No. 22 Hawaii 3, USF 1

I really don’t get the platoon of the serving subs, sometimes we see Ponce first, or Anderson but to me Guinasso has been the most impressive and she should always come in first.

Magill/Higgins connection is just not there still.

I don’t see Dave’s confidence in Higgins. Her set choices are so predictable. We are here in the arena calling her sets before she sets it. So obvious.

Higgins set to the middles are low and slow.

Nice block. That’s the way to set the block. You took a tight angle and Kalei closed the gap.

Higgins set location is sucking.

Way too many dinks for Olivia, but at least she’s smart and just keeping it in play.

Guinnaso needs to be first off the bench to serve from here on out, no offense to Anderson and Ponce who have great serves too ,but Guinnaso just makes things happen.

Nice come-from-behind win. They looked awful to start but recovered nicely.

Saw who made up most of the all tourney team and MVP. Who were the rest?

not too shabby for na wahine. but for dropping set 1 including like that, thats shojis fault. it wasnt long, it wasnt passi, it was his shoddy coaching that must of have happened since yesterday. and he might of been falling back to his old habits at the start of set 4 once the bows got back ahead. nikki taylor had quality swings but does anybody else notice that sometimes in terms of movement she looks like she is still wounded?

ALSO

both the broadcast and shoji have said it quite several times that there is no sunday (no tai) matchup in the big west play, BUT

hawaiiathletics.com shows:
10/26 which IS a sumday vs ucsb at home
and i believe i saw another sunday earlier on the bwc schedule….

am i missing something here?

46. You are right. Everybody missed it but you. It’s because October 25 is a homecoming football match. This will give UCSB a definite advantage. I don’t see why football and volleyball can’t happen the same day. At Cal Poly SLO where I used to come from they had both sports the same day. What happens is that exclusively or predominantly volleyball fans will attend the volleyball matches while the same happens in football. However, if football loses too many matches, the fans of both sports will favor volleyball then. I wish Shoji could have the schedule changed so that UCSB comes on October 25th instead.

47. and what name calling did i do? i just said shoji did a shoddy job coaching causing the lady bows to bomb the opening set. and what was that exactly you say? he made no improvement to his players play of the opening set and it was actually opposite of an improvement. how do you hit negative (-.100 something) and let your opponent of lesser caliber beat you with what .517 hitting in the opening set?

48. yes and shoji as well as ocsport and maybe even staradvertiser and other media HIDING from truth. if that match vs ucsb is in fact on sunday shoji better have his ‘non tai-manuolevao’ lineup/play ready. ‘big west has no match on sunday’ or ‘thats the last sunday matchup’??

40. Agree that Guinasso should be the first back row sub after Kahakai. She has a nice serve and since she’s a lot taller than Ponce and Anderson, can likely cover more court on defense. I’ve always wondered why Anderson has seen the most time and not Guinasso. Obviously, I don’t see what Shoji sees in practices and I do like that he’s using all three, as all are deserving of playing time. It’s just that in game situations, Guinasso has been the most memorable, Ponce can hustle on defense and Anderson is steady but not particularly memorable.

heres another actual quote ‘this will be a final sunday match…’ said by leahey

– false

With all due respect, Coach Dave is losing it. His lineup is a mess because of his player selections. The first set was a clear example of selection bewilderment.
Watching a back row player closing the first set on the front net was too bizarre. Second time he has done it. Same frosh player. Hawaii fans aren’t stupid. Without bashing players, he needs to heed wall street trader advice, “don’t fall in love with your stocks”. His statement last night, about his frosh “not being ready” is a tragic misstatement. Most fans recall another legendary Hawaii Coach who brought his program to prominence only to stay several seasons too long…

Where are my posting from last night ?

#60, If you think about it…the OH’s were Greeley & Long, while Taylor was Opposite. Due to Manu-Olevao’s LDS commitment, there were no other “true” (Left) Outside Hitters available on the depth chart. Huff (MB/Right) & Passi (Opp). Kahakai, like Cindy said, was used in a previous match in a similar situation because Dave knows that she is capable of taking a few good swings being that her original position during prep days was swinging on the outside.

IMHO, not sure if it would have made any difference who started in Set 1, as the girls to me, just seem very flat. Girls look emotionally and physically exhausted in Set 1 and then had to work very hard the rest of the way. Frustrating at times but nevertheless very rewarding that the girls (and staff) fought through it.

Scott Robbs is the one who said this was the last sunday match several times.

so what if there is another Sunday game? why does it matter who said it? somebody here needs to get a life.
the Wahine’s problems stem from the fact that their passing was terrible almost all night. bad pass equals bad set.

