Oregon takes title, Magill named MOP
No real surprise with either, although the Ducks weren’t as energetic after last night’s match. New Mexico had its chances but Oregon with the better balance.
Magill named MOP. Also on the all-tournament team was Manu-Olevao.
Rest of the all-tournament team
Oregon (3-0): Liz Brenner, Kacey Nady, Frankie Shebby
St. John’s (1-2): Karin Palgutova
New Mexico (0-3): Chantale Riddle
Another short week for Hawaii. back in the gym Monday. Play Utah State Thursday, UCLA Friday and San Franciso Sunday
BTW, Shoji said he appreciates the loyal fans who came today. Turnstile just under 3200
COMMENTS
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I’m glad Olivia got MVP…she deserves it!
Surprised it didnt go to the winning team, but having said that Magill was the MOP in the tourney on all three nights….know that Brenner had a rough going the first night.
Brenner didn’t play so great today either. Greeley should have made it, She had a better tourney than Shebby and Tai.
Not that it is that important, but in your article on the tournament you had Martenne Bettendorf as the 3rd member named to the All-Tournament team while above you have it as Kacey Nady. Actually, a good case could have been made for Naya Crittenden to be that 3rd Duck named to the team.
Great win…SJ’s was a tough out, was impressed with their libero, thought she played well.
After the first game, the Wahine woke up and started to play D and toughed out some long, long rallies,
Tai, is very effective if given a set of “medium” height, seems she is able to maneuver the ball better over and thru the seams better. On low and high sets the defense seems to have the upper hand.
IMO: Magill is awesome on defense and really negatively affects the other team’s hitters.
OMHO: Although there is lots of print on Higgins and Kendra, believe the situation works; ’cause Kendra has a light ‘um personality. And when she does come in, she’s very effective. Her personality is “infectious,” a positive influence; if that makes sense.
Looks like another week of working of serving is in order… go bows..
after the unm vs uo match it was announced ‘hawaiian airlines wahine volleyball classic tournament champion is the oregon ducks’ and then nothing happend, nothing else said or materialized, take team picture in front of volleyball net and there was no annoucement of all-tourny team. so cindy where was that announced? there really appeared to be no formalities ie giving leis/woodware trophy.
also there was a camera, even though oceanic didnt broadcast it, was the match captured for big west tv perhaps?
Olivia deserves it she’s been a monster at the net these past 3 days. Glad wahines was able to pick up the energy they needed to get the victory coz I find them so tired at the first set. And climbing back at that fourt set i think showed how strong they are. There was a time at that set with 4 baby bows greleey, maglio and huff in the front with kendra playing the back row.Hope nikki can get the clearance to swing on the practice this coming week and be cleared to play the following one.
That match deserves to be in tv
True fans showed up today despite the loss last night and the game time today. Wait for it… we will still own the Big West. Go bows!
I also enjoyed it when those four freshmen were on the floor at the same time. They are an impressive group of recruits. I also enjoyed seeing Ginger have a few moments in the sun, she tries so hard. Like several bloggers have said, they are a work in progress and fun to watch them grow. Dave is really invested in seeing to their development. He seems to live or die with every play just like the rest of us fans.
New Mexico Head Coach Coach Jeff Nelson not mincing his words on the team web site
“I brought us over here to make us tougher.” “Instead we have kids over here that have decided to be on vacation.”
Nothing on the Wahine web site about all tourney team ?
#9 Well I don’t think they expected to go 0-3. On the TV broadcast Chris McLaughlin said he talked to Jeff Nelson and he thought that this could be his best team ever. I’m sure he’s very frustrated by the team’s level of play.
On another note totally agree with Magill being the best player in the tournament. I expect her to be dominant once Big West play begins.
Olivia better not get denied Big west player of the week recognition. She put up monster numbers this weekend.
UCLA was pretty competitive with PSU. I think Sealy may just get them back to the NCAA tourney. Should be a good match against UH. Wish Nikki was able to hit against them.
If UH can contain Lowe (who IMO is the best opp in the country, they can win) but containing Lowe is no easy task.
They stopped Lowe last year.
I think we need to have Olivia and Kalei G blocking her at all times.
Lowe has been unstoppable. She had 30 kills in a sweep ( yes a sweep) against Illinois and 21 against psu. She hit over 400 against Illinois and .263 against psu. She is ucla and she will be a threat for the wahine. She can single hadledly win the match
This is great rebuilding year with the best freshman class overall ever recruiting here.
How’s the idea of a platoon system. I know it’s not practical due to the flow of the players ,but to try it would be interesting. First, regarding substitution: Can you do a multiple group substitution during a set or between sets???Just a thought to make it hard to scout against with different lineups.
