Averill makes first start for USA, final Wahine schedule out this week
Forgot to post this Sunday night
Former University of Hawaii All-American middle blocker Taylor Averill scored eight points in his first start to help the U.S. Men’s National Team sweep host China 25-20, 26-24, 25-18 in a Volleyball Nations League match Sunday in Ningbo.
Taylor, one of three players with Hawaii ties who competed, had four kills, two aces and two blocks. Setting for the U.S. was Kawika Shoji (‘Iolani) with younger brother Erik (Punahou) as the libero.
Also on the roster is setter Micah Christenson (Kamehameha), who did not play last week.
UH will have final Wahine volleyball schedule out this week with the finalization of contracts.
As for some of the comments on previous thread.
1. We never know if scoles may rejoin and play indoor.”
Yes, we do know. Scoles has made it pretty clear she has retired from indoor.
2. Sydney Kidd and Chloe Luyties will not be returning to the Sandbows next year.
Have not heard that but will check. Not surprised if it is true, more because of lack of playing time.
the best freshman the SandBows had this spring may have been Napoleon, who redshirted and had surgery.
3. wonder if there is a graduate transfer.
Haven’t heard of one but the roster is pretty stacked already with a lot of talent.
4. Taylor Borup, another one transferring out of UNC, and Scoles’ good friend.
6-4 OH also injured last season
Don’t think UH is in them mix.
Braelyn Akana (’19) has committed to the Wahine. She’s a 6’0″ MB from Kamehameha-Kapalama. Welcome!
Guessing she will be moving to the pins
Hope this means Uh is getting Keonilei at libero as well.
Bummed about the transfers for beach team and warriors but luckily both squads are loaded.
Braelyn looks like a good get with power and potential. She appears to leap well enough to move to the pins as WF suggested.
The future looks… short.
Braelyn Akana is daughter of Wahine Alumni Joselyn Robbins. Keonilei is younger sister, also at Kamehameha-Kapalama. Both players are very talented!! GO BOWS
#4 agree. 6-0″ is probably 5-10″ Same like Granato. Coach needed to hire a big time recruiter as a assistant. Someone who can blow some serious smoke.
I used to be one of those who was fond of having size but then I looked at past opponents that we had trouble with and it were those teams that had smaller(6-0/6-1 OHs) with athleticism, power and quickness. I think Robyn is going that way too.
Its very rare that a hitter will hit over the block. Most hitters terminate by hitting through the blocks or tooling the blocks. Being athletic, quick and possessing a powerful arm is much better than being 6-2/6-3 but does not hit hard.
Go look at University of Minnesota’s roster. They have 3 OHs listed at 6-0 and the other one is listed at 6-3. Destiny Juley at UW is only 5-11. UNC to UH beach transfer Julia Scoles is only 6-1 but was the #1 prospect in her state her senior year and top 6 nationally. No forget Utah’s best player last season was a 6-1 player with terrific athleticism and power arm(Adora Anae) so size is not everything.
All those with size and athleticism end up at Nebraska, Texas or Stanford. If UH cannot land those, then I think it wise to go after athletic kids that can jump out of the gym and power the ball thru or off blocks.
Coach says Granato is 5-9. No way Norene is 5-11. Does UH measure the recruits for accuracy.
Shoji use to say big and slow don’t work either. So I get that part, but Minnesota’s 6 footer’s look like 6 footer’s. Athletic small girls can hit. The problem come when they need to block a good 6-2″ outside.
For those who are enamored with size, I took the time to look up the 2017 All American team.
There were 15 AA outside hitters on the the first, second and third team.
12 of them were 6-1 or shorter.
Autumn Bailey…5-11
Simone Lee…6-1
Adora Anae…6-1
Annika Albrecht…6-0
Micaya White..6-1
Alexa Smith…6-1
Carli Snynder…6-1
Alyssa Cavanaugh…5-10
Alexis Hart…6-0
Lily Johnson…5-11
Veronica Jones Perry…6-0
Carly Skjodt…6-1
As you can see, you don’t have to be 6-3 or 6-4 to be All American caliber.
lol. is that the type of talent were getting? You’re really putting Akana on a pedestal.
