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Post by kaipono on Nov 4, 2019 3:27:14 GMT -5
I think Norene deserves to be the POW. Nominations for this week's Big West awards from Hawaii should be: BWPOW - Norene Iosia - 15 Kills hitting 0.233 (1.67 Kills/Set), 58 Assists (6.44 Assists/Set), 4 Aces, 1 Block Assist, and 31 Digs (3.44 Digs/Set) BWDPOW - Amber Igiede - 17 Kills hitting 0.214 (1.89 Kills/Set), 15 Blocks (3 Block Solos, 1.67 Blocks/Set), and 3 Digs BWFOW - Hanna Hellvig - 32 Kills hitting 0.308 (3.56 Kills/Set), 6 Blocks (1 Block Solo, 0.67 Blocks/Set), 10 Digs (1.11 Digs/Set), and an ace Honorable Mentions: Brooke Van Sickle - 17 Kills hitting 0.143 (2.43 Kills/Set), 17 Digs (2.43 Digs/Set), 3 Blocks, an ace, and an assist (the only thing that's not really great is her hitting percentage) Rika Okino - 35 Digs (3.89 Digs/Set), an ace, and 8 Assists
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Post by Wolfgang on Nov 4, 2019 4:43:35 GMT -5
So many possible nominees from Hawaii. I'd go with Rika Okino for DPOW. She, by herself, kept so many balls in play with miracle digs and that helped the Wahine win points. (Of course, she also gave up points on service errors and errant passes here and there, but luckily serving and bad passing don't count for DPOW. LOL!)
Only if you watched the matches would you know that Iosia was clutch and should be POW, but Hellvig has the numbers and I doubt the BW people are watching matches on youtube. LOL!
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Post by holakula on Nov 4, 2019 11:34:58 GMT -5
Hawaii’s at #11 in RPI. With four games left in the season against UC Davis, UC Riverside, CSUN and Long Beach, if they win out it seems like they’ll be in good position to host.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Nov 4, 2019 11:38:24 GMT -5
I hope Jolie will be able to play soon.The Wahine have been doing well but Jolie's on-court presence is huge for this team.
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Post by staticb on Nov 4, 2019 11:53:56 GMT -5
Hawaii’s at #11 in RPI. With four games left in the season against UC Davis, UC Riverside, CSUN and Long Beach, if they win out it seems like they’ll be in good position to host.
Their remaining opponents win percentage is an unfortunate 36-58. So they'll likely drop in the RPI even if they win all 4.
They need to cheer for other people to lose and for their pre-season opponents to keep winning.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Nov 4, 2019 13:33:53 GMT -5
Hawaii beats Cal Poly to take Big West volleyball leadBy Cindy Luis BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii players celebrated after closing out a victory over Cal Poly in Sunday’s Big West volleyball match at the Stan Sheriff Center.Brooke Van Sickle had no history with Cal Poly. Due to injury, the junior transfer missed last month’s trip to San Luis Obispo, Calif., one that had the Mustangs sweeping the Rainbow Wahine for the first time since the series began in 1980.
Van Sickle knew two things, though: Cal Poly was the two-time defending Big West volleyball champion and Hawaii’s hopes of reclaiming the title hinged on winning Sunday’s match.
Although Wahine coach Robyn Ah Mow called it a team victory, Van Sickle played a big part in No. 21 Hawaii taking over first place in the standings. At the end of 2 hours and 14 minutes, she had her third double-double and the Wahine had won their seventh straight, 25-15, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, in front of a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,874.
“I was super stoked getting to play them,” said Van Sickle, finishing with 12 kills and 11 digs in her first start since Sept. 27. “They’re our rival. This was going to be fun.”
It is the 40th 20-win season for Hawaii (20-3, 10-2), which has a half-game lead over Cal Poly (16-7, 9-2) and UC Santa Barbara (19-3, 9-2). The Mustangs put their 29-match home win streak on the line Saturday against the Gauchos; UCSB swept Cal Poly last month.
Hawaii outlasted UCSB on Friday, earning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Gauchos. That comes into play as well if the Wahine tie with the Mustangs; since the teams split, the first tiebreaker is results against common opponents beginning at the top of the standings, which would be the two wins over UCSB.
