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Post by volleyballfan99 on Dec 8, 2014 13:07:02 GMT -5
Saw the CCCAA championship match today, which Irving Valley won in four sets. Annie Mitchem started as a middle, but was hitting from the pins in certain plays as an OH. She could be the terminator that was lacking in the Hawaii attack this past season. She has a quick armswing, quick feet, excellent jumper, and brings the heat. She should get a shot at outside come next Fall. Magill, Maglio and Castillo can handle the middles. i just saw some footage of mitchem walloping the ball. i agree stick her at the pins because higgins can't set the middle anyway and is always setting the outsides. somebody anybody coach this girl or communicate with this girl about her setting it's like she's in la la land for the life of me i can't understand how she could not improve her connection with the middle for all these months and dishes it to the outside every chance she gets or back sets a front row player to the D position. it's also disturbing how the pins choked launching rockets into the crowd thinking they were part of the opposing team. i mean cmon we all heard of the 7th (wo)man but that was ridiculous. If you knew Higgins, she has a very BIG Ego. People say, there is No "I" in the word Team, but Higgins says, there is a "I" in team, and she is IT. You cannot tell her anything, which Robyn Ah-Mow Santos is finding out, cause Higgins feels she knows it all. In Higgins mind, where ever she sets the ball, it is the hitters responsibility to hit it. Every set she puts up is an excellent set in her mind. Never taking responsibility for a bad set, it is just the hitters fault if they do not hit it well.
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Post by volleyballfan99 on Dec 8, 2014 13:13:24 GMT -5
Saw the CCCAA championship match today, which Irving Valley won in four sets. Annie Mitchem started as a middle, but was hitting from the pins in certain plays as an OH. She could be the terminator that was lacking in the Hawaii attack this past season. She has a quick armswing, quick feet, excellent jumper, and brings the heat. She should get a shot at outside come next Fall. Magill, Maglio and Castillo can handle the middles. I agree. If Mitchem is as good a passer as Pestolesi says she is, then I think Dave will use her on the outside just like he did with Hartong. He needs an outside that can be a dependable passer. Tai got better this year but not much better. She will lose her starting position if she doesn't work on her passing (serve receive especially) in the offseason.... I totally agree, Tai will lose her starting spot, to either Mitchem or Granato, if she does not totally transforms herself. Tai needs to make tremendous improving in her passing, including serve/receive, and her hitting percentage for Tai to keep her starting spot.
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Post by volleyballfan99 on Dec 8, 2014 13:36:24 GMT -5
I can see Dave Shoji going to a 6-2 offense, if he can get a good transfer setter. Even without a good transfer setter, Dave may still go to a 6-2 offense, next year. With the amount of pin hitters at his disposable it would be a shame to have some of them on the bench, sort of speaking. The pin hitters he will have at his disposable next year will be, in no particular order, Mitchem, Taylor, Greeley, Granato, Olevau, and Huff. You could include, Koelsch into this bunch, if he does get a good transfer setter. Olevau will have to fight off Granato, if she wants to see the volleyball court.
The 3 Middles will be Magill, Maglio, and Castillo. Do not see Castillo playing the outside. Also, Dave has mentioned that he likes having only 3 Middles on his team.
Kahakai will definitely take over the Libero position, next year. Dave will have to bring in a Libero (walk-on) to backup Kahakai. The DS position will be the same with the 3 he has on the team now.