I’ll concede that there is an exception to height… and you’ve named many who are an exception. But I don’t believe Akana’s name belongs next to those you’ve mentioned. Hopefully she proves me wrong, and I can’t wait till the day I eat crow for say that. but in the mean time that’s just my opinion.
B Akana is the best offensive player in the state by percentage .455 no one else came close.
Hard to pass on a player like this, a bigger more athletic Satele.
Had to get my 2cents in…I like to use what a potentially athletic woman built and athleticism look like. I know this may seem wierd but I know this is how I would recruit a girl especially under 6’1″. Lets use Carly Kan and Lea Monkhouse…Look at them…The first thing that stands out is their ‘athletic muscular legs’ Explosive Athletes spends alot of time working on their lower part of their body . Mostly every girl/guy that spends time developing their legs will equate to explosiveness and quickness. I would choose a Lea Monkhouse anytime on our indoor team over many other players..She can flat out play (check out her indoor video) because she is built like an athlete which transcends into playing like one. Imo I think that is where the they make up for their shorter stature. I would definitely take an athlete like 5-11,6′-0 like her over an 6’2-6’4 player who is not athletically built which equates to being clumsy . We still need Big Blocks don’t get me wrong!!
IDK…..we all have to trust that Robyn and her staff will develop those girls into top level players. There have been players in the past that came to UH as an unknown and ended their careers as AAs.
Emily Maglio, Brittney Hewitt, Amber Kaufman, and even far back as Victoria Prince and Lauren Duggins comes to mind.
Akana have good bloodline, good Hs coaching and played high level club volleyball along with her skill set.
Trinity Castenada, Riley Waggoner and Brae Akana could be a very good group of pin hitters.
Wagoner is a top 20 recruit
Iegede is a legit 6-3
And our setter coming in Lang is the real deal.
We have immense talent coming in. Robyn and co are do marvelous at recruiting.
Wagoner didn’t even make top 50 juniors but thats besides the point. I was ecstatic at her commitment and thought she was a good get, I think, Igiede is a good get, I think Lang is a good get. I even think Akana is a banger. But in no means are they the “quality” type of players the big name schools are getting. To be honest my initial post wast just mentioning that visually, the future of the team is looking on the shorter side… nothing in regards to how they will play in the gym. I believe withy will complete well, height was just the first thing I noticed.
Hawaii and Robyn will be just fine!!
I know alot of Mid-Major and even Power Conference Schools would trade positions with us…We are already known around the USA regardless if we don’t land the Blue Chippers.. They lose out! OUR State Support and SENIOR FAREWELL is like no other!! Period!
Everybody has there own opinions, some people are the glass is half empty while some of us are the glass is half full people who choose to be optimistic as opposed to being pessimistic. I’d like to think life is more fun being optimistic and hopeful, than the opposite, but hey, to each their own. And the bottom line is no one can really judge 100% accurately someones potential. Besides physical ability are intangibles, Carly Kan out of high school is a prime example. I still think that the wahine is a solid OH short of being really good, but I hope that I’m wrong, still hoping for at least 1 more ready to go addition. I know that Julia Scoles is pau with indoor, but someone like her would have been awesome.
I am very curious to see what Angel Gaskin can do. She made the 2017 Collegiate National Team along with her future UH teammates McKenna Granato and Tita Akiu so she does have legit D1 level talent. She was team captain for UM last season so she also have leadership quality.
Maybe the coaches at Maryland were not good. Maybe the offense was not a fit for her. Was Maryland running a 6-2 and Gaskin got subbed out after 3 rotation?
I hope Robyn let Gaskin play all rotations. Let her hit the D set. She being a lefty and hitting back row could be a weapon. That lefty Hawaiian girl from Irvine( Harley K) have given UH fits and would like to see Angel in a similar role.
