Toyota 3, Hawaii 2

Maglio was ok…not spectacular. A definite downgrade from Kalei & Olivia. She’s got a lot of potential though.

I don’t think we’ve seen Kahakai since set 2. Looked like she may have tweaked her ankle. Was limping a bit at end of set 2.

Only now Im able to see this thread

Well, the persons clamoring to see the freshmen play got a chance to see them have fairly extensive playing time. As someone mentioned above, Emily Maglio seemed lost at first but improved as the match progressed. Still she has a long ways to go before she can compete for a starting position. Huff did fine; I was a critic of her lack of power, but she had some good hits tonight. Kalei Greeley, entrenched at one outside position, had the best night of her short career here. Ginger Long after some wild hits got a couple of kills and Keani Passi did relatively well in blocking and hitting though I don’t think any Bow hit for a high percentage tonight given the fantastic defense put up by the Queenseis.

I definitely think there is a lot of upside with the 6- 2. Having Huff in the front row, mostly just for her block, and Koelsch setting for three rotations from the back row will just help UH more in the long run.

Bummer about Kahakai. But hopefully Guinnaso will be able to step in her spot.

Sorry, did I miss something? Is Nikki just taking a break from tonight’s match or did she get injured again?

Why is it we can never seem to pull out a win from TA?

KK got to play some extended time, enough to see that that TH is rightly the #1 setter, but that if TH gets gassed or loses her serve like she did tonight, KK is a very capable replacement with very little fall off and little reason not to rotate her in. TH might be more effective in long matches if KK were rotated in more.

The Wahine have the personnel with the skills to run a 6-2, but it would take mental focus and effort to quickly adjust their offense and defense during a match. Focus and ability to quickly and successfully adjust individual and team play on the floor was the skill set TA clearly demonstrated and Hawaii sometimes lacked tonight.

not bad the play by the bows tonight. though unfortunately the bows had a misfortune in set 1 with the controversial call of greeley reach over (thats bull), couldnt save the set after that blow, with the so called notion of ‘starting slow’ and so far cant ‘win a 5 set for the life of them’ needs improvement. incorporating plays might help. from the start of play i had fantasized shoji use all jump servers higgins, tai, passi, and kahakai to see how ‘defensive’ toyota auto body really is. but unfortunately thats only my fantasy and the bows ultimately didnt ace any (they probably didnt try to bother as said reason below)

observations:
the queenseis play like swarming bees especially on defense, theres always seems to be at least 2 players to rescue the ball in case its dumped or out off the touch and in case 1 player couldnt rescue it. now i know they are a professional team but couldnt the wahine do that? a few times, a simple somebody from the back row including and especially mendoza could of stepped forward to dig some balls that could of been dug and not let toyota score the rally.

the queenseis are especially dangerous at the middle. did the bows beware of that?

for other plays the queenseis utilizes the tape of the net to make the ball drop over and over the match and the wahine still didnt see that coming? (i recall the wahine pulled a couple of these too but made less effort to defend against these) the wahines blocks were fine and even baby g partook in 1 of them (i believe it was the set when either shoji is out of subs or didnt sub and had magill and huff serving and playing the back row) but other than the blocking, the ball dropping from/over tape is what is still pouring through kills for the queenseis.

long wasnt mostly utilized for her velocity and range ‘long’ and as evident in the sets she played (she did get a couple where she was set effectively). shoji just likes her front row and wouldnt put her back row does he? then again her defense in receiving/digs/passes is still a wild.

maglio as someone had said seemed overmatched/appeared confused at first but did better particularly in set 4 part of the high water-mark for the wahines come from behind. koelsch did a nice job serving that it forced the queenseis to call timeout (retreat) and what makes dave and others say her location isnt good/enough? she had some nice sets including really nice back sets resulting in kills.

greeley essentially is made the workhorse if na wahine had fathomed her to be the terminator. (why didnt nikki taylor play?) tai as before kept it steady.

also what about #17 takeuchi the queenseis lone left hand jump server? though the bows won the set but that jump serve (aces) still went by unnoticed? did any of na wahine be like watch out for #17 its a jump (a left hand one too)?

when the queenseis serve, they serve as if they gave a hand salute as soon as they hit the ball on serve. of these, they mostly appear to be simple to dig and catch on. i think the wahine mostly handled the ball alright from receiving such serves.

