Volleyshots

Very early practice but the norm as they start school, 6-8 a.m. then lifting Back in Gym 1. Three nets, a lot of by-position drills. Kalei Adolpho rolled right ankle stepping on someone’s foot. about halfway through practice. we joked that it was the new ice bucket challenge as she was icing it laying down. didn’t look serious. she was able to put weight on it and walked out. Asked Shoji about starting lineup. He said probably tomorrow. But givens […]

think those who came today saw what I’ve been seeing the past two weeks. Tall, talented, somewhat raw in some places. Improvement by Long and Manu-Olevao and really good freshmen in Greeley, Maglio, Huff, Koelsch and Kahakai. Magill is still getting used to UH’s system but Shoji said they hope to be able to her the ball and take advantage of her quickness and ability to get up over the block. Shoji said Greeley is close to being in the […]

about a couple of hundred in the arena, slowly coming in. Shoji the up ref. Mendoza, Koelsch, Manu-Olevao, Magill, Greeley, and James Ka on one side. other side: Adolpho, Passi, Kahakai, Long, Higgins, Huff on the other Stats will be limited. sorry was typing fast. didn’t get everyone in. will catch up in a bit

Someone asked how the players reacted to being introduced to her. Shoji’s intro wasn’t complete. He didn’t mentioned that she was the 1996 NCAA Player of the Year. Which leads to another pet peeve of mine. UH should do a better job of showcasing its great players. Why not have big jerseys put up for people like Collins, Ljungquist, Kamana’o, Katz and even basketball players Judy Mosley and Anthony Carter? And at least banners of the Olympians such as Ah […]

Of the 14-player roster, 4 have Hawaii ties, on the team that begins play Aug. 31 in Poland. Setters Micah Christenson (Kamehameha, USC) and Kawika Shoji (‘Iolani, Stanford) Liberos Erik Shoji (Punahou, Stanford) and Alfee Reft (Hawaii). USAV link http://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/features/2014/august/22/usav-announces-mens-team-for-worlds

One of the all-time Wahine greats Angelica Ljungquist dropped into practice today to say hello. Wouldn’t let me take a picture of her, said she had just come from the beach. But she looked great. She is in law school in Sweden, hasn’t decided what her specialty will be. Will have more on her later when I transcribe the interview. Shoji introduced her, spoke about how she was a great all-around player, great passer before the libero was introduced. Said […]

This is why I leave photos to the professionals. Jamm Aquino is one of the best I’ve every worked with. It’s amazing what he can do, especially given time restraints. We only had 30 minutes each on Wednesday and Thurday to shoot 16 players for next week’s preview. Don’t know how many other photogs could have done the job so quickly and beautifully. If you remember our VB Guide takeoff on TV Guide a few years ago that had Jamie […]

Finished up the photos for next week’s preview. Got to have some chat time with new players. Talked about their beach day yesterday. Koelsch, who surfed for HBHS, apparently was quite the shredder. Maglio, who wants to become a vet (studying animal science) also played ice hockey, usually the only girl on the team. Huff has quite a sense of humor. Our photographer asked her what position she played (we are shooting action shots that are position-specific) so she said […]