Round 1 of the PacWest Hawaii pod merry-go-round goes to the UH-Hilo volleyball team, which finished with a 3-1 record.
On Sunday at the Shark Tank, the Vulcans lost to Chaminade in five sets and defeated Hawaii Pacific in five sets before rushing to make their 7 p.m. flight back to Hilo.
The Silverswords and Sharks are both 1-2, and in a sign of parity, all the matches have gone either four or five sets.
“All the Hawaii teams are well balanced,” UHH coach Chris Leonard said. “It’s similar to last year. Chaminade has a nice team. HPU has a really nice team. We got to look at a lot of different pieces in the tourney.
“We’ve got things to work on. We put ourselves in a position to block but have to close the seams. That’s an area we’ve gotten a bit better at.”
Last season, Azusa Pacific captured the PacWest title, UHH finished runner-up, Chaminade third, and HPU fourth.
Against Chaminade in a 25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 15-10 loss, UHH senior Bria Beale was her old reliable double-double self. She had 16 kills and 14 digs. Taira Kaawaloa added 10 kills and 11 digs for the Vulcans, who hit just .098.
Ashton Jessee had four blocks and libero Tani Hoke compiled 20 digs for UHH, which was out-blocked 15-8.
The Silverswords went on a tear in Game 5, hitting .556.
Rachel Reedy, an All-PacWest first-team pick last season, blasted 18 kills, and Brooklen Pe’a, a Division I transfer from Youngstown State in Ohio, added 17 kills for Chaminade, which hit .234.
The Silverswords struggled big-time from the service line and gave away too many free points. They had 14 service errors and 24 hitting errors.
The Vulcans had two service errors but 32 hitting miscues.
“We had too many unforced errors,” Leonard said. “But give credit to Chaminade. They blocked well. If we cut down on our hitting errors we can play with anybody.”
Against HPU in a 17-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 15-9 win, Beale was a double-double machine again with 17 kills and 15 digs. Alexandra Parisian added 17 kills for the Vuls, who hit .194.
Jessee had four blocks while Hoke had 16 digs and setter Kendall Kott added 12 digs.
Emily Joseph slammed 18 kills, and Cameryn Collie, an All-PacWest first-team selection, had 17 kills and 14 digs for the Sharks, who hit .243.
The Vulcans out-blocked the Sharks, 18-14, and had fewer unforced errors, 30-33.
In a match on Saturday night, UHH defeated HPU 24-26, 25-23, 25-15, 25-19 at the Shark Tank.
Beale put up All-American stats: 18 kills, 20 digs, .349 hitting percentage. Samara Cruz, a 5-foot-8 freshman from Escondido, Calif., had 15 kills. She’s from San Diego but was born on Maui. Parisian added 11 kills from the right post.
Hoke compiled 25 digs while Kott and Kaawaloa had 10 digs each.
Two of the smaller Vuls, Cruz and 5-6 setter Teia Magaoay, from Tracy Calif., had nice debuts over the weekend.
On Sunday, Magaoay had 16 assists against Chaminade and 24 assists against HPU.
On Saturday against HPU, Cruz hit .235. Ideally, Leonard looks for a .250 to .300 range in that department. In the HPU rematch, Cruz came through. She had four kills on 12 swings and had a .333 hitting clip against much taller blockers.
The most impressive freshman was Leonard’s prized recruit, Hoke, who’s from Maryknoll.
In four matches, Hoke has 87 digs or 1,477 behind UHH career leader Mina Grant. Hoke repeats the fall season as a freshman.
Leonard has had four matches to observe Hoke, who was coached in club ball by Kolby Kanetake, a UH-Manoa All-American libero.
He’s a Chaminade assistant to coach Kahala Kabalis-Hoke, who snagged two solid additions in Pe’a and Kanetake.
Leonard was diplomatic when comparing Hoke to Grant. But as a longtime coach, whose own daughter Zoe, is one of the island’s best liberos, he knows good stuff when he sees it.
“It’s hard to compare liberos from two different teams,” he said. “I’ve worked with Mina, and she’s a nice libero.
“But Tani has a feel, really quick instincts, and sees the game. For a freshman, she stepped right in. Sometimes freshmen can be timid, but that’s not the case with her. Eventually, she’ll have a nice career for us.”
The Vulcans get this week off. Then they host HPU and Chaminade April 2-3 in Round 2 of the merry-go-round.