1st Platoon: Higgins (s), Magill (m), Adolpho,, Nikki Taylor (oh), Greeley or Olevao (oh), Mendoza (l) (this possible lineup when Nikki returns)
2nd Platoon: Higgins (s), Magill (m), Adolpho(m), Greenly (oh), Olevao (oh), and Mendoza (l) ( more likely the lineup now)
3rdPlatoon: Koelsch (s), Magill (m), Maglio (m), Greely (oh), Huff (oh), Kahakai (l) (love this look/BIGS
4th Platoon: Higgins (s), Koelsch (s), Magill (m), Adolpho or Maglio (m) Olevao (oh), Greeley (oh) (Yes, love to check this 6-2 lineup too)
5th Platoon: Koelsch (s), Long (oh), Passi (oh), Magill (m), Adolpho or Maglio (m), Anderson or Guinasso (l) (Quick, scrappy )
Anyways, Right now up to this point without Nikki…The definite starters due to overall play should be Magill, Greely, Higgins ( more because of her serving), and Olevao (due to her overall improved play)
Mendoza and Kahakai are both steady but can be more assertive back there and Anderson and Guinasso are better servers.
Huff, Maglio, Long, and Passi will fill in wherever and whenever others are struggling at their position.
IMO I feel secure only when Magill because of her force at the net and Greely due to her maturity c being able to handle play all rotations especially backrow pretty darn steady….I know they have Clinical terms for people like me, but that’s why I am a fan and love to compete…
.11
I think their coach is a bit delusional. something about them having a “gun” at every position. And Im like huh??? . they have two very athletic , good players and thats about it. But for the wahine’s rpi sake I hope they win the mountain west, or San Diego state.
Congrats to Olivia and Tai!! They both did amazing this week.
Since no one is red shirting, do all the current players go on the road or do some have to stay back?
Maglio is intriguing. She looks big, and she can get bigger. She’ll put up an imposing block one day. She seems a little uncomfortable maybe because of the new environment, her place on the team, the crowd, etc. Her body language is suggestive — she has the slouchy tall girl thing. She doesn’t seem as engaged as her teammates when KK tries to pump up the bench. Just my observations. Looking forward to her development.
One more thing I wanted to comment about Kalei Greeley. She will be absolutely fantastic on the beach. Maybe even better than Nikki was last season. She has all the shots, and plays great defense for someone 6′ 2.
I really hope she decides to play on the beach team next spring . I hope Tai does as well, the beach game will help her immensely for her senior season and Tai and Kalei will make the beach team even stronger, maybe national title favorites in Tiegs final year.
20. Maybe she’s just shy.
I really hope we see her play more soon. when I saw her play in her club’s live streams this past summer, I thought she looked amazing, and the best out of all the new UH recruits this summer. If Kalei Adolpho struggles again next weekend, I hope Shoji doesn’t hesitate to give Maglio a chance.
17 luvin your platoon metaphors!!! I too like the bigger line up and running the 6-2 …. Also hope coach plays Maglio more when Adolpho is not stepping up, yank her even tho she is a senior
Congrats Magill on a well deserved honor , I hope garners the big west one as well!!!
As always go Na Wahine!!!
Maglio is shy, I believe Cindy mentioned that in the past. I also saw her in her senior year and I agree she is pretty darn good and has a lot of potential.
Dave has a small problem with this group, he has some kids who could split in the future if they find themselves on the sidelines too much.
24. Agreed. Someone like Maglio can play at any D1 level program. Sees her potential at a Pac12 level conference. Players like her can split if Shoji insist on playing inconsistent players like Adolpho. I dont care if shes the senior or the captain if they cant produce. Long will be sitting on the bench once Nikki is back.
Magill is well deserving of recognition, but she also gets the quickest sets (1 set, 3 set, etc.). Kalei Adolpho perhaps gets over-excited at times which accounts for her uneven performances. The outside hitters get the high and wide sets which turns into a battle when the opposing block has ample time to set up. Chris McGloughlan noted that Shoji still believes in this slow offense (which he has used for 40 years). It would be more exciting if he sped up the offense, which would give his hitters split blocks to hit against.
26. I became a Wahine fan not because of the team itself but of Shoji, but I am not afraid to say that there’s more things Shoji does to this day that hes been doing the past 40 years. He is a “tried and tested” kind of coach.
Maglio doesn’t necessarily need to start and replace Adolph but it would be nice to see her for at least a complete set so she can have an opportunity to get more experience
I think that will happen soon when Dave feels that they are in control of finishing out a match with a win.
Shoji isn’t about to kick Adolpho under the bus and not start her unless she was injured or too sick to play.
Dear Dave please watch the match on Pac-12 tv channel 1235 Oceanic happening now. Standford vs. Illinois. That is how top tier teams play. Illinois in the past was known for being big and very slow. Today they are big and very very fast. Standford is down two sets to one but they have weapons all around. Both setters are accurate, fast and very smart with its choices. They are great NOW both teams have freshmen starting and thriving.
I meant Stanford.
Blockers are closing the seam consistently. Pin blockers are setting the block correctly. Passing is consistent to target. Mostly float serves. Both coaches mentioned they only like float serves because of its accuracy and using less energy. The hard jump server expends too much energy and becomes fatigue throughout the match. Float serves can cause passing havoc when adding a knuckle ball affect.
catching up on a lot of the comments.
1. Voted for Magill as MOP. she was the most consistent player in the tournament for all 3 matches. Others apparently agreed. Don’t know who all voted, not all teams even brought an SID. thinking that UH and SJV also voted before the Oergon-UNM match.