With all the name dropping, y’all are forgetting our very own 6’4″ Nikki Taylor. I thought she was pretty athletic, quick, can was able to OTT shots with blocks to match.
Yeah Kahuna, did anyone get a reason for her transfer? Sorry if it was already discussed, just starting to get back into the posts.
#20… don’t really know. It might have been mentioned somewhere but I didn’t really look for it.
Maryland’s coach left for Indiana and they had like 5 players transfer out.
9. Granato may not be 6-0, but I don’t think she’s 5-9 either. I think Ah Mow-Santos may have been referring to the other McKenna, McKenna Ross who is listed at 5-10.
I don’t mind a smaller player, as long as she is capable of handling the load. I’d take 5-10 4-time All-American and 3-time 1st team All-American and NPOY Kim Willoughby, who was shorter than her listed 6-0 height, anytime.
Angie Pressey, Carly Kan, that 5-9 middle from Boise State years ago (Cameron Flounder?), UH’s own Lauren Duggins, Nohea Tano, Victoria Prince, Chanteal Satele…there’s no shortage of short players who can play at a high level.
I was referring to Kanani Danielson as the 5-10 4-time All-American.
If you look back on UH history, I think we did well more with shorter athletic outside hitters instead of taller ones. I think Nicki Taylor, Lily Kahumoku, and Annie Michem seems to be the only ones that really turned out great. Jessica Suddeth, Susie Bogaard , Corrine Casuopo(sp), Kalei Greeley Jessica Keefe and Casey Castillo were all on the tall side but never became dominant players.
On the smaller side, we had Danielson, Satele, Cubi-Otineru, Williouby, Tita Ahuna, Therese Crawford,Kenyatta Lovelace, Tara Hittle among others who were special players despite being 6-0 or shorter.
Jaime Houston was 6-1. Not sure if she would be consider tall or short. So I didn’t put her in either category. LOL
Anyway, bottom line. If you can play, you can play…..height is only a number.
More of the concern is not what our short players can do on the court, its more about what other taller/athletic/physical teams can do to our shorter players on the court.
Someone is really taking this “height” thing to the next level. I just stated a fact in my initial post. That by appearance, it looks like the future recruits look short (at the pins at least). Now its turn into this whole hoopla. I find it quite funny. Napoleon complex perhaps?
In other news… Looks like we’ll be seeing Taylor Borup this season… Because she’ll be playing for Oregon, and I believe Oregon is on the schedule (correct me if im wrong)
#28 Coach was definitely talking Granato being 5-9″. How would she know, because she’s 5-9 also. Some one mentioned like in all sports. It a different landscape now. Player are taller, quicker and stronger. Except for Danielson and Willougby (spellcheck) none of the mentioned special shorter player would be as successful today.
Oregon on the schedule
It will be released on Thursday
5. not to be picky but the term is alumna for feminine singular, alumnae for the plural. Alumni is plural masculine and both genders combined; alumnus is male singular
Joselyn’s maiden name is Robins with one B. She is married to Brandyn Akana.
Someone on VT mentioned that Ayanna Swan have left OSU. Maybe the UH coaches can give her a call and see if she wants to come here.
She was a highly rated HS player out of VA. We lost out on one Virginian(Taylor Borup) maybe we can steal this one away.
Go get ‘ em!
http://goducks.com/news/2018/5/17/womens-volleyball-incoming-volleyball-class-ranked-fourth-nationally.aspx
Hmmm… Hawai’i needs to increase recruiting budget. I think we should be in the top-20 every year in recruiting
Every time I hear a debate about skills vs. athleticism, I think about what former BYU football coach LaVell Efwards said back in the 1980s when asked what he looks for in a receiver. He said, “either speed or good hands. If they’re fast with good hands, they go to USC.”
http://www.hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=45954
schedule released. Ah Mow-Santos on HNN this morning. She’ll be on KHON tomorrow
34. their budget is fine. that’s not the issue. Ah Mow-Santos is on the mainland frequently to recruit. It is hard to compete with the Power 5 schools in terms of facilities among other things.