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Post by dorothymantooth on Dec 8, 2014 13:47:03 GMT -5
Predictions from top to bottom: Head Coach: Dave Shoji -- Return or retire? 70% he'll return. If he retires, oh boy will there be a scramble for this job! I want someone from the mainland to lead this program. We don't need a Hawaii connection. We just need victories and championships. Associate Head Coach: Scott Wong -- Return or new job? 60% Pepperdine, 40% return with Hawaii Assistant: Robyn Ah Mow -- Return or new job? 95% return, 5% new job I'm not sure Ah Mow will ever get the Hawaii head coach job. Perhaps she should test the head coaching waters with another (smaller) program to prove herself, if she's willing to leave the islands for a few years. (I used to say that if I ever left the islands, I'll return someday. Never happened. Once I left, it was harder to return.) Setter: Tayler Higgins vs. Kendra Koelsch vs. Shoji will look for a transfer setter. Koelsch and Higgins will battle it out for #2. If he's patient, he could further work with Koelsch and Higgins while waiting for Norene Iosea (sp?) to come aboard. But at his age, is he patient? For me, the older I get, the more I feel the need to rush to get some things accomplished sooner than later. Middle: Olivia Magill Emily Maglio (Annie Mitchem) (Casey Castillo) Magill will start. I really really want to see Maglio in action. Castillo will redshirt. Mitchem to outside. If Mitchem plays middle, I'll feel bad for Maglio because I really want to see her play. Outside/Opposite: Nikki Taylor Kalei Greeley Tai Manu-Olevao Megan Huff Kendra Koelsch (Annie Mitchem) (McKenna Granato) Manu-Olevao will start at the beginning of the season, but will lose her job to Mitchem, Huff, or Granato. Greeley will start because she's too valuable for her all-around play. Granato may get the nod initially but Huff may come on strong. Eventually, Mitchem will outdistance herself from the pack. Of course, I have no idea what I'm talking about because I have never seen Granato or Mitchem play. Taylor at OPP. Koelsch is a wildcard. Greeley has to hit the weight room and build some power. I really want to see Huff and Koelsch in action. Huff showed potential in limited playing time. Koelsch...man alive I still remember that hit she made on the second ball against CSUN. I also think Koelsch will be great for team chemistry and morale and the team will play better because of her. A lot of good players and not enough positions. I'd make a lousy head coach because I won't be able to decide. Also, I'm bad with drills. Libero: Savannah Kahakai I penciled her name here only because everyone seems to think Shoji is grooming her for this slot. God, I'm going to miss Mendoza almost as much as I missed Ali Longo. Defensive Specialists: Gianna Guinasso Katiana Ponce Clare Marie Anderson Some unnamed walk-ons Shoji played all three in almost equal doses. I've seen Ponce and Anderson the most but I really like Guinasso. All showed potential but I haven't seen enough to say who'll play lead and who'll understudy. I have no idea who the walk-ons may be, but I bet Shoji does. Perhaps Wong will take them with him to Pepperdine. Note: All of this is wishful thinking. I have no inside information.
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Post by dorothymantooth on Dec 8, 2014 13:51:35 GMT -5
Predictions from top to bottom: Head Coach: Dave Shoji -- Return or retire? 70% he'll return. If he retires, oh boy will there be a scramble for this job! I want someone from the mainland to lead this program. We don't need a Hawaii connection. We just need victories and championships. Associate Head Coach: Scott Wong -- Return or new job? 60% Pepperdine, 40% return with Hawaii Assistant: Robyn Ah Mow -- Return or new job? 95% return, 5% new job I'm not sure Ah Mow will ever get the Hawaii head coach job. Perhaps she should test the head coaching waters with another (smaller) program to prove herself, if she's willing to leave the islands for a few years. (I used to say that if I ever left the islands, I'll return someday. Never happened. Once I left, it was harder to return.) Setter: Tayler Higgins vs. Kendra Koelsch vs. Shoji will look for a transfer setter. Koelsch and Higgins will battle it out for #2. If he's patient, he could further work with Koelsch and Higgins while waiting for Norene Iosea (sp?) to come aboard. But at his age, is he patient? For me, the older I get, the more I feel the need to rush to get some things accomplished sooner than later. Middle: Olivia Magill Emily Maglio (Annie Mitchem) (Casey Castillo) Magill will start. I really really want to see Maglio in action. Castillo will redshirt. Mitchem to outside. If Mitchem plays middle, I'll feel bad for Maglio because I really want to see her play. Outside/Opposite: Nikki Taylor Kalei Greeley Tai Manu-Olevao Megan Huff Kendra Koelsch (Annie Mitchem) (McKenna Granato) Manu-Olevao will start at the beginning of the season, but will lose her job to Mitchem, Huff, or Granato. Greeley will start because she's too valuable for her all-around play. Granato may get the nod initially but Huff may come on strong. Eventually, Mitchem will outdistance herself from the pack. Of course, I have no idea what I'm talking about because I have never seen Granato or Mitchem play. Taylor at OPP. Koelsch is a wildcard. Greeley has to hit the weight room and build some power. I really want to see Huff and Koelsch in action. Huff showed potential in limited playing time. Koelsch...man alive I still remember that hit she made on the second ball against CSUN. I also think Koelsch will be great for team chemistry and morale and the team will play better because of her. A lot of good players and not enough positions. I'd make a lousy head coach because I won't be able to decide. Also, I'm bad with drills. Libero: Savannah Kahakai I penciled her name here only because everyone seems to think Shoji is grooming her for this slot. God, I'm going to miss Mendoza almost as much as I missed Ali Longo. Defensive Specialists: Gianna Guinasso Katiana Ponce Clare Marie Anderson Some unnamed walk-ons Shoji played all three in almost equal doses. I've seen Ponce and Anderson the most but I really like Guinasso. All showed potential but I haven't seen enough to say who'll play lead and who'll understudy. I have no idea who the walk-ons may be, but I bet Shoji does. Perhaps Wong will take them with him to Pepperdine. Note: All of this is wishful thinking. I have no inside information. As incredible a program as they are, its not a job top coaches from mainland would necessarily have an interest in. 1. With the current landscape of college athletics they aren't in a BCS bowl 2. With the current landscape of recruiting (young kids taking unofficial visits) UH is at a huge disadvantage in terms of being able to get kids on campus for unpaid/unofficial visits 3. Following a legend the expectation level will be to be a top 10 team and compete for titles. With the strikes against them, that isnt very appealing IMO.