magill and huff were decent in the backrow as servers and ball handlers. shoji might want to consider not subbing them out and use them as mobile reserves (they are not seen ‘mobile’ this match but you got to admit their steadying the ball looked better than the libero and ds) particularly for example if kahakai unfortunately is incapacitated and is now in crutches.

speaking of the non-subbing i think shoji needs to do that more. it actually resulted in good play and they won the set from being swept.

notice also tai serving when it was match point held back on her jump serve and at the last minute converted it into a jump float? she was like no not this nightmare again. and she was successful and converted it into her own kill and still served it good to the end.

the queenseis seem to disguise their floats/jump floats to make it look like a jump serve. and then they serve with what looks like a hand salute.

NT warmed up tonight and looked like she could have been used if needed. But rightly I think Dave kept her sidelined. Losing Kahaki may have had an impact on the coaching staff, after which Dave began freely substituting, which led to some interesting lineups on the floor as he ran low on substitutions and he kept the big girls on the floor. Magill, Adolpho, Maglio, Huff, all got to serve and play in the back row, and they did well. Huff had a nice little service run and had an overall good performance hitting, digging, passing and serving and showed flashes of six rotation ability. Front line play tended to fall off when she wasn’t in. Her blocking in particular was missed. As for Maglio, as others noted she was clearly out of sync at first, but did much better later. She needs work, but clearly has the athleticism to be effective, and showed tonight that she can adjust her play and improve within the match.

Did you all give Kanani a warm aloha, or did she not make the trip due to her injury?

Good to see Huff, Kendra and Emily play. If Coach can seriously work these frosh into his system, the next 18 games should be interesting. They represent the core to the wahine future and need to cut their teeth. It will also force BWC teams to make adjustments every time they are utilized. That requires more prep time. Height brings problems. They need to be challenged. I believe Nikki Taylor and Oliva McGill are the de facto leadership on this team. Mix it up in between and allow the chemistry to blend. It could surprise.

Dont forget the facebook chat with Magill starts at 1:30 today

http://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2014/9/17/WVB_0917140418.aspx?path=wvball

No one expects the protectors to see anything,they only see what they want to see but maybe if they took off their rose colored glasses ? 😉

Fatigue has occurred more than once with TH, schoolwork may be keeping her up all night. UH coaches should assess the players condition prior to matches and make substitutions as required. Even better, regularly address academic status with each player and provide academic assistance where needed to ensure that the girls don’t stay up all night.

Eh, haka, just ignore the usual pathetic band of “denigrators.” If these fair weather fans didn’t whine and criticize all day, they would have nothing to do.

This Wahine team is actually exceeding expectations considering what the team lost from last year and how young they are. Next year they will be great. This year I’m happy to watch this fun team improve and play hard.

uhfan, thanks for the reminder about McGill’s chat. She is fast becoming my favorite player on this team.

54 Rollshot, Agreed and I usually do. I just thought I’d encourage the loser with his delusional self esteem issues. As for the Wahine, I believe they will win the conference and represent well in the post season this year! Go Bows!

@ 50 Kanani did make the trip but did not play because she is injured. It was great to see her.

60. Rollshot, I think that you touched on a very important factor with your post. Considering what the Wahine lost in talent last season, where the 2014 Wahine are at is great. Take out Taylor for the first third of the season in addition to last seasons players that moved along and year to date this an exceptional showing. The best is still to come as the players gel together, learn how to play at this level, and begin to win together.

All fans of this team should throw out criticism, and understand that what you see in today’s play, isn’t going to be what you see tomorrow. Enjoy this team as you are in at the beginning of a team that is going to blossom as this season moves along, and flower in the next couple of seasons. Enjoy the ride, it will feel very special when your fan investment pays off.

Greeley, Olevao and Taylor can play all the way around , so a ds is not really necessary.

70. Yup Aldolpho is much better on the slide. But her quicks in front of the setter are decent. It would help to develop that to diversify her offense.

I don’t recall seeing Magill hit any slides. I know her position in the rotation limits her slide opportunities. Hopefully they can utilize her quickness and athleticism by moving her along the net more……3-1 sets and maybe back 1’s.

Looks like the UH warrior roster is up, only one surprise, Alex Jones 6′ 5 setter has transferred from Northridge.

55. says it. tai is more tactical this year. higgins doesnt seem to have other than a jump serve doesnt she? it will be harder to do especially in 5 sets.