Consistency is a characteristic the Hawaii women’s volleyball team has struggled to develop this season.
No single example is more evident of this than Hawaii’s last road trip to California that began with a sweep of preseason favorite Cal Poly.
One of the best performances of the season for the Rainbow Wahine was followed up 24 hours later with one of their worst, a three-set loss to UC Santa Barbara that left the team as frustrated as it has been at any point of the season.
The only way Hawaii will play a team it hasn’t already faced this season will be if UH advances to the NCAA Tournament in December.
The second round of conference play starts tonight at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, as Hawaii (13-7. 7-3) welcomes the Gauchos (10-13, 6-5) to the islands in a rematch of that loss suffered 13 days ago.
The short turnaround is perfect for a Wahine team itching to make up for that defeat that only took 97 minutes for UCSB to complete.
“I’d rather play them now. (The loss) is kind of fresh in our heads,” Hawaii coach Robyn Ah Mow said Wednesday. “I’ve already learned a lot just from watching the in-game stuff and we’ve got a bunch of video we can watch.”
Hawaii was swept twice in conference play last season. It came back from a loss to Long Beach State to win six of the next seven sets against the Beach, including all three in the championship match of the conference tournament.
The other sweep was at the hands of the Gauchos, who have now defeated Hawaii in three straight matches and own a six-set winning streak over the Rainbow Wahine.
UCSB started the week one of four teams tied for fourth place in the conference but was swept by Cal Poly on Tuesday. It is currently the first team out in the race for the six spots in the Big West Championships in November.
“I think it’s a great opportunity we get to play these teams again, especially them, and obviously we have a lot of fire going in from last time,” sophomore outside hitter Stella Adeyemi said Wednesday. “Obviously it was not the outcome we wanted, but I think we took a lot from that and we’re going to use that for our match (tonight).”
Freshman Eva Travis, who ranks eighth in the conference and first for the Gauchos with 3.13 kills per set, has helped overcome the loss of Michelle Ohwobete at outside hitter.
Ohwobete, who won the Big West Player of the Year award as a junior last season and helped the Gauchos win the regular season with a 17-1 record, transferred to Oregon in the offseason.
Travis was one of three hitters with 10 kills in UCSB’s win over Hawaii, in which UCSB hit .336.
Hawaii recorded only one block against the Gauchos, which was its fewest in a match since getting none in a loss to Penn State in the NCAA national semifinals in 2009.
“Just more urgency. I think we downplayed Santa Barbara a little bit, so I think as a team in general we need to focus on having more urgency and not coming out flat,” junior middle Jacyn Bamis said.
Ah Mow agreed that every position and every player on the team needs to be more dialed in than they were on the road.
“The passing was off, which made the setting off. The hitting was off. All of the net (violations) and the lack of focus,” Ah Mow said. “Just hoping that they can dial in. Practice was pretty good (Tuesday) that they were dialed in focusing on doing what they need to do.”
Hawaii and UCSB rank 1-2 in the Big West in assists per set and the two teams with Cal Poly, which UH hosts on Saturday, are the top three in the conference in kills per set.
Senior setter Kate Lang, in conference matches only, leads the league averaging more than 11 assists per set and has run an offense hitting a league-best .266.
Junior Caylen Alexander jumped to second in the nation in total kills entering the week at 418 and remains third in Division I in kills per set at 5.23.
BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL
At SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center
TODAY, 7 P.M.
>> Hawaii (13-7, 7-3 Big West) vs. UC Santa Barbara (10-13, 6-5)
SATURDAY, 7 P.M.
>> Hawaii vs. Cal Poly
(15-7, 8-3)
>> TV: Spectrum OC 16
>> Radio: KKEA
1420-AM / 92.7-FM