Oregon won but, as someone pointed out, hard to give it to say Brenner, who was very off Thursday.
Very anticlimactic for the announcement of the Ducks being the tournament champion. No real ceremony. Oregon did take pictures in front of the net.
It was just a weird tournament and next week’s will be as well with single games Saturday and Sunday. It wasn’t treated very well. Certainly not with the normal hoopla.
Odd that they didn’t announce the all-tournament team in the arena. the UH SID sent it out on email to the media. He was scrambling to get out to help with football so it might not have been put up on the UH site yet.
Can’t imagine Magill not getting POW in the BWC
As for the ‘TV cameras” that was HTV and used for stuff like the intros and JumboTron ‘fan cams’ etc.
Thanks for the catch about me having Bettendorf. Think because she was on my ballot and not Nady that i had it in my mind se made the ATT.
24.25. Maglio isn’t splitting. She had no expectations of how much playing time she’d get, especially since she has two very veteran players in front of her. She’ll get her time during the season. And she is the heir apparent to replace the graduating Adolpho next season.
Stanford has two blocker hitters. A 6’8″ redshirt freshman and Inky. Both are blocker/hitters not one or the other. The redshirt freshman is fast for a 6’8″ player. Kalei A. has to step it up or Magill will be targeted by the teams to come. UCLA beat Illinois this weekend. Illinois is much better than UH right now. UCLA may be hard to beat.
31. Shoji prefers the jump float so I don’t know where you’re going with your comment
29. Stanford vs. Illinois is Stanford vs. Illinois. They prepared for each other.
If Hawaii was playing either team, they’d have prepared for that particular matchup.
* I believe I said SOME could split.
* Maglio heir apparent to replace the graduating Adolpho next year.? Not so fast, what about Annie Mitchem ?
Dear Wop ur jaws,
The Wahine is the lone NON-BCS program that can perennially compete with top ten programs.
Year-ending Poll from 2004-2013:
2004: #1 Stanford, Minnesota, Washington, USC, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA, #9 HAWAII, Texas.
2005: #1 Washington, Nebraska, Florida, Penn State, Arizona, Tennessee, Missouri, #9 HAWAII, Stanford.
2006: #1 Nebraska, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Penn State, Minnesota, Texas, USC, Florida, #10 HAWAII.
2007: #1 Penn State, Stanford, USC, Cal, Nebraska, Texas, UCLA, Florida, Washington, Oregon, #18 Hawaii.
2008: #1 Penn State, Stanford, Nebraska, Texas, Washington, Cal, #7 HAWAII, Florida, UCLA, Oregon.
2009: #1 Penn State, Texas, #3 HAWAII, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa State, Illinoi, Stanford, Cal, Michigan.
2010: #1 Penn State, Cal, USC, Stanford, Texas, Nebraska, Washington, Minnesota, Florida, Illinois, #13 HAWAII.
2011: #1 UCLA, Illinois, USC, Texas, #5Hawaii, Florida State, Purdue, Penn State, Iowa State, Nebraska.
2012: #1 Texas, Oregon Penn State, Stanford Nebraska, USC, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, #10 HAWAII
2013: #1 Penn State, Texas, Stanford, Wisconsin, Washington, USC Nebraska, Minnesota, San Diego, Missouri, #17 HAWAII.
Penn State and Nebraska finished in the top 10 the last 10 seasons
Texas and Stanford 9 of 10
Washington 8 of 10
Hawaii and USC 7 of 10
Minnesota 6 of 10
UCLA and Florida 5 of 10
Bottom line, the Wahine is definitely having growing pains without 63 1/2 Nicky Taylor
I love the setters sets to the M. High and fast.
Illinois Liz McMahon 6’6″ RH. Crushing it. I love the big tall RH’s . She is slow ish but hits over blocks.
Illinos uses a 6-2 offense.
36. we’ll see what plans they have for her when she gets here and starts working with the team.
Inky is so smart. Can hit quicks and slides plus she has the ability to hold her hit when faced with two blockers already forming, that split second allows her to twist away from the block instead of hitting into it. Amazing.
33. you don’t know that Illinois is much better than UH right now.
they would have to play each other to prove that.
Illinois swept by UCLA on the road (neutral court). Illinois hosted a pretty weak IMHO tournament the opening weekend.
UCLA got swept by Loyola Marymount last Saturday, then Penn State and Stanford.
We’ll see how good the Bruins are Thursday vs. USF.
announcer/Volleyball great Holly Mcpeek just inadvertently dissed Hawai’i. Said that the strength of the conference makes a big difference. In preseason play, the top teams can beat each other up to prepare for its conference and that both the Big 10 and the Pac 12 conferences will be very tough as it is every year. A team like Hawai’i plays tough pre season but is in a weak conference that doesn’t prepare them for post season play. Hawai’i consistently struggles in the tournament because they don’t have strong competition. She doesn’t believe Hawai’i is a top 25 team.
Stanford takes it in 5.
