HONOLULU — The sequel hewed very close to the original for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team on Sunday night.
Its working title: Tunnel Talk II.
In a near-repeat performance from Friday’s season opener against SMU, the Rainbow Wahine were blitzed off the floor in an over-before-you-know-it first set by San Diego. And once more, coach Robyn Ah Mow administered one of her fast-becoming-a-trademark fiery discussions in the alcove behind the team bench.
UH responded yet again, taking the next three sets in an 11-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20 turnaround performance for the three-team Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic title in front of 4,687 (5,968 tickets issued) at the Stan Sheriff Center.
“There was definitely a tunnel talk. Maybe I should tunnel talk them before the game,” Ah Mow mused.
Caylen Alexander registered 17 kills as a follow-up to her career performance in the opener and was named tournament MVP. She was joined on the all-tournament team by fellow pin hitter Stella Adeyemi and defensive specialist Victoria Leyva.
Adeyemi had 11 kills and freshman middle Miliana Sylvester supplied 10. Leyva, a true freshman and fast fan favorite, dug seven balls and had three line-drive aces in starting the last three sets.
The Wahine could ultimately feel good about their opening weekend, but they acknowledged the way they got to 2-0 left something to be desired.
Namely, some verve after the player introductions. UH was out-pointed 50-18 in the two first sets of the tournament.
“I think right now, because we’re a young team, we’re not used to a team just going, going, going at us,” Alexander said.
“So, when that happens we kind of just tense up and hide, I guess,” she continued. “A big thing for us this season is how are we going to deal with being uncomfortable?”
Ah Mow credited her team’s improved passing following their tunnel discussion as the primary reason for the turnaround. She especially did not want her players beaten on short balls in the serve/receive game.
“The one big thing, I don’t know if a team is going to get their butts whupped like that in the first game and come back and (keep being) a different team, energy-wise and skill-wise,” Ah Mow said. “Their fight, that’s going to be the whole season.”
A smiling Alexander and Sylvester described Ah Mow as "patient" in Sunday's tunnel talk.
Sylvester, a University Lab School graduate who has been tasked with filling the large shoes of All-America middle Amber Igiede, said she cried during the playing of Hawaii Pono‘i on Friday once she realized she was on the floor and not watching from the crowd as she’d done her whole life.
Her nerves continued into the start of the SMU match, but she’d shaken that off by the time UH dealt with San Diego (0-2), another team expected to do some damage in its conference.
Kennedy Osunsanmi led the Toreros of the West Coast Conference with 14 kills against one error and eight digs.
UH got 15 kills (with seven errors) from its middles on Sunday compared to nine (with 14 errors) on Friday. Ah Mow credited senior Kate Lang (40 assists) with better set distribution the second go-round with a largely new set of teammates.
“We really emphasized the connection with the setter in the middle and getting up every ball. That helped us flow better,” Sylvester said.
Now UH readies to take on another West Coast Conference team, Pepperdine, in a two-match set Friday and Saturday. Former UH indoor assistant and ex-Wahine head beach coach Scott Wong and his Waves are 0-2 after two losses to then-No. 21 USC.
The new AVCA/Taraflex poll dropped Monday. UH garnered 28 points to land in the receiving votes category for the second straight week. If official rankings were extended beyond the top 25, UH would rank 31st.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.