And guess what,Hawaii has dropped out of the top 25

So LC….what is it that you seen yesterday that you didn’t want to announce until after the poll came out?

tossup — isn’t it also entirely possible that shoji and the broadcasters (though not all of them) mis-spoke? i mean, think about it, what’s more logical here? it’s awfully hard to “hide” something that is easily verifiable. the schedule is on the UH web site … just saying.

Higgins’ mindset should be changed. The setter shoud SET! Forget the second hit dump shots. I’ve never seen setters dump as often as she does. Don’t be surprised if in league play the opposing teams won’t be waiting. How long does it take for Higgins to start setting Magill HIGH? Low sets play into the hands of blockers who can’t jump as high as Magill. Similar to basketball with the 7’+ center bringing the ball to chest level where the other players will have a chance to swat the ball out of the center’s hands. With Magill’s jumping ability, she can jump, look around, and CHOOSE where she wants to hit the ball, IF, the set is high enough. Like I said, how long does it take to make the adjustment? By the way, what is Robyn’s role on the team? I rarely see her talking to the setter during breaks. Seems to me, her setting at the highest level (Women’s international…three(?) Olympic teams?) isn’t being fully utilized.

Don’t know why all the dislike for Higgins? Is it because they are in love with Kendra??? Why? No one has watched her play much at all unless you watched her play high school or club. I’ll trust Dave’s judgement. I’ll also trust Dave on his libero with Mendoza and Kahakai. When Ponce and Anderson play, Why get mad because Gianasso doesn’t play? hmm

As for SLO, Do they even have a football team? haha What is their attendance the last decade?

Please Dave retire. This blog is a venue for interested readers of the Honolulu Star Advertiser to voice their opinions. Of course its only our opinions. That being said, its kind of frustrating to voice your opinion and have a few planted protectors come in and negate any view other than what i’m guessing you and your team of supporters want the public to believe. So for the few that voice their opinions and are making logical sense… I’ll call them the realist and for the planted protectors…I’ll call them the protectors. I’ll say this. Its safe that the protectors will never agree with the realist. No need to convince anyone just accept it. for me, as a realist, my first SMDH is why in all the pre season conference tournaments did Long or Passi start over any body else. And if Shoji had so much confidence in both of them, why did they ALWAYS have to removed by either a DS or in Huff’s case, a freshman. Sure you can be specific and say that Nikki came in for so and so and not so and so…but the fact remained. Long took one of those starting spots. And why do you think Long in every single match while on the court had the majority of serves to her? My obvious answer is the other teams scouted UH and found that Long was one of the serving targets. Its plain and simple. So by Dave choosing to put her in and then get a few shanks or bad passes from Long, like last night, no one, not the Chris the TV analyst, who keeps giving us unimportant information about how great a player is with the same information match after match; to the radio announcer saying how awesome Lowe is, even though UH saw her the past four seasons now; to the protectors that come on this blog and says misleading statements like… the freshmen are not ready because they haven’t been in the system enough, yet Kalei G. is starting, as well as the performances of Long, Passi and Higgins who have been in the system long enough but haven’t lived up to their hype. It doesn’t make any sense to deny the freshmen more playing time from the start of the match just because Dave is paranoid about not having confidence in some of them. His over confidence in Long, Passi and Higgins have knocked UH out of the top 25 for the first time since the year UH failed to make it to the post season tournament(Krystal Atwood era) I want to say in 1993 or 1994? The bottom line is, the more the protectors are going to spin the TRUTH, the more the realist will be resistant to the PR Dave this nose dive is on you. Not because you are in there playing, but because you make the line up and you make the coaching plan.

This being a rebuilding year, Shoji might consider red-shirting Kendra Koelsch since she hardly plays. (a waste of a year for a good setter) Megan Huff needs to let it fly and hit away (all her shots are touch shots or dumps). Judging from the games played (and I’ve been to all of them) Guinasso is fair to middlng in the back row. The reason Taylor Higgins is dumping is due to the rotation where UH has only 2 attackers. In this rotation opposing teams are doubling up on either Magill or Greeley. Hence, a third option, setter dumps. If Shoji had a reliable 3rd hitter Taylor would be able to set the pipe set out of the back row.

Koelsch can’t red shirt she already saw the court. Once someone plays they can no longer redshirt unless injured thus medical redshirt.

90. blunite, Koelsch won’t be red-shirted even if she hadn’t seem the court as of yet. Where would the Bows be if Higgins sustained an injury? You need backups to compete at this level, much the same position that Maglio finds herself in, backup middle just in case Magill or Adolpho get nicked.

Ranking of 26th won’t sit well with the team, they know the implications that come with that. Maybe that has had an effect on Adolpho, knowing that it was coming.