Stanford 3, Illnois 2
livestats for those who care to look
http://www.gostanford.com/liveStats/v2/volleyball/index.dbml?GAME_STAT_ID=1621057&db_oem_id=30600
A very bright person on VT did the math on 2014 conference winning percentage. As of 9/6 Big West ranked 9th with a .519 %. He says he will update it after today’s matches
The other announcer mentioned that the top players like to win and wants to play for a top conference team. Teams like Hawai’i can’t the top players not just because of its conference or that its far from home, but because Hawai’i is known for a small offense and Dave’s system. There are a lot of top players now days so its not about a lack of players to spread around.
44. don’t think Hawaii has ‘consistently struggled’ in the tournament. perhaps the last 2 years.
They were in the final 4 in 2009.
A main problem has been consistently sent on the road in a stacked region.
at home 2011 was a joke. which is why even the coaches showed their displeasure when voting Hawaii No. 5 when they lost in the sweet 16.
Hawaii may or may not be a Top 25 team. it doesn’t really matter what the poll or the announcers say.
All they can do is play the matches on the schedule and how they end up.
Holy McPeek is a wise person. She doesn’t blow smoke.
After seeing Penn St. Nebraska, Stanford, Florida St., Florida, Illinois, USC, Oregon, ASU, UCLA play, Hawai’i is in deep kaka. Folks these are the teams that will be sticking around come tournament time. Its not like UH is going to compete against other phantom players. Matching up against most of them will be tough.
Wop ur jaws,
Hawaii finishing 7 out of 10 in the year-ending-poll the last 10 years…should tell you that Hawaii goes deep into the NCAA tourney…Holly McPeek is pro BCS, she could care last about NON-BCS programs, even with STATS staring her in the eyes she’d still diss Hawaii.
Nicky Taylor will make Hawaii a different team
Coach Shoiji will have to make a decision on Maglio or Adolpho. Adolpho stats not looking good…one good set played and 5 set not so good.
Updated stats thru this weekend has Adolpho .161, which is tied for the lowest for MBs in the BW, Olivia .393, Greeley .268, and Olevao .213, a significant drop from .304 from last week.
44. Wop ur Jaws, I don’t think that is dissing Hawai’i, just making an educated observatiion that may well be correct. I know that in order to be the best you have to play the best. If Hawai’i isn’t playing that competition until post season, they begin to believe that they are above their competition. That becomes a sudden wake up once the ‘real’ competition is met.
Look at the Big 10 last year, the eventual winner came out of it, Penn State. However in order to win that Conference, they had to win out over several other Top 10 programs. That had to pay dividends in the final 16.
Placing Hawai’i in the top 25 is a crapshoot by any means, as inter-conference play is done on Hawai’i’s home turf and early in the season. Teams coming to Hawai’i are in a completely different environment, have freshman/sophmore’s that will mature as the season moves along. Of course Hawai’i has that card as well, but without playing many of the top teams in the country, the freshman/sophmore players aren’t learning at that level.
If you take Micha Hancock who learned ont he fly in her freshman season, wasn’t signed on with setter experience. She learned under the gun, was able to rise above it and now is one of the top players in the country. Playing in the B10 is the example that I am using, but really it comes down to location and having the proximity to big schools and having them in your conference.
44/50: McPeak knows nothing. If you want to maintain credibility, find another source.
52. Emily Maglio is the future, but Shoji would never start her in a match vice Adolpho. If anything she would see action always later in a set with UH with a comfortable lead. If Adolpho continues to not produce this weekend, I too hope that Shoji inserts her earlier in a set. So far this season Maglio hasn’t seen three rotations in the front.
52. it’s that kind of logic that gets me befuddled. Throw the numbers out..okay its true they finished 7 out 10 in the polls. But the truth she made was that Hawai’i doesn’t go far in the tournament of late. That the reason why is (i’m paraphrasing) that during the conference play, they normally do get the competition they need to prepare them in the tournament. Now last year the Big West had three teams get in, because of the three way tie for first. That is all that matters. After the tournament, the poll numbers make no difference to me. The things that the coaches are doing for Stanford, like employing the jump float and staying away from the hard jump serve is what I urge Shoji to look into. There were a lot of hard jump servers at Stanford coming out of high school that are only using a jump float at Stanford. The reasoning, the US National team numbers came back that a jump float throughout the course of play was more effective than a hard jump serve and that internationally a jump float is used to get the passers out of system. My point is, the Stanford coaches keeps changing its style, tweaking it when necessary to stay on top. Its not about stubbornness its about what is best for the team, the school and in Hawai’i’s case, the state. Stanford focuses on academics off the court. But on the court for all its sports, they want players that want to win. That will be able to compete and that will be intelligent enough to know how to do it. The last time Stanford came here in preseason, they lost to Hawai’i but had six freshmen playing. Stanford took the loss but look at them now. The freshmen are now juniors and they are at the top of their game. Dunning allowed the freshmen to play throughout its losses but kept believing in them. Now comes the reward.
that’s do not get the competition.
This is not the first negative comment that McPeak has made about Hawaii. Wop ur jaws makes a lot of dubious statements and his blog name is insulting to me as an Italian American.
Jeez here we go again, Wop ur jaws ( what a ridiculous thing to go by)
must be bored. Thanks for stating the obvious Sherlock Holmes!
