Minnesota 3, Hawaii 1

LETS GO BOWS

They have a really quick offense.

Ugh! Minnesota has a HUGE block and a fast offense…. Yikes. We bed to steady our passing and calm down and play! Let’s go bows!!!

Blocks need to get up quicker.

Wow. The Wahine got steamrolled. Seems they were steadying out 1/2 way through but were too far behind to catch up.

Higgens 5’7″ Daly 6’1″ not hard to understand why we are losing

19, she is something

Santana is a smart player. Except for 2 service errors, don’t see her doing anything else wrong

Unreal some of you that come in the blog with your know it all negative attitude. Our wahines have come this far and trying their best. Win or lose great season.

wahine making just too many errors, while Minnesota is not, hope this changes after the break, and tables get turned.

It’s a gopher block party

Minnesota is just playing outstanding.

#36 stop looking for reasons why the team is struggling and be happy we are in the final 8

Cmon Bows use this time to regroup and figure out how to channel the heights you had yesterday into a solid unit when you go back on the court.

Emotional letdown after winning so easily against PSU?

Hope Greeley is ok. We are going to need her steadiness soon.

Why not 6’3″ Castillo over 5’10” Granato

Let’s Go Bows! If we’re going down, go down fighting. Leave it all on floor.

Good job wahine go down fighting nothing to lose, win this third set and put the pressure on the gophers.

Need momentum shift. Not only is MN playing well, tips, touches, blocks, all going their way. Kinda like yesterday’s match where everything was going UH’s way.

60…yes what is not possible with man is possible with GOD….AMEN

Oh ye of little faith! Hawaii is not playing very bad…it is they are playing a darn good team. If they can sneak this 3rd set…you can never tell

Nikki will lead the way to a final four.

Wahine showing their grit. Nikki carrying the team.

Finally! Big money, Olympic coach, & pick of any player they want couldn’t stop Hawai’i from gutting it out and avoiding a sweep.

Go team!!

Kahakai is doing digging duty

Cmon ladies! One set at a time

Come on, Wahine . . . Hawaii 5-0 vs. Fargo. Make my cable sports package finally be worth it.

. . .

Glad they came back and made it a match.

I’ll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places . . .

Merry Christmas, e’rybody. See you next Wahine volleyball season . . . thanks Cindy! Best to you and Tiff!

Mahalo, Na Wahine!

Mahalo, Na Wahine ‘ohana!

Minnesota freshman setter was spot on today. Gave her hitters good swings all game. Santana is a beast.

Great effort in sets 3 and 4 for the Wahine. Nikki turned it around but was vulnerable le when we couldn’t set our middles in set 4. Good season Wahine!!

A lot to look forward to for next season. Olivia will be tough to replace but I have faith in Annie Mitchem. now need Kalei to get healthy and hope an outside steps it up.

i am so so proud of this Wahine Team. they did what many thought they couldn’t do. they played their hearts out tonight and didn’t let themselves get swept by Minnesota. much love to our two awesome seniors Olivia & Tai, you guys will surely be missed next season. although i am sad and utterly crushed that the season has ended, Hawaii proved that they were indeed contenders. elite 8 is not a bad thing, i am proud of where they finished and hope others will be too. i would have called a time out at 21-20, but that’s just me. lol. bottom line is, these girls should be proud of themselves, they represented Hawaii well & we are all so happy that you guys made a statement throughout the tournament. i can’t wait for next season already, it should be so exciting. anyways, it’s been fun Hawaii fam, till next season…ALOHA!

Just hurts that UH let set 4 get away. they led it all the way to the 20s.
Again think Gopher outsides were just going up and over Higgins too easy.
and Olivia didn’t have as good a match as yesterday.

congrats, What a wonderful season.

FB Podt: Ugh! 1-3 Wahine vs Minnesota. The “Elite 8” and sweeping the 2-time National Champions before falling in a battle against the Gophers is nothing to be ashamed of. Come back to Hawai’i nei with your heads held high ladies. You did Hawai’i—and more importantly—you—proud. You never gave up. Joan Dantzig and I are proud to be Wahine fans. See you at the SSC next ear (11th season).

say what happened to kalei? she got hurt or something? liked that shoji brought in a fearless mckenna to stem the tide in set 3 and even 4 but alas nikki and omg were visably depleted.

The ESPN announcers had good things to say about McKenna Granato. They pointed out that she is a freshman with limited experience but yet came in and made an impact. She got six kills, hitting over .300 in the short time she was in the match. I think she also got a service error on the down side .

Congrats again to Na Wahine for a memorable season.
As a fan, I feel honored to have been on this season’s journey with you.
Mahalo for sharing your journey with us.
You have represented yourselves, your team, your school, and our state with honor, passion, grit, and class.
This experience will be very valuable for next season’s returning team members.
There is no substitute for the experience of having been this far and KNOWING that you can compete at this level.
A special Mahalo to TMO and OMG as you conclude your indoor UH careers.
May the lessons you’ve learned from your time as a Wahine serve you well as you move on to the next stages of your lives.
As always, Go Wahine!

Mahalo, Na Wahine, Coach Shoji and staff for an unforgettable and exciting season…it was a great ride while it lasted but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

To TMO and OMG, good luck in your future endeavors, you will indeed be missed by the Wahine Nation.

Thanks for the memories and until next year, Aloha and Happy Trails to You.

Wow USC looks horrible and Kansas looks just okay. I hate to say it but now I wish we got put in the San Diego region, Minnesota is just on a roll.

