By Tiff Wells
1. Coffee Is For Closers
If you’ve seen the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, you’ve heard the famous line delivered by Alec Baldwin’s character Blake. Successfully closing deals deserve the basic perks like coffee. Closing sets in volleyball deserves the perk of celebrating the match win. Once a team reaches the 20-point mark, they call it the “red zone.” For this Hawai`i group, they’ve extended their red zone point mark once they hit 18. It’s happened quite a few times over the season where UH has come from behind in a set and/or used a closing run to win the set. The theme for this UNLV series was closing as UH was better at it and need to do so in five of the six sets played. The first set on opening night had UH leading 12-6 before trailing 23-19. Miliana Sylvester accounted for four (two kills, two blocks) of the final six points in the set as UH won 25-23 (closing on a 6-0 run). Tied at 22 in Set 2, the Bows scored three of final four points to win 25-23 and lead 2-0. Leading 15-12 at the technical timeout in Set 3, the Rainbow Wahine ended the set on a 10-6 run to win the match 3-0. Tied at 19 in Set 1 on night two, Hawai`i closed on a 6-2 run to win 25-21. Adrianna Arquette blew open Set 2 with her 8-0 service run as the Bows comfortably won 25-11. Trailing 19-13 and 20-15 in the third set, some felt the home set win streak would be snapped…not these Bows though. Hawai`i scored 10 of the final 13 points to win 25-23 and earn yet another home sweep (complete with Head Coach Joshua Walker’s scuba sweep dance). The home set win streak now sits at 26. Victoria Leyva joined our postgame on the radio following Saturday’s win and mentioned about how there was no panic, no scoreboard watching when they were down 18-12. The emphasis was on doing whatever it took to score that 13th point. Having that next point mentality has been key for this group and the ability to close out sets has been a major reason why Hawai`i has won 10 matches in a row and 17 of their last 18. Brew that coffee for these Closin’ Bows!
2. The Apprentice Continues To Grow
Due to injury and out of necessity, Cha’lei Reid became the OH-1 for UH last season. The freshman led the team with 335 kills and was sixth in the Big West, averaging 3.35 kills/set. She became UH’s fourth freshman and first since 2019 to lead the Bows in kills. The first weekend of 2026 saw the sophomore go off for 21 kills against then No.21 Baylor as she went back-and-forth between playing both on the left-side and right-side. A right shoulder injury held her out of the next eight matches as the Bows went 7-1 in her absence. Ready to go for conference play, the Hawai`i crowd welcomed her back for the New Mexico series. Fans have also noticed a different approach to the swings coming from CR10. No two shots have been alike. High-flat off the block, deep cross-court, extreme angle, wiping it off the block (to either go into the antenna or out-of-bounds), high-line, finding seams in that block or hitting it high into the block to give UH a better secondary attack, all the shots have been in her bag. Watching Tali Hakas hit the last couple of seasons and now Panna Ratkai here in 2026, a lot of the ways they attack, you’re now seeing from Reid. While the streak of six consecutive double-digit kill performances has been impressive, what’s really stood out has been the efficiency. In each of her last three matches, the sophomore has hit .313 or better (.393, .313 and .357). Being subbed out in the backrow, it’s allowed for Reid to just focus on her hitting and blocking…while also being a little fresher as the match continues on.
3. Everyone Stay Ready
There’s been no one player that’s been the main reason as to why UH sits at 18-3 overall and atop the Mountain West Conference at 10-0. And the Bows are perfectly fine with that. One night it’s a Ratkai double-double, another night it’s multiple and lengthy serving runs from Cameron Holcomb. It could be double-digit kills from Reid or a big blocking performance from Miliana Sylvester. UH has been a very difficult team to scout and plan for. Hakas and Ratkai have taken turns at being the one hitter to go all the way around while the other plays the backrow for Reid. Load management, giving the opponent a difficult look…whatever you want to call it, it’s been working for the Rainbow Wahine. Night 1 saw different looks from the service line with both Holcomb and Kahea Moriwaki being serving subs. While Moriwaki started night two as a service sub, Jaci Miyasaki came in at the end to give a different serving look. She hadn’t played in the previous four matches but when the coaching staff wanted to give an alternative look, they turned to Mano Antiga. Two of her three kills came in that 25-11 Set 2 victory. The freshman also came in Set 3, recorded a kill and then was in with fellow freshman Rachel Purser on the match-ending block. With a roster of just 15, the eight that are available to come off the bench continue to be ready to play when their number is called and continue to be productive.
4. Won Serve/Pass 2x
Talk to any coach at any level of volleyball about a key for their team to win and the response is the same. “Must win the serve and pass.” Do that well and you like your chances to control the match. While UH did utilize closing runs in the majority of the sets played over the weekend, they also controlled the serve and pass game. Hawai`i nearly went the entire series without giving up an ace. If not for two let service aces in Set 3 on night two, that would have been the case. Lots of credit goes to the Rainbow Wahine primary passers of Victoria Leyva, Tali Hakas and Panna Ratkai for keeping UH in system with some solid first touches. Holcomb was also targeted 20 times on serve. To the credit of the coaching staff, when Cha’lei Reid was in the front row, they found ways to give more of the court to the other passes as to let Reid transition out to be ready to hit. In both matches, the Rainbow Wahine served in bounds over 90% (.932 on night 1: two aces, five errors; .919 on night 2: four aces, six errors.) Ratkai added her team-leading 30th ace while Adrianna Arquette picked up three aces to just three errors over the weekend. Win serve/pass, win the match. UH did that…twice.