Anyway, I find Mcpeak to be a horrible,idiot announcer. I’d even take Heather Cox over her. Maybe even Kelli Tennant lol
Wf, All three are birds of a feather, I would be hard pressed to pick but Kelli Tennant would be the one I most hope to never hear again.
36. Mitchem continues to show her back row abilities by leading Irvine Valley in digs. It wouldn’t hurt to try her at opposite, especially if Olevao continues to hit for a low percentage. She’s also one of the best sand players so her game is pretty complete for a middle.
When was the last year Hawaii hasn’t won one of their three tournaments?
So is it true that Huff will be on basketball scholarship next season?
The person saying that on volleytalk is the exiled crazy laura/steve/dedicatedfan so it’s probably just making things up and hoping it becomes true.
I could tell it was laura/steve/dedicatedfan by checking the posting history and finding a few posts attacking Cindy.
64: Where did this come from? No, she won’t be on a BB scholarship.
The BB team will have 4 scholarships to give — 4 seniors; one to Kalei Adolpho who will be playing her final season after VB is done in 2014.
You crack me up Detective Warriorfan.
#57…..
And what the hell do you expect Shoji and the girls to do exactly? They don’t pick what conference they are in? They don’t pick the teams that are in said conference. They have none of those decision making powers other then to hopefully stack the preseason tournaments with decent and tough matchups to test our Bows! And that is what Shoji has tried to do for YEARS!
They will not play off island unless a special tournament calls for it and Shoji is interested. And you shouldn’t blame Shoji and the Bows for hosting these amazing tournaments. The program BANKS with the droves of fans that pack the place and most other places with the exception of Nebraska can say that! Teams WANT to come and play here….and the fans love the competition.
How do scholarships work when you go into graduate school. I assume in Adolpho’s 5th year she would be in graduate school. Would Adolpho need to be put on Basketball scholarship? It would be her fifth year and she wouldn’t be able to play volleyball anyways, can’t she walk on the basketball team while still receiving financial assistance from the school, and it no longer being counted as a volleyball scholarship.
the funny part about wanting what stanford has … is that hawaii has been to a final four more recently than stanford has …
😉
wop ur jaws – also big west got 3 teams in last year … it wasn’t just that there was a 3-way tie for the conference, but they had the RPI to get in. in other words, they earned it.
is “warriorfan” and “Warriorfan” the same poster?
they’re not, right?
Just a reminder, Shoji has and still is one of the very best coaches.
Just a reminder, most are saying that this year’s class is one of the best and next year’s commits are also very good. So what does that indicate?
Just a reminder, the season has just started and both Arizona State and Oregon were very good teams.
Just a reminder, the “team” is competitive and we are seeing more players take the court. Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side and sometimes it only looks greener, thank heavens we have coaches making the decision.
At the end of the day, this program and this team is drawing the second largest number of fans into the SSC. The schedule, is, what it is and Shoji has always scheduled competitive teams in the pre-season. The goal is to win the conference.
With a strong pre-season schedule and the conference getting better there are hopes the RPI also grows. However, first and foremost we gotta win the conference.
Shoji is the master is achieving this…-go bows
I’ll take 3 more NCAA national Championships, a pipeline of top recruits and a legit shot at a NC than a “we’ve been to the FF more recently than Stanford has”.
😉
butch — thank you for simultaneously not getting and arguing my point at the same time … why envy what we don’t have? stanford has so many top 10 recruits that some of them ride the bench. and it hasn’t gotten them what you’re aiming for since 2008. (altho, arguably their 2012 class may get them there this year.)
i’d like more chances at a national championship too. that goes without saying! i’m personally intrigued by this year’s class and next year’s recruits for hawaii. i think they can make some noise.
in any case, let’s hear it then. what is your plan? what is shoji not doing to get the recruits that stanford has … to put them in a position for a legit chance at a national championship?
The only to get better recruits is to change coaching styles. Get rid of the religious overtones at UH and bring in new blood.
so that’s what this is all about? … you think shoji should’ve just retired already?
74. I’m with you Butch. The protectors seem to think records and the past is equal to the present and winning. Sure Stanford didn’t win a title, but Penn St. has and I can assure you Russ Rose would be the first in line to take a look at reinventing the team by incorporating new techniques. He loves to use stats for every thing. And he uses those stats to chart the players. By the time the players are on the floor, he knows exactly what he will get from them. And he will cut you if you do not perform. In the end, the top players that want to be with Penn St. knows this and will compete to start.
Cub…. – What plan, did I say I had a plan? Is there a plan that needs to be had? YOU brought up the example of Hawai’i being to the FF more recently than Stanford as an excuse to how funny it is wanting to be like Stanford. I just offered better reasons as to why it’s NOT funny to be like Stanford.
butch — and you raised those goals… which hawaii and its fans have their sights on every year, regardless of who’s on the roster.
and you bring it up again … let’s “be like stanford.” so what’s the plan to get the recruits that hawaii is losing out on to the likes of stanford (even penn st, as wop raised above)?
i was simply asking in response to the above posts …
hmm.. onwards. someone ought to TWEET coach shoji or otherwise LET HIM KNOW the wahine needs to improve on RECEIVING, PASSING, and SETTING (passing has gotten a bit better vs st johns but for the tourny overall needs improvement).
