2016 Warrior Schedule News & Updates

Updates & Finalization are posted at the bottom of the post

Of course the Wahine volleyball season has not yet started but news of the upcoming 2016 Warrior Volleyball schedules have been coming out. Including a few conference dates and non-conference tournament notes.

First off is the 22nd Outrigger Resorts Invitational that the Warriors continue to host from January 7-9. This year it will feature NCAA Runners-Up Lewis, King, and Harvard. The matches versus King and Harvard will be the first series meeting in the program. Lewis last played Hawaii in the 18th Outrigger Invitational where the Flyers defeated the Warriors in a five set match.

For the MPSF conference matches, two schools have released their tentative 2016 schedules, USC and Long Beach State. As one of two schools, Hawaii has to play two match series against that conference foe either home or away. Then the next season it the location switches to the other venue. This year the Warriors will play at the Galen Center of USC and Long Beach State will come to the Stan Sheriff Center. Last season Hawaii and USC split the series while Hawaii swept Long Beach State.

*Note: USC is a member of the Pac-12 so it is a possibility matches will be streamed or televised with Pac-12 Networks

Fall training for the Warriors will start in October. There are two fall tournaments, one hosted by USC in the end of October and the other hosted by UCLA in the end of November. There are no confirmation whether UH will participate but they have gone to the USC tournament for multiple years.

Check back to this post for further Warrior Scheduling updates coming up.

EDIT: 8/12 - After the schedule releases by other schools, here are the teams Hawaii will not be play: IPFW, Penn State, Ohio State, Concordia-Irvine, Mount Olive, Saint Francis, Princeton, McKendree

EDIT: 9/21 - 9/25 - 10/9 Updated List of matches vs. Hawaii

• January 7 - King
• January 8 - Harvard
• January 9 - Lewis
• January 15 - Pepperdine *
• January 16 - Pepperdine *
• January 21 - Grand Canyon
• January 22 - Grand Canyon
• January 29 - UC San Diego *
• January 31 - UC San Diego *
• February 5 - UCLA *
• February 6 - UCLA
• February 12 - @ Stanford *
• February 13 - @ Stanford *
• February 16 - @ USC *
• February 17 - @ USC *
• February 24 - Long Beach State *
• February 26 - Long Beach State *
• March 4 - BYU *
• March 5 - BYU *
• March 11 - @ CSUN *
• March 12 - @ CSUN *
• March 25 - UC Irvine *
• March 26 - UC Irvine *
• April 1 - @ UC Santa Barbara *
• April 2 - @ UC Santa Barbara *
• April 8 - Cal Baptist *
• April 9 - Cal Baptist *

Missing MPSF schools: Pepperdine

Schedule Finalized (10/6)

Hawaii Release || 2016 Schedule

The 2016 schedule has officially been released. All MPSF matches are set along with the Outrigger Invitational and non-conference matches against Grand Canyon.

OCSports usually does not release the full television schedule but you will most likely see all home matches televised. There are sometimes a few matches that aren't based on the other sports playing at the same time. Most away matches will also most likely be streamed live. The only away match to be televised is the February 16th match against USC which will be on Pac-12 Networks.

Upcoming preseason match will be in SoCal against USC on November 5th. USC and UCLA are also hosting preseason tournaments around the same time.

Hawaii vs UCLA

Outrigger Warrior Invitational

UCLA Bruins
2014 Record: (2-1) (0-0)
Top Players: Gonzalo Quiroga, Robert Page, Steve O'Dell
Head Coach: John Speraw
Series Record: 22-60 (UCLA)
Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 2013 (3-2 UH)

Coverage:
Televised: OCSports
Live Stats: HawaiiAthletics

Prediction:
This will be a big match for both teams. It will prove that Hawaii can continue to compete with the top teams. For the match, I predict Hawaii in four. Despite the smaller crowds compared to the Wahine games, UH has home court advantage. Also the Warriors have so much depth that anyone will be able to compete. For All-Tournament Team predictions: Sinisa Zarkovic (Hawaii), Jace Olsen/Brook Sedore (Hawaii), Robert Page (UCLA), Gonzalo Quiroga (UCLA), Andrew Lutz (Ohio State), Aaron Russell (Penn State). The MVP will come from whichever team wins so it could either be Zarkovic or Page.

