HONOLULU — The season-opening weekend for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team showcased lineup regulars like Amber Igiede, Kate Lang, Riley Wagoner and Caylen Alexander performing against a group of worthy competitors.
It was equally compelling to watch those in new or expanded roles find their way under pressure.
Hitter Tali Hakas, libero Talia Edmonds and middle Kennedi Evans played throughout the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic as UH edged Northwestern in five sets, beat then-No. 13 San Diego in four and lost to No. 9 Oregon in three.
As UH — ranked just outside of the AVCA top 25 — prepares to host USC for matches on Thursday and Saturday nights, those three players figure to feature prominently again.
Coach Robyn Ah Mow said there are no guarantees based on past performance, however, or accolades like Igiede and Lang’s Big West offensive player and setter of the week awards.
Players must continue to prove themselves at practices early in the week.
“Every week, everybody in every position … (has to perform),” Ah Mow said. “They got two days to show … if you started, I’m gonna keep my spot or if you were on the bench, I'm gonna take it. It's just competition.”
Hakas, a 21-year-old freshman from Israel, made an immediate mark with her celebrations between points last weekend. She’s still finding her rhythm on a Division I floor, hitting .078 as Lang’s fourth offensive option, but her energy has been infectious.
Hakas, who fulfilled her mandatory military service for Israel and reached the rank of sergeant, was hoarse in the post-game press conference after UH came back to beat Northwestern on Friday night. The Stan Sheriff Center crowd of over 4,000 that night was by far the largest she’d played in front of.
“One of the things I’m trying to bring is my energy, and having this crowd around me, it’s helping me,” Hakas said. “It was an amazing experience to show what I can do on the court … and help this team.”
Said Edmonds of Hakas after Sunday’s match to Oregon, “I don't know if you guys can tell but you know, me and Tali out there, there's so much energy between the two of us and I love playing next to her.”
Edmonds is no stranger to the lineup; she appeared next to libero Tayli Ikenaga as a defensive specialist for most of last season while Ikenaga wore the reverse-colored libero jersey. But through fierce preseason competition, she earned the libero jersey for the opening weekend. She responded with a team-high 3.25 digs per set.
“It's a different mindset when you go into the game,” Edmonds said of comparing the defensive specialist to the libero. “Because as a lib, you're on the court for basically six rotations … you only get to come off the court when one of the middles is serving. You never know how long that's going to be. So, I think that's the biggest one is, is how do you stay mentally in it and have that mental endurance to be able to play a full five-set match like we did on Friday? For me, that's been the adjustment — how can I stay locked in?”
Edmonds made it clear that she knows her role could swiftly change. Ikenaga has come on as a defensive specialist next to Edmonds in eight of 12 possible sets so far.
Evans might’ve been the biggest surprise of the weekend as she saw the most meaningful action to this point in her two-year Wahine career. When she arrived from Utah last season, she was still recovering from a severe knee injury.
She appeared in just 10 sets in 2022 and notched 10 kills and two blocks for the season. With 20 kills and 13.0 total blocks last weekend, she’s already surpassed them.
Evans has leaned into her friendship with the veteran Igiede to know where to be when it’s her turn at the net. At least one of those middles has been in on 29 of UH’s 30 blocks so far.
She said she’s focusing on “Just getting 1% better at everything like getting better at defense, like getting more touches, getting more blocks, being in the right place, right time type of stuff, and then getting up offensively and just being available as much as much as I can to hold the block or get some 1-on-1 opportunities for our other hitters.”
Youngstown State transfer Paula Guersching made her debut late in the Oregon match as Ah Mow tinkered with lineups. The 2022 Horizon League Player of the Year has yet to record her first UH kill.
Backup setter Jackie Matias, a Punahou graduate, made her debut against the Ducks and dealt four assists. Reserve hitter Kendra Ham made a spot appearance.
USC (1-2) dropped out of the AVCA Top 25 from No. 22 after losses at No. 19 Houston and No. 23 Rice on consecutive days. The Trojans swept Southern Miss to end last weekend.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.