Hawaii likely needs to win out to earn at least a share of the championship. The Wahine are at UC Davis (13-11, 5-6) on Friday and UC Riverside (5-17, 1-10) on Sunday then finish the regular season at home against Cal State Northridge (10-13, 5-6) on Nov. 21 and Long Beach State (8-15, 5-6) on Nov. 22.
For the second match in a row, Hawaii saw one of the conference’s top kill leaders. On Friday, it was No. 2 Lindsey Ruddins, who had 27 kills; on Sunday, it was No. 1 junior hitter Maia Dvoracek, who had 29 kills but had no teammate with more than six.
Hawaii had more balance. Freshman hitter Hanna Hellvig had a team-high 13 kills, and senior hitter McKenna Ross added 10 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of the year. Senior setter/hitter Norene Iosia had her 15th (25 assists, 15 digs).
“It’s a great feeling,” Ross said. “It was a huge weekend against the two top teams in the conference.
“Brooke had a huge impact, more than getting a bunch of kills.”
First-year Cal Poly coach Caroline Walters agreed.
“I think she brings a good chunk of confidence and energy to that team,” Walters said of Van Sickle. “Her ability to pass the ball is incredibly high, and to be out for that long (four matches) and not getting in match reps is a testament to the kind of volleyball player that she is. She’s a wonderful all-around volleyball player.”
Van Sickle was instant offense, setting the tone early with five kills in Set 1. The Wahine had just five blocks when they were swept by the Mustangs last month; they had four in the opening 24 minutes.
Cal Poly more than rebounded in Set 2. Hawaii never led, tying it six times, the last at 7-7. Cal Poly, outblocked 4-0 in Set 1, returned the favor, outblocking Hawaii 4-0, the last with a stuff of Van Sickle to end it, her first hitting error of the night.
Momentum again changed sides in Set 3 as Hawaii jumped out 12-6. Mustangs sophomore libero Lea Unger, behind Iosia in aces, had two in a row to pull Cal Poly to 12-10.
Hawaii held, rolling out to a 17-12 lead and then holding on after Cal Poly closed to 24-20.
The Wahine never trailed in Set 4 but had plenty of anxious moments when the Mustangs tied it at 21 and pulled to 24-23 on what would be Dvoracek’s last kill.
It ended unconventionally when junior middle Madilyn Mercer was called for an overreach, running Hawaii’s record in four-setters to 8-0.
“It’s a good ‘W,’ ” Ah Mow said. “It’s a good team win. It wasn’t one person. Everybody did their job and they listened.
“Obviously, it’s hard to play here (in the Sheriff Center). The crowd is like our seventh man. We’ll enjoy this for a little while, but we still have work to do.”
Hawaii, which was out-dug 51-40 in the loss at Cal Poly, finished with a 63-48 edge on Sunday. Four Wahine were in double-digit digs: Iosia (15), Van Sickle (11), Ross (10) and libero Rika Okino (10).
Hawaii also won the block battle 9-7, with freshman Amber Igiede in on six and Hellvig five.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Nov 4, 2019 13:36:58 GMT -5
Robyn is right. This team is special... just the right mix of youthful energy and veteran leadership. Sometimes they're up, sometimes they're down but they stick together and battle. I'm sad the season is winding down. Outside of a two-match stretch, they've been a joy to watch this season.
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Post by Wolfgang on Nov 4, 2019 14:36:11 GMT -5
Caroline Walters must've been thinking, "Of all the things we could be talking about, why do I have to comment on Brooke Van Sickle? I mean, is that even a real name?"
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Post by 2left on Nov 4, 2019 14:38:08 GMT -5
I hope Jolie will be able to play soon.The Wahine have been doing well but Jolie's on-court presence is huge for this team. It would be great to not have to bring a knife (or many knives) to a gunfight, and match fire power with fire power. Nothing can bail a team out of broken plays likes an outside Terminator.
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Post by goblin on Nov 4, 2019 17:34:52 GMT -5
That Dvoracek is a gem at RS, I'm amazed that it took 3 years for CP to finally start her, lucky for them she hung around as long as she did. I too wish we could have JR back for the final stretch, but to the credit of our coaching staff, I think they finally found the right chemistry of starters sans Jolie to finish strong this season.
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Post by kaipono on Nov 4, 2019 19:15:56 GMT -5
It was said in another thread, but congrats to Hellvig for capturing her 4th BWFOW honors and to Okino for her first BWDPOW honor!
