Hawaii women’s volleyball: Wahine show off new killer instinct
Whatever was said in the three-hour post-match meeting between coach Robyn Ah Mow and her players up at San Luis Obispo, Calif., seems to have made a lasting impression.
UH made short work of UC Riverside on Friday night, rolling through the Highlanders in 86 minutes, 25-17, 25-18, 25-12. Norene Iosia had a potent double-double (19 digs, 17 assists), Amber Igiede put down 11 kills on 14 swings and Hanna Hellvig and McKenna Ross added 10 kills apiece. Sky Williams was in on seven blocks.
>> PHOTO GALLERY: HAWAII VS. UC RIVERSIDE
Just like that, UH (15-3, 5-2 Big West) had its first back-to-back sweeps of the season.
Nobody will be awarding style points for this one against the Highlanders (5-13, 1-6), but it was still six sets won out of six since UH got swept by league leader Cal Poly a week ago. The night after getting run off by the Mustangs — and after what’s becoming an infamous get-together — UH swept a UC Santa Barbara team previously unbeaten in conference play and one that hadn’t lost at all at the Thunderdome.
“Oh, it most definitely did, yeah,” Ah Mow said postgame Friday of a change starting with the UCSB match. You know, we had a little heart-to-heart meeting, all of us, like all women’s teams does. If you gotta have 10 of ’em, we get 10 of ’em. And I don’t know. We had a serve and pass, and they did good, and went in the game and did it. It’s all to them. They did it. They turned around, I told them … whatever they did for that (UCSB) game, just keep it. Keep it going until the end of the season.”
Setter Norene Iosia and hitter Hanna Hellvig talk about putting tonight’s match away quickly after going up two sets.#HawaiiWVB pic.twitter.com/bN8cevcVi3
— Hawaii Warrior World (@hawaiiwworld) October 19, 2019
Back at the Stan Sheriff Center in front of 4,298, UH wasn’t really pushed in the first set. It closed out the second with an 8-1 run after the Highlanders led at a few points.
“It’s not trouble, but we did kind of lose focus in the first set. … We were up 9-2 or 9-1, and then a bunch of errors from us,” Ah Mow said. “But I told them in the locker room, this is the team I saw from the beginning. The first 10 matches, that they can still go down, they’ll still keep their composure. Nobody’s looking like they’re struggling and the mental’s going down or confidence is going down. They held it and came back and finished the game. I like what I see today.”
Would they slam the door this time, instead of letting a struggling team (a la UC Irvine a couple weeks ago) back in?
This third set was no contest. It tied for UH’s most lopsided of the season (it had a 25-12 frame against Washington on the opening weekend).
“I think our team’s focus is working on being consistent in every aspect of the game,” said Iosia, who moved up to No. 13 on the Wahine career digs list (1,039) and is now tied for No. 8 in aces with Nikki Taylor (117). “And just reminding each other that even if we’re up 2-0, we haven’t really proved anything. … I think our team did a really good job, just honing into taking care of everyone’s job.”
Added Hellvig, “We have to stay humble when we’re up 2-0, and I think we did. We just had fun in the last set, I think.”
The Wahine still didn’t have Jolie Rasmussen or Brooke Van Sickle in this one, although Van Sickle participated in warmups for the first time.
UH hosts UC Davis (12-7, 4-2) at 5 p.m. Sunday as it celebrates the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Stan Sheriff Center in October of 1994.
even thought there is about half a season to go, Norene should be voted the most valuable player on the team. she really deserves it and this past two years, she has done many things to help the team win. she is a great person and volleyball player. one of the best to have played here. she will be missed next year. BTW, does the team have another setter? both setters will be gone after this season and there appears to be no one for next year. not sure if the Kamehameha kapalama setter is a senior but she looks pretty good. there are some good setters locally but many are underclassman.
Kudos to San Diego for beating BYU. Considering BYU beat Stanford and Hawaii beat San Diego clearly, parity is on the rise.
Kate Lang an accomplished setter is coming next year. Out of the state of Texas.
Good match between UCSB and CP . UCSB over CP.
Great article Brian, as usual!
Would love to see another setter with some experience like the juniors we got from Oregon. I just feel a little leery that although we’ll have some mature talent on the team as a whole, our setting will not be up to the level of our current 2 setters. All the talent in the world will mean nothing if we can’t set the ball the way the hitters need it. Would just like to see a back up setter anywayz.
GO BOWS!!!