5. Dynamic Defense
There’s a sports adage out there: offense wins games and sells tickets, while defense wins championships. UH is averaging over 13 kills per set while hitting .231. Adrianna Arquette has established herself as a top setter in this new conference and in this diversified offense as four UH hitters are averaging two plus kills per set. A fabric of this program and the calling card of this 2026 edition of Rainbow Wahine Volleyball has been the suffocating and relentless defense. All-out effort in the backrow from libero Victoria Leyva and the rest of the other littles has had quite a few fans make comparisons to some UH teams in the past that were just as scrappy in the backrow. Dig efforts from both Tali Hakas and Panna Ratkai have led to multiple double-doubles this season. Leyva led the way for the Bows over the weekend with 31 digs in six sets; she’s also nine digs away from 1,000 for her career. With the departure of Bri Gunderson after the 2025 season, it left a void for the other starting middle. Freshman Rachel Purser has stepped in quite nicely as that other middle blocker, where her .279 hitting percentage and .88 blocks/set have her inside the Mountain West’s Top 12 in both of those categories. The biggest jump as been the net presence from Miliana Sylvester. After her 22 block performance at Wyoming the previous week, she added six more to her ledger against UNLV. She’s the MW leader in blocks/set (1.29) and her 99 total blocks has surprised the 95 she had in 2025…while playing in 27 fewer sets. She still has eight regular season matches to add to that number. And with the way UH is playing, multiple postseason matches appear to be on the horizon. When UH isn’t getting a stuff block, they are either getting the dig in the backrow or seeing the opponent make an unforced hitting error. Hawai`i has moved into the top five in opponent’s hitting percentage and after limiting UNLV to a .1275 hitting percentage over the weekend (.128 on night 1, .127 on night 2), the Bows are now holding opponents to hitting .133 on the season. After this series with the Rebels, it marks 15 consecutive matches (and 18 times overall) where the opponent has failed to hit .200 or better. The Hawai`i fans have taken note of this suffocating, scrappy and all-out defensive effort (and the winning as well) and it was seen in the attendance…11,524 were in house over the two matches, including a season-high 6603 on Saturday night. Just four more home matches remain to see this special group play on the island.
6. Halfway Point In The #MW
After UH defeated UNLV in straight sets on Friday night, it marked UH’s halfway point in conference play. Nine matches down, nine to go as UH sat 9-0 entering the second of two matches against the Rebels. Another 3-0 victory moved the win streak to 10, a season-high and their longest since 2022 (12-straight). Coming off their first losing season in program history, a roster that featured half the players being newcomers, not to mention a brand-new coaching staff and playing in a new conference, one could honestly say there wasn’t a lot of expectations for 2026. The Mountain West preseason poll had UH at fifth. A preseason poll is nice to talk about, more so for the media and the fans. But it’s just that, just a bunch of guessing. Winning all ten conference matches they have played and dropping just three sets along the way has UH atop the conference standings and three matches ahead of both UC Davis and New Mexico who are tied for second at 7-3. The Bows hold the tiebreaker over UNM, having won both matchups earlier this season. A big series awaits UH in Northern California this week as they take on UC Davis twice. The Aggies won both matchups with UH a year ago when they were both members of the Big West Conference. Preseason favorite UTEP is currently tied for fourth with Grand Canyon at 5-5. After the Lobos defeated San José State on Sunday, all ten teams have played ten matches. The conference tournament begins in less than a month and only four teams can take a seat at the table in Las Vegas.
7. Tali’s Announcement
Bonus takeaway number one here as this past Tuesday, Tali Hakas came out publicly to the media to say that 2026 would be her final year wearing the green and white. In the first match since the announcement, the ovation from the crowd was just a little louder than usual for Hakas when she was introduced in the starting lineup. 2025 was difficult for Hakas as a shoulder injury just three matches into the season would sideline her for the rest of the year. Fans appreciated the way she hit rehab hard and in doing so, was ready to go for this year. Jumping into the arms of a teammate has been a regular thing Hawai`i fans have seen while watching Hakas as she plays with a ton of joy. This announcement also means there are just four more matches on the island to see her play as Hakas will join Panna Ratkai and Leilani Lopez for senior night festivities.
8. School Of Rock
A surprise bonus takeaway number two was a surprise to the team before Saturday’s rematch with UNLV. The native of Surrey, England, first-year Assistant Coach Will McDonald holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Professional Music Performance from the Academy of Contemporary Music. He’s played the electric guitar for quite some time and has performed the anthem at every one of his coaching stops. That includes here at UH as this past Saturday, he took to his electric guitar and masterfully performed the first electric guitar rendition of both The Star Spangled Banner and Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī in the history of Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. By the way he performed Hawaii’s State Anthem, one couldn’t tell it took him roughly 20-30 minutes of listening to the song to figure out how he would perform it. Haven’t seen it yet? You can find the clips on social media. Job well done coach. Rock on!
Photos: Gavin Yasunari