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Nov 4, 2019 22:15:00 GMT -5
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Nov 4, 2019 22:16:28 GMT -5
2 Rainbow Wahine pick up honors in season first By Cindy Luis Today Updated 4:13 p.m. Honolulu Star-Advertiser CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii’s Hanna Hellvig (17) rose for an attack as teammate Rika Okino (16) looks on in a match against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 1, 2019. Hawaii’s Hanna Hellvig (17) rose for an attack as teammate Rika Okino (16) looks on in a match against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 1, 2019. For the first time this volleyball season, Hawaii picked up two weekly honors from the Big West with both freshman hitter Hanna Hellvig and redshirt junior libero Rika Okino cited. Hellvig was named freshman of the week, the fourth time this season. The 6-foot-2 Swedish national had a combined 32 kills and 36.5 points in last week’s victories over UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly that lifted the Rainbow Wahine (20-3, 10-2) atop the conference standings. Hellvig had a career-high 19 kills in the five-set victory over the Gauchos and 13 kills against the Mustangs. She has led Hawaii in kills 12 of the last 15 matches. Okino was named the defensive player of the week, the first weekly honor of her career. She had a combined 35 digs in last week’s two wins, including a career-high 25 against UCSB which accounted for a third of the Wahine’s 75 digs. The Kalani High product had 18 digs in the final two sets against the Gauchos, 12 coming in Set 2. Her 10 digs against the Mustangs were her seventh double-digit match this season. Hellvig also was nominated for player of the week, the honor going to Cal Poly junior hitter Maia Dvoracek. Dvoracek, who leads the conference kills and aces, had 29 kills and 13 digs in the loss to Hawaii, and 20 kills and three aces in the sweep of Cal State Northridge earlier in the week. Earlier today, Hawaii moved up two spots in the national coaches poll to No. 19 and six places to 11 in the Ratings Percentage Index. The RPI is a computer-generated system that rates strength of schedule and is used by the NCAA to seed the tournament and award hosting duties for its first four rounds.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Nov 4, 2019 22:17:57 GMT -5
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Nov 4, 2019 22:20:09 GMT -5
Rainbow Wahine volleyball jumps in RPI By Cindy Luis Today Updated 11:07 a.m. Honolulu Star-Advertiser CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii’s Bailey Choy (7) and Skyler Williams (8) exchanged high-fives after teammate Norene Iosia made a service ace during Friday’s match. The Hawaii women’s volleyball team improved six spots to 11 in today’s Ratings Percentage Index, the computer-generated system that ranks strength of schedule. Hawaii’s Bailey Choy (7) and Skyler Williams (8) exchanged high-fives after teammate Norene Iosia made a service ace during Friday’s match. The Hawaii women’s volleyball team improved six spots to 11 in today’s Ratings Percentage Index, the computer-generated system that ranks strength of schedule. Hawaii opened the week with a new ranking and new rating. In today’s American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25, the Rainbow Wahine moved up two spots to No. 19. Hawaii also moved six places to 11 in the Ratings Percentage Index, a computer-generated system that rates strength of schedule. The Wahine (20-3, 10-2 Big West) are in first place in the conference standings, a half-game ahead of the two teams they beat last week: UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. Should Hawaii win its final four matches, the Wahine would earn at least a share of the conference title but would receive the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament based on the tie-breaking formula. The RPI is used by the NCAA to seed the postseason tournament and award hosting duties. Teams rated in the top 16 have traditionally been the host sites for the first and second rounds. Hawaii has not hosted the opening rounds since 2013. The Wahine close out the regular season with four teams with RPIs currently between 137 and 267: traveling to UC Davis (137) on Friday and UC Riverside (267) on Sunday, then hosting Cal State Northridge (180) on Nov. 21 and Long Beach State (167) on Nov. 22. In today’s poll, the top six remained the same led by No. 1 Texas (16-2, 47 first-place votes. Pitt (23-1, 14 votes) was at No. 2 followed by Baylor (19-1, 1 vote), Wisconsin (16-4, 1 votes), Stanford (16-4, 1 vote) and Minnesota (17-2). Hawaii is the only Big West team ranked. UCSB received 10 points, putting the Gauchos outside the Top 25 at 31. Of the ranked teams, the Wahine lost to Baylor but have wins over No. 14 Washington and No. 23 UCLA, as well as win over two other teams receiving votes: San Diego (26th) and Missouri (30th).
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