What a wonderful ride…You did the State of Hawaii and the underrated BIG West Conference PROUD!! Minnesota played a great game and in my opinion you both deserve to be in the Final 4
After watching the other matches only Nebraska looks good too. Texas is Texas but very beatable. USC to me is overrated. Since Hawaii is not in, I pick MINNESOTA as National Champs!
To our girls, you played like warriors or “mighty David’s against the Goliath’s of volleyball. You showed the nation the heart, passion, and love of our island style volleyball. We hope you enjoyed the ride because it was unreal! Beating Texas AM, Penn St., and fighting back but falling short to Minnesota was so valiant and heartwarming. We didn’t beat and or face cupcakes. We took on and best the SEC Champs and National Champs of last 100 years , and fell short to the Champs of the BIG 10.. That alone shows the accomplishment of this beautiful team. Thank you TMO and OMG for your leadership and contribution the past years May God be with you both always. Now….we look to next fall for a BIG YEAR from our returnees and newcomers. We all can’t wait!

re.127 thanks for the tidbits on the schedule, hope its UCLA, UW and USC, Arizona would also be okay.

I am already excited for next year.I see all the returning players all improving even more and three talented freshmen joining them.

Congratulations Wahine, you gals almost got to the final four. Was exciting watching you gals play this past season.

It did look like Magill was not 100% and overall the Wahine looked a little tired. Not making excuses for them. Minnesota was a better team today.

Anyone noticed that when Kendra came in the front row they made several dink hits which worked for Minnesota. Must of been their game plan.

Is Higgins really 5’7″? Did look like Minnesota was exploiting that height difference.

Much Mahalos to Cindy and the excellent analysis from everyone here. This blog has really added another dimension to appreciating the Bows other than just watching them on TV.

The Bows have a lot to be proud of. Even with the loss, the country saw that we have a team that needs to be reckoned with. We will sorely miss OMG and TMO but their competitive spirit has been engrained in the returning Bows and will surely help for next year.

Congratulations Bows for getting to the Elite 8. You have represented Hawaii well and we are so very proud of you all and the staff. Come on home for some much deserved rest.

134. thats embarrassing. sc was beaten by a weakling. oh well stanford was also made a weakling early in the second round at home so whatever.

rooting on the final contenders to be the huskers and the horns, huskers likely with the advantage in the balance.

After watching all of the matches today I would rate the Wahine as the third best team in the Country.

131 Not an Expert December 12, 2015 at 8:17 pm

Did look like Minnesota was exploiting that height difference.

What did Goebbels say? “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

Not saying announcers are Nazi liars. Am saying announcers might spend too much time on Volleytalk & robotically repeated “exploiting Higgins height” line so often they overlooked the forest for the trees, i.e., how MIN exploited Wahine 6+ footers — including Koelsch — all night, because MIN/Santana basically made Hawai’i’s block disappear. And in case you missed it, 2 x Koelsch subs in 4th resulted in 2 x MIN points.

Our RPI will be improved next year. So things should work out well if we keep on winning like we did this year.

137…I agree with you…they look like the 3rd best team in the country after Minnesota or Nebraska.
We certainly showed the nation that we are feisty and scappy athletes. After the postseason we truly have established ourselves as legitimate program to contend with in 2016

PAC 12 losing some ground to Big 12 and SEC, also Big 10. Imo, a shift in college volleyball landscape but Hawaii is in a unique position to capitalize and be competitive. So the Bigs and SEC are big football conferences, which also play into this changing landscape. My two pennies, nothing more.

Thank you Wahine for a great season.

Sensed that MOMENTUM SHIFT after the intermission, and then thought that MO had carried over to Set 4. But it was not to be. At this point, Hawai’i needed that intimidating “12th Man” (which, btw, is an incontestable trademark of Texas A&M). But with Des Moines just a 3-and-a-half hour drive away from the U of Minn’s campus, the decidedly Big Ten crowd stepped it up BIG TIME in Set 4. Give Daly Santana credit: she will be the National POY now that Samy Bricio is out of the picture — unless the AVCA pulls another co-POY shenanigans.

Was really hoping the Rainbows would reach the Final Four, just to spoil the Big Ten versus Big 12 script. Now the year’s #1 sports story in Hawai’i will not be an uplifting one: Na Wahine becoming once again part of the Final Four national conversation. Instead, the #1 will remain the UH downer of the year: the firing of the UH’s head football coach, Norm Chow.

As I don’t follow Warrior vball, see everyone next Fall. Or perhaps at next year’s Rio Olympics, where the women’s volleyball team could win the GOLD at last. USA! USA! USA!

GO BOWS!

Mahalo NaWahine for a wonderful season.
Perhaps the one thing I want the coaching staff to take from the match, that elite teams can be led by a freshman setter. Give Iosia an equal chance at earning the starting job.

Well what can I say, regardless if we got screwed by NCAA or not, or no respect, etc, etc, I’m really stoked for how this season went. Went far beyond what was expected, although we didn’t get to the final four, many times throughout the season we just pulled through, worked hard, and gritted it out. Elite 8 is something to be super proud of IMO. Best wishes to Tai & OMG, gonna miss that middle attacks. With loosing only 2 seniors to graduation, next year is looking expectedly AWESOME and with the incoming new players, even more so! Can’t wait for men’s season! Go Bows! And here’s JUST a thought, why don’t we scrap the football team program and just stick w volleyball, the program that actually makes money for the department, and then we can have an ENTIRE team, mens and women’s on scholarship lol!