WVB: Wahine look to slow down Mississippi StateDecember 2, 2021 Cindy LuisNCAA women’s volleyball tournament
At Seattle, Alaska Airlines Arena
All times HST
Friday’s first round
No. 23 Mississippi State (25-5) vs. Hawai’i (21-7), 2 p.m.
Brown (20-5) at No. 12 Washington (24-4), 5 p.m.
Saturday’s second round
Friday’s winners, 5 p.m.
Series: First meeting between MSU and Hawai’i. First NCAA Tournament ever for the Dawgs.
First meeting between Brown and Washington. First NCAA Tournament for the Brown Bears since 1998.
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By Cindy Luis
SEATTLE >> Speed kills.
It did that last Saturday when UC Santa Barbara’s up-tempo offense killed the chance for Hawai’i’ to send its three seniors off with win in edition to a mauna of lei.
The Rainbow Wahine are hoping history doesn’t repeat itself Friday when facing No. 23 Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament at Alaska Airlines Center. The Dawgs run an even quicker offense than the Gauchos did when defeating the Wahine twice in Big West play, also using a 6-2 (two-setter offense) as UCSB did.
With graduate student Margaret Dean, a transfer from Stephen F Austin, and senior Gabby Coulter, a transfer from Marshall, sharing the setting duties, MSU’s offense is hitting .243. The Dawgs, led by SEC Coach of the Year Julie Party Dennis, are riding a 13-match win streak into their first NCAA appearance in program history.
“They'rere beating a lot of teams with their speed,” Hawai’i assistant coach Kaleo Baxter said Tuesday before the team flew out of Honolulu International. “They’re super consistent. They are comparable to Santa Barbara, and even faster.
“We prepared for Santa Barbara, had them on the ropes, and let it slip away. We had a team meeting after the loss, talked about some things we could have done. They’ve learned from the experience and are hungry.”
Hawai’i is looking for a taste of success when being shipped to a subregional hosted by the University of Washington for the fifth time since 2010. It has never ended well for the Wahine in the AAC: swept by the host Huskies in the second round of 2010, a heartbreaker of a five-setter in 2011 when the Wahine had two match points in Set 4 before losing to the Huskies again in the second round; a four-set loss to the Huskies in the second round of 2014; and a five-set loss to Illinois in the first round of 2017, coach Robyn Ah Mow’s first season.
Only senior middle Skyler Williams and redshirt junior defensive specialist Janelle Gong remain from that 2017 roster. Williams did not play and Gong was redshirting.
But the fact that they have had the NCAA experience in all of their previous seasons as a Wahine is an advantage they hold over Mississippi State. Hawai’i has only missed the postseason twice since the program began in 1974, the injury-plagued 1992 year when the NCAA tournament only had 32 teams, and 2020-21 when the Big West opted out of competition due to COVID concerns.
“It’s good that they both have a fast offense,” Williams said of UCSB and MSU. “We learned from the loss and we can improve going into Mississippi.
“It’s important that (the seniors) have had this (postseason) experience. We are able to lead the team, tell them it’s going to be OK. I think there’s both good and bad nerves. But it’s exciting to be able to play when we didn’t last year.”
“(MSU) is a team that doesn’t make errors,” added senior hitter Brooke Van Sickle, named the Big West Player of the Year on Wednesday. “We need to take care of every single easy play. We’ve got to win the serve-and-pass game.
“As long as we serve tough, we can get teams out of system and slow the tempo. They’ll have to set out-of-system balls and set balls they might be uncomfortable with.”
The key to the Wahine’s offense will be handling the Dawgs’ serving. MSU had 151 aces this season with four players with 20 or more, led by junior hitter Lauren Myrick’s 35.
Another key will be slowing down all-SEC selection Gabby Waden, a 5-foot-10 senior opposite who leads the team in kills (409), hitting percentage (.326) and blocks (96).
“Regardless if it’s their first year in the NCA tournament, they are really well-coaches and they finished second in the SEC for a reason,” Baxter said. “
Was there one key that will push Hawai’i into Saturday’s second round against the winner of Washington and Brown?
“Confidence,” Baxter said. “It’s making plays and making plays when it matters.
“It’s staying steady. It’s turning digs into points, Most of all, it’s playing confidently, taking what we call ‘big-girl swings.’ If we can get all 16 girls on that page, then we’ll be OK.”