RECEIVING needs more mobility if not agility from the wahine as mendoza isnt too good a libero and kahakai even loss ground defending it by herself (need to bring in the other ds/libero especially the freshmen and create them as mobile reserves. right now they are mostly used for serving, think kawamura last year when she was a designated server who also dug balls decently when needed to. the wahine need their freshmen mobile reserves to be able to receive/dig/pass balls. not sure about ponces value in that.
SETTING especially with higgins definitely needs improvement or she needs to be lit up on fire like vs sdsu in set 4 the week before when she was volatile setting from antenna to antenna to her outsides like a constant 1-2 punches which really took them off guard.
though serving has gotten better. i guess apparently shoji is still conservative in serves and likes floaters better than jumpers (which of course asu exploited the wahine with). dave ought to encourage those who jump to do so, including higgins, olevao, kahakai and passi. all others can float but are encouraged to train and fine tune in jump serving. any jump server should have capability to do floaters if the game drags on and they are tired/passed a couple jumps consecutively (especially hitting into the net)
also could polish up on tips for the front row just to sharpen up and increase the stakes.
train long and passi for back row as needed or fine tune longs high velocity gun and passis heavy punch.
finally if all else fails, including mobility issues from the back row, shoji should deploy an all ARMORED battlegroup like in vs st john when the wahine looked like they were about to be picked off easily.
wahine ARMORED battlegroup: consisting of 6 footers and above greeley, magill/maglio (or adolpho when she is better with her feet/use her to ambush with her slide), huff, koelsch (player 1), and kahakai (or mendoza if need, whoever is more agile) spearheaded by their commander olevao in the backrow
*81. You’re getting me confused. Are you talking about volleyball or battle plans to fight ISIS.
#78. One would assume most VB coaches keep stats similar stats. I’m sure if you know about charting players performances in practice and in games people who make a living coaching would know about it too. You know the inner workings of Fordham sounds like you also know the inner workings of Penn State.
82. yes im talking about volleyball. the visual appeal would be like armor=block. you know like a tank, in which many swings against but the ball aint getting past that. not when you have 6 footers across the front especially the average being 6′ 2 or 6′ 3. think how byu destroyed the wahine end of last season? it was because of them being a #6 blocking team in the nation, and that was armor the wahine couldnt penetrate to score much anything.
now speaking of penetration, someone SHOULD let shoji KNOW about this. this is when you need guns like ginger long who has a high velocity one, her swing should be able to fly up into the air once it hits blocks, but of course that doesnt work as well if she is too close (front row). so she would better in the back row (especially against 6 footers), where from beach she can see and target the block better and provided she can receive/dig/pass well she would be a fine gun. the ball would be hit off the hands and deflected off the court making the opponent very difficult if not impossible to save. this was shown on the match vs ohio.
passi is another gun with a heavy punch, she either needs to make it so that it smashes and sunders blocks or against light armor like ds/libero, target away from their hands like in vs sdsu where she unloaded it at their poor libero. (yes thats part of why i like volleyball because you can legally do that deliberately even though of course aim is difficult and you are relying on volley shots, its an add insult to injury factor but it works both ways)
btw now that service errors are not much into the net or wide but many long. someone ought to TELL coach dave to ALLOW his servers (particularly) floaters to fire off the serve farther behind the line rather than close or directly behind the line (if aggressive servicing has too much range, ie mendoza)
So why not say block, floor defense, or passing? The mobility reserve and armor are confusing.
Practically all the mid-major, non-BCS coaches are saying the same thing as Dave Shoji has been saying the past few years. With BCS money, the top five football conferences have a huge advantage in all their sports program. Football money is spread throughout the sports departments. THAT is why Hawaii does not attract on a regular basis the top ten recruits as does Texas, Stanford, USC, Nebraska, and Penn State. Has anyone read the SI article on the sports palaces built by Texas, with its luxurious training tables and state-of-the art fitness facilities? Hawaii has to rely on recruiting players with ties to Hawaii or are “projects,” raw with a lots of potential after training. This will not change now or the future. Replacing Dave Shoji won’t change this fact; rather you will replace a legend, one of the biggest winners in women’s volleyball for someone unproven. Many of the commenters on this blog are magical thinkers. They think by repeating something obsessively on this blog, this will make it true, ala “Steve,” “Laura,” “Dedicated Fan.” They can’t separate their fantasies from reality.
hello, it’s a SPORT, remember playing a sport? key word being play. its like you expected them to win all their matches despite losing most of their key passing, offense, in longo, hartong, uiato, taylor ,Vorster, etc. as a fan would have been nice to win them all, but really unrealistic, but I would hate to have to play us, later in the season, when all the pieces are put together (including having taylor back) The future is looking bright. But I like and appreciate all the bloggers opinions. (except the really long ones, boring)
Tossup/General Patton, Why dont you form your own army or team and then you can be the supreme commander and play volleyball/war to your hearts content. You have added nothing new that is news to the average volleyball van. But thank you for caring.