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 8, 2014 14:15:06 GMT -5
As incredible a program as they are, its not a job top coaches from mainland would necessarily have an interest in. 1. With the current landscape of college athletics they aren't in a BCS bowl 2. With the current landscape of recruiting (young kids taking unofficial visits) UH is at a huge disadvantage in terms of being able to get kids on campus for unpaid/unofficial visits 3. Following a legend the expectation level will be to be a top 10 team and compete for titles. With the strikes against them, that isnt very appealing IMO. I agree with the financial and recruiting disadvantages. I disagree about the pressures of following a legend. People are opportunists. Cook, Sealy, and Dunning did fine following the legendary footsteps of Pettit, Banachowski, and Shaw, respectively. Granted, these programs are in BCS power conferences and have plenty of resources that the Big West teams don't have. And, I also admit it may be harder to follow in the legendary footsteps at a smaller program such as Pacific, which never fully recovered from Dunning's departure. But Hawaii is not like the smaller programs like Pacific because its volleyball program is unique among the non-BCS schools. Nevertheless, if they start losing, it's going to be rough waters.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Dec 8, 2014 14:25:30 GMT -5
Saw the CCCAA championship match today, which Irving Valley won in four sets. Annie Mitchem started as a middle, but was hitting from the pins in certain plays as an OH. She could be the terminator that was lacking in the Hawaii attack this past season. She has a quick armswing, quick feet, excellent jumper, and brings the heat. She should get a shot at outside come next Fall. Magill, Maglio and Castillo can handle the middles. if a player is too good to just play 3 rotations up front, shoji won't hesitate to convert them to an outside hitter, as we've seen in the past.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Dec 8, 2014 14:36:17 GMT -5
Note: All of this is wishful thinking. I have no inside information.
[/quote]As incredible a program as they are, its not a job top coaches from mainland would necessarily have an interest in. 1. With the current landscape of college athletics they aren't in a BCS bowl 2. With the current landscape of recruiting (young kids taking unofficial visits) UH is at a huge disadvantage in terms of being able to get kids on campus for unpaid/unofficial visits 3. Following a legend the expectation level will be to be a top 10 team and compete for titles. With the strikes against them, that isnt very appealing IMO.
[/quote]
valid points, but overblown
I really wonder about the BCS bowl aspect for WVB athletes - the hype of BCS bowls is driven by a male oriented demographic at that
yes on unpaid visits, it's a negative, on the other hand, it's Hawaii - not like student-athletes isn't going to have a good idea of the community/environment Hawaii will be like
having an expectation of being top 10 is a bad thing?? can't imagine the coaches or athletes that wouldn't want that
Hawaii vs. Nebraska :
the unpaid/unofficial visit barrier is true for a lot of schools - who in hades wants to spend money to go to Lincoln (or Ames or Gainesville) if they don't have to???
both top 10 expectations
Nebraska in a better conference, the Big West isn't top tier but also is not a slouch conference
Both rabid fan bases
Hawaii also draws from 3-4 top 25 non-conference matches at the islands every year
Hawaii has a lot going for it, and is very well positioned to draw on Southern California talent
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Post by volleyguy on Dec 8, 2014 15:23:47 GMT -5
As someone who is very opposed to the good ol' boy network, I do think, however, that some schools can benefit from transition planning, along the lines of what took place at Illinois with Hambly and the retiring coach there (Nelson). Corporations do it all the time because it promotes stability, and for non BCS schools with long-standing volleyball traditions and long-term coaches, like Hawaii, Long Beach, Pepperdine, UCSB and Pacific, it may be one way to maintain relevancy. A not so good hire set back Pacific volleyball for over a decade, and it remains to be seen how UCSB and Pepperdine fare long-term. Even the perception of stability and continuity whether realized or not, such as at Penn St with Salima, is better than the type of questions being raised again about Dave Shoji.
