald in Saturday’s postgame radio interview, it was even more impressive what the defense did because of how extensive the scout was. A 6-2 system with a lot of interchangeable players in those positions, Hawai`i heeded to the scout each night.

3. Pride Of The North Shore

Depth of the pins is one thing but the ability of those pins to play on the left or the right has given this coaching staff so many options. UH has also been a tough scout because if you try to stop or slow down one player, the others have picked it up. Because of the injuries in 2025, Cha’lei Reid became that Outside Hitter No. 1 (OH-1) as a lot of the offense came through her. With the addition of Panna Ratkai in the offseason, Reid was moved to the right-side at the beginning of this season. Depth and interchangeable pieces were on hand this weekend with the injury to Tali Hakas as Reid was moved over the left-side. With Hakas out, the Kahuku High alumna picked up the offensive production as she went for a match-high 13 kills and hit .273, while picking up eight digs and three blocks. A night later, another double-digit kill effort as she went for a match-high 11 kills. The all-around game was there as well with her three blocks, six digs and an ace. It also gave UH another hitting option from the back-row as well and with a defensive specialist in for the opposite, it allowed Hawai`i to pinch Reid out of serve receive. This offensive production also allowed for UH to not need as many swings from Panna Ratkai as Reid took the most swings (66 total) on each night (33 each match) against San Jose State.

4. Je m'appelle Maëli

While it was a small sample size in the third set on night one at Grand Canyon, it was a big impact from Maëli Cormier for Hawai`i. The three kills and two blocks were very important for UH in closing out GCU and it left such an impression on the Hawai`i coaching staff that it was specifically noted by Head Coach Joshua Walker in the postgame. With the injury to Hakas prior to Friday’s match, the sophomore was slotted in as the opposite with Reid moving to the left-side. The yellow and blue Spartans were left feeling black and blue after how much offensive production came from the Quebec native…both nights. Night one featured an efficient performance of 10 kills on 15 swings with just one error. Those 10 kills…a UH season-high. Four of her 10 kills came in the final set. Night two was more of the same. Just 12 attacks, but eight kills and again, just one error. For the weekend, the Oregon State transfer went 18-2-27 and hit .593. As the Spartans flew back to San Jose, they surely remembered the one who wears number 11…and her name is Maëli Cormier.

5. Prayers For Tali

The 2025-2026 school year had all the feels and emotions for Tali Hakas. It went from playing on the opening weekend, to a season-ending shoulder injury, then a successful surgery with rehab in order to get ready for the 2026 season opener. The ovations on opening night were loud for all seven UH starters…but it just felt different when the heartbeat of the team, the floor captain was announced. A stable presence on the floor, an extension of the coaching staff, having No. 9 available was one of the many reasons why UH came into the SJSU series at 12-3 overall, 4-0 in conference play. A freak injury during serve-and-pass ahead of Friday’s first match left UH in need of adjusting their lineup. Labeled a lower leg injury, she was in a boot and could only offer advice and encouragement over the weekend. With the others stepping up in the absence of Hakas, they took care of the Spartans on both nights. A day-to-day injury, we shall see what her status is as Hawai`i heads to Wyoming on Tuesday for their upcoming series this week Thursday and Saturday.

6. Closing Time

It’s not how you start, but rather how you finish. In four of the six sets played over the series with San Jose State, the visitors were the first to five points. If you get down in a set, have it happen early enough to allow yourself as much time as possible to mount the comeback. It was also a case of extensive runs from UH, that also were part of lengthy closing runs to end sets. UH took the lead at 8-7 in Set 1 on night 1 and ended up scoring 18 of the final 25 points, winning it 25-14. Helping that were scoring runs from the serving of Kahea Moriwaki (5-0) and Victoria Leyva (6-0). An 8-all second set ended with UH winning 17 of the final 23 points to again win it 25-14. Cameron Holcomb helped with her 6-0 serving run. Up 20-18 in Set 3, UH ended night one on a 5-3 finish. Trailing early in Set 1 on the second night, a 4-0 Cha’lei Reid gave the Bows the lead for good as they won the ugly offensive frame 25-20. A 6-0 run from Moriwaki put the Rainbow Wahine up for good at 7-2. While the Spartans got it to within three at 12-9, Hawai`i turned on the after burners with a 13-4 closing run to go up 2-0 in the match. What was a six-all third set, became an 11-10 advantage for the home team. In a blink of an eye, UH saw Head Coach Joshua Walker do his sweep dance on the Taraflex with his team as the Bows won 14 of the final 17 points. Sets were close until they weren’t and UH did this without Tali Hakas on both nights. Targets were hit with the serves and the serves were mixed up as San Jose State routinely was on their heels and more often than not were out-of-system.