86. Of course conference affiliation has a lot to do with your elite status. And yes despite Hawaii’s conferences, they were one of a handful of programs to challenge the BCS. But the question really is how doe Hawaii get over the hump called the regional finals? In prior years past, the theme was Hawaii was being shipped out unable to host 1st and 2nd reds because of some formula that prioritize saving money. But an example from last year, even with Hartong, Hawaii lost in the regional finals against BYU. That is my point all along. There is a mythical hump where UH of late hasn’t been able to break through be it with a veteran squad filled with AA, transfers or breakout freshman. Yes Stanford May not have been final four of late, but they have been final eight almost every year since Hawaii made it to the final four. Sure they have an enormous budget and a top notch reputation for academic excellence. But the facts remain you are as good as your last success. Stanford’s name keeps coming as contenders while Hawaii is more spotty depending on the year. If Hawaii wants to get through that mythical hump, something has to either change or improve. That’s the reality. Crazy is doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different result.
Re: 89. Perfect example of magical thinking. In marketing, it is claimed that the keys to success are three things, “location, location, and location.” In college athletics the three things are “recruiting, recruiting, and recruiting.” To get over the your so-called “mythical hump,” one need the horses or top recruits. Needing something is quite different from having something. Given the realities of today’s “big time athletics” where the BCS conferences rule, Hawaii will always have a difficult time getting over this “hump.” However, Hawaii is unique and has advantages over the vast majority of the non-BCS and even most BCS schools, such as those in the SEC and Big East. It has the allure of Hawaii, a tropical paradise; an incomparable volleyball tradition with four national championships; large and enthusiastic crowds; and an attractive arena. That is why Shoji has been able to amass over 1,000 wins. Hawaii is perfectly capable of reaching another final four and even a national championship. However, don’t underestimate the difficulties Hawaii faces and other non-BCS schools in doing so.
89. BlAh, Blah blah blah blah that’s all I see when you post.
you aint providing anything new or insightful dude lol
91. Hawaii is doomed with your logic. But then again its the same old same old. Like the same old songs that you here at the matches, the same old blimp, the same old Bazooka. The same old result.
Dave Shoji ain’t going no where! I still consider him one of the best coaches today…Who cares what anyone thinks…everyone has their own opinions…even so called experts…and lastly, when Taylor is back, I do believe we could beat alot of those top teams…it’s just pre season people, let’s not talk final four yet…lol!
So whats the skinny on the 2016 class? Who are we going for? Who do we want? What positions are a priority? Who has interest in UH? Following up 2 great classes (’14, ’15) with another should put UH in good position for the future if/when Shoji does decide when to retire.
wop — i hear you. there is a recruiting gap, no question. a few programs are swallowing up the top recruits. hawaii is able to get some, but they’re not able to put together a class of top 10/top 20 recruits year in and year out. Hawaii at most has had 2 top 10 recruits on the same roster (danielson/croson), and they were stopped (in 2011) by a usc team that had 3 times than many top 10 recruits. these programs (penn st, stanford, usc, texas) don’t just attract top recruits, but they put together these elite recruiting classes.
the difference is that hawaii needs every one of its top recruits to pan out. there’s no one just as good to replace them. croson’s departure left a void in her recruiting cycle. when she left, other players who were projects had to step up and fill that void. that’s not nearly the same as these elite programs, who have top 10 recruits riding the bench, ready to sub in when a starter (another top 10 recruit). hawaii, unfortunately, doesn’t have that luxury.
it’s bcs money, it’s the prestige of these other schools, it’s the expansion of the sport, it’s the shift in the power of volleyball (no longer just being an “west coast” sport). it’s all that. i’m not sure how hawaii overcomes that, even with a change in coaching philosophy as you mentioned above. but, of course, i don’t know. maybe your thoughts will provoke a change. i hope so. and at some point your ideas will be put to a test, possibly with this being near the end of shoji’s tenure, and a new coaching regime takes the reins.
but i don’t know how hawaii can get around this change in the recruiting landscape, which was what i was alluding to above with butch. it’s easy to just say “i want to be like stanford” or “i want the top recruits so we can have more national championships.” it’s much tougher to figure out the gameplan to do that given the hurdles to recruiting, and sometimes even scheduling.
that said, i’m no shoji apologist. i’ve been posting on VT for a long time, and i feel like i’ve given my fair share of reasonable criticism of the program over the years. so it’s funny that i’ve been lumped in as a shoji “protector” when i kind of just wanted to engage some folks in debate. and this is a good debate to have. the “direction” of the program is on the minds of many fans, especially in these last few years, as we are surely headed to a crossroads upon shoji’s impending retirement (whether it be this year or just a few from now).
Shoji has earned the right to retire whenever he feels like it. Whether it be 2 years from now or 10.
I would like our new head coach, when that happens to be someone with more hustle ( recruiting wise), and with something to prove career wise.
However hope we can find someone that can develop talent like Shoji, but that will be hard to find.
Something that has hurt the past few years is just the lack of Kanani/Lily K like local talent period. Everytime UH has gone to the final four they had a local player that was just flat out amazing and a 3 or 4 time all american. There just hasn’t been any talent like that coming out of the state in the last 5- 6 years and not sure there will be for the next four, that has hurt.