It just doesn't seem to be in the interest of the program to have recurring questions about whether he is returning or not, just as it's not good to wonder whether football is going to be dropped. It's a potentially destabilizing influence for the near term, and I don't understand why he doesn't quash the speculation right away. With all due respect to Dave, he needs to poop or get off the pot.
The only reason I can think of-aside from indecision which isn't usually a problem for Shoji-is that it's an attempt to leverage something from the Administration, but that's entirely speculative.
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Post by internationalball on Dec 8, 2014 16:39:45 GMT -5
As incredible a program as they are, its not a job top coaches from mainland would necessarily have an interest in. 1. With the current landscape of college athletics they aren't in a BCS bowl 2. With the current landscape of recruiting (young kids taking unofficial visits) UH is at a huge disadvantage in terms of being able to get kids on campus for unpaid/unofficial visits 3. Following a legend the expectation level will be to be a top 10 team and compete for titles. With the strikes against them, that isnt very appealing IMO. Other than Nebraska, name another program that can fill an arena like Hawaii does. The most profitable volleyball program in the country for over 20 years. That is part of it's appeal to recruits. A great facility, excellent fan/community support. If a new coach is scared to follow in the shoes of a legend like Coach Shoji because of the pressure of trying to produce a top 10 program, than that person shouldn't be coaching.
I think Robyn Ah Mow Santos will be a great replacement for Dave Shoji, Reydan Ahuna is another great choice as well.
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jiml
Sophomore
Go Badgers
Posts: 234
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Post by jiml on Dec 8, 2014 19:58:52 GMT -5
Note that Nebraska is a poster child for transition planning; they brought Cook in as assistant coach for a year before Pettit retired and Cook took over as head coach.
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 8, 2014 20:08:26 GMT -5
Note that Nebraska is a poster child for transition planning; they brought Cook in as assistant coach for a year before Pettit retired and Cook took over as head coach. Pettit is a smart guy. I always liked him. Too bad he "unfriended" me on Facebook. He jumped the gun on that one.
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Post by madonna on Dec 8, 2014 21:39:20 GMT -5
Pettit is a smart guy. I always liked him. Too bad he "unfriended" me on Facebook. He jumped the gun on that one. At least he probably wasn't like this one volleyball player that "unfriended" me on Facebook. This one volleyball player sent me a friend request, which I accepted (mainly because she's a former Wahine player). Then within a few days, this volleyball player posted that she was going to start to unfriend some of the people on her list of Facebook friends. She ended that post with saying she was only keeping those that she doesn't consider as Satan's helpers that have been testing her faith with God and to suck her back to her troubled past. Next day, I checked to see if she unfriended me, and sure enough, she did. ------- Now with some talk about who would replace Shoji when he retires, I think a good choice would be Ah Mow-Santos. She's very familiar with Shoji's system. Therefore, I don't see players transferring out due to not liking the new coach and his/her system.
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 8, 2014 21:58:28 GMT -5
Pettit is a smart guy. I always liked him. Too bad he "unfriended" me on Facebook. He jumped the gun on that one. At least he probably wasn't like this one volleyball player that "unfriended" me on Facebook. This one volleyball player sent me a friend request, which I accepted (mainly because she's a former Wahine player). Then within a few days, this volleyball player posted that she was going to start to unfriend some of the people on her list of Facebook friends. She ended that post with saying she was only keeping those that she doesn't consider as Satan's helpers that have been testing her faith with God and to suck her back to her troubled past. Next day, I checked to see if she unfriended me, and sure enough, she did. Too funny! (PM me with the name of this Wahine.) Pettit unfriended me because I was going through his old photos (public photos!) and commenting on them. They were harmless comments. I commented on them because I really loved those old photos. I'm a sucker for vintage photos. I don't know what part of my comments were offensive but all of a sudden, he just unfriended me. Perhaps he didn't want me commenting on his photos at all. If so, he should've just sent me a PM. Shoot man! I really enjoyed those photos, too!
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Post by ACE on Dec 8, 2014 22:03:07 GMT -5
my prediction for 2015 is that greeley granato and mitchem will be hawaiis pin hitters. granato is the real deal and if you think greeley is good, granato outshined her when their two clubs met earlier this year - mind you granato was only a junior. she's got great defense, a wicked jump serve:, a variety of shots and hits a really heavy ball. dave will not retire while mitchem is at hawaii. Maybe keep Mitchem at the middle blocker position to have someone run the slide...but have her hit as an OH as needed (aka. Veronica Lima).
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