2016 , again no idea of the local talent, so we have to go for California but lots of competition for those girls. I am hoping/praying UH can get Kathryn Plummer a 6′ 5 OPP and Joy Dennis a 6′ 0 high flying outside hitter, and maybe Noreen Iosia a 5′ 10 savvy setter with local ties. The one thing that might attract the first two is UH’s sand program, they both are dual indoor/sand players, so hope Scott can pull it off. It would Put UH over the top in 2016/2017 IMO
However we will also need a middle to replace Magill, or backup Maglio/Mitchem. Unless Huff moves back to the middle.
Actually I forgot that Casey Castillo can play middle and at 6′ 4 can be a dominant blocker. we might not need a middle in the 2016 class at all.
89 completely understand where u are coming from, i’ve also preached about change in the coaches style/etc for awhile. We as fans especially the dedicated ones that have been waiting decades for a championship. i wasn’t born when he won their last championship, so the fans after that generation is yet to experience it and want it for the team, for UH for the state.
I agree wholeheartedly with your statement “Crazy is doing the same thing over and over hoping for a different result ” it’s TIME to do something different~
96…If I’m not mistaken, Lily K. is not local. She’s from Texas. But I can see your point.
100. Kahumoku was from Texas, attended Kamehameha. Family related to Rockne Freitas.
97. not sure why people think it’s so easy to play two collegiate sports with a Oh, we’ll just have dual indoor-outdoor players. Sand team already training. Wong said he hasn’t discussed with the indoor team who might want to cross over as walk-ons yet
91. Ditto.
92. I miss your logic. Changing the songs and the blimp will give us a top 5 class? Hmmm. Have to ponder that one.
101. USC for one does not allow their indoor players to play sand. But, that is one reason why UH & Pepperdine remain in the hunt for Plummer, as she want to play both.
Just makes it difficult for the athlete.
Im sure it’s not easy but some players do want to do both indoor and sand.
wop ur jaws. It must be frustrating that only one person (mei mei) gets your logic. Change is needed in order to compete for National Championships. Why can’t more people get that? People are tired of league championships and sticking around for a few numbers in the Big Dance. Fans want and deserve more. We are after all, the best volleyball fans in the Nation, right?
For me, I blame Shoji for any frustration fans might feel. It was his own fault for winning those national Championships and those Final Four appearances. He’s the one who set the bar so high that not achieving one of those two is a failure. He brought an y criticism of him or his program on himself.
97…Do you know who besides UH is after Dennis (or what schools she’s interested in)…is LBSU in the picture for her? my understanding is that she has played most of her club ball with a club closely associated with LBSU coaches and players. I was told that she was on some kind of recruiting visit Saturday and Brian G. talking to her before and after their match…..should be interesting on who lands these two kids…
people always fear change, if it’s not broken why fix it mentality… it’s sad and very narrow/limited not thinking outside box.
growth and progress is good for the soul ~
105. Because the “cure” he advocates is impractical & is nonsense.
From what you say, I gather you think coach should retire so we can get a new coach that can set a lower bar, so Hawaii fans won’t be frustrated? So, the team’s annual goal would be to just compete for the Big West title?
cocobean — i think any reasonable fan would accept change that would bring better/top recruits and more chances at a national title. it’s silly to think that fans would be against it. what’s occuring here is disagreement over what that change should be?
what i haven’t seen are the ideas or the plan to put effect that change. including how hawaii will overcome much of the change in the college volleyball landscape over the last decade or so that has worked against hawaii getting more of those top recruits and from once competing in one of the toughest conferences around? that’s the kicker, isn’t it? i will admit, i don’t have the answers (i wish i did), and while fans on here clamor for change, it doesn’t sound like others have them as well. there’s a big leap between ‘wanting’ change and ‘effecting’ it.
108. Agree. The volleyball landscape has changed a lot over the past 10 – 15 years. Except for the top 5 – 7 BCS colleges that now recruit the top players every year, such as Penn St., Stanford, USC, Washington, Texas, there is now a lot more parity as the sport has grown and there are a lot more talented players to recruit from.
If you look at prepvolleyball’s Senior Aces (top 100), there are players committing to a number of colleges that were never volleyball powers, but are now very competitive. Yet, Coach Shoji has been very successful in molding lower rated recruits to fit his style.
One thing that has not changed — Hawaii still does NOT get very many top 10 players year-in and year out, for a variety of reasons. Maybe one every 3 – 4 years. Emily Hartong was not even a top 25 rated player in her class. Yet, she developed. Jane Croson was top 7, but did not pan out for a variety of reasons.
No doubt that funding and facilities, as great as the SSC and the fans are, are two of the main factors. The other handicap is location because of how recruiting has evolved. Many of the top recruits can take unofficial visits, which does not happen often here in the Pacific, as they can drive to a lot of their schools. And, with recruits now making earlier decisions — some even in their freshman and sophomore years, it is a key factor. Look at how Greeley became interested in UH at an early age because of trip to one of their camps. That won’t happen often.
Cube. I was being facetious. Wop and mei have been expressing their views over and over. Rather than use reason with them which other people have tried I thought being facetious was another way to respond.
109.
Greeley also has local ties, family on the islands.
cocobean — haha … my bad!