Set One: 25-19 (UCLA)

It was a pretty tough set for Hawaii. UCLA's serve got UH out of system a lot making the sets very predictable and the UCLA got their block up. However there were a few out of system plays where Hawaii got lucky to hit off the block. The only reserve that got to play was Timmer who came in to serve and he had a great dig.

Set Two: 25-14 (Hawaii)

What a turnaround by the Warriors. Sedore sat out the second set as he was replaced by freshman Hendrik Mol. That was a bold and smart move by head coach Charlie Wade as UCLA doesn't have much scouting report on Mol. But Mol had five kills with no errors and hit .556 with two digs and two blocks. Hawaii had its largest lead against any team this season with an 11 point lead. Reserve Franciskovic came in as a blocking sub and Timmer had his annual against UCLA serving. Timmer had an ace and great serves that put UCLA out of system and Hawaii's strong block put the ball away.

NOTE: 2014-15 recruit Kekoa Pukahi is in attendance from California

Set Three: 25-19 (UCLA)

Hawaii had a lead at 15-12 however UCLA had serves that Hawaii couldn't handle. When the passing got bad, the sets were pretty tight setting up hits straight into the block. Also not all the hitters were able to be set with the bad passing. Hopefully they clean it up and come back from down 2-1. Timmer was the only sub but he served in the net.

Set Four: 25-16 (UCLA)

Passing continued to struggle and multiple hitting errors caused Hawaii to fall behind. I am a little surprised that Wade didn't sub Sedore back in when Mol had around four hitting errors in the first ten points. Once it got late in the set, the team looked really down and had no energy. UCLA was hitting really well and they dug extremely well.

Review

The team still shows potential but it is still a good thing they lost to show what they need to improve on. That may be connections and the passing. Kanatake did well defensively however the block wasn't helping him in the end as it was hard for him to read the ball. Hopefully Sedore can come back and earn his spot back. West has matured so much that he seems like a whole different player and he said it himself that this will be his last season.

Notes:

-Recruit Pukahi got to go in the huddle after the match and hear Milan Zakovic give a speech to the team

-The All-Tournament Team awards were tikis and the first place award was a giant tiki

-In the pregame show, they asked players what their favorite food was. Timmer said sushi, Zarkovic said chicken katsu, Sedore said anything, Wade said t-bone.

All-Tournament Team

Gonzalo Quiroga - UCLA

Steve O'Dell - UCLA

Robart Page - UCLA (MOP)

Sinisa Zarkovic - Hawaii

Nick West - Hawaii

Nick Gorrell - Penn State

Driss Guessous - Ohio State

Outrigger Invitational Final Standings

1. UCLA (3-0)

2. Hawaii (2-1)

3. Penn State (1-2)

4. Ohio State (0-3)

Next Up:

Long Beach State 49ers

1/16/14: 7pm HT (MPSF Conference Play)

Hawaii vs Penn State

Outrigger Warrior Invitational

Penn State Nittany Lions

2014 Record: (0-1) (0-0)

Top Players: Aaron Russell, Peter Russell, Connor Curry

Head Coach: Mark Pavlik

Series Record: 12-8

Last Meeting: Jan. 10, 2013 (3-2 PSU)

Coverage:

Televised: OCSports

Live Stats: HawaiiAthletics

Set One: 25-20 (Penn State)

There was the same starters as opening night and Hawaii started off really slow. However Penn State played well. Their libero Connor Curry had eight digs in this set alone and that stat is impressive in a women's game as well. Tonight seems to be the opposite of last night where Olsen and Zarkovic are playing the best but not much production from the middle.

Set Two: 25-22 (Hawaii)

Hawaii pulled off the set due to Aaron Russell having a few errors and cooling off. The a Warriors had better defense in digging and blocking. The only reserves this set were Timmer and Fey as serving specialists. Zarkovic still leading the team with his 10 kills. West also playing well with his kills and blocks.

Set Three: 26-24 (Hawaii)

This set was given to the team who can put the ball down first as both teams hit over .500 but Hawaii won it. The Warriors were up 15-11 at one point then subbed in Franciskovic as blocking sub for Ramos and seeing him win a joust with his 6'5" height excites me because he is athletic. Olsen and Zarkovic continued to impress along with West.

Set Four: 25-21 (Hawaii)

There was more good rallies in this set and some good digs. Sedore struggled throughout the match so he didn't start and freshman Hendrik Mol had his collegiate debut. Franciskovic and Fey both came in as subs. Fey had a nice serve and dig on match point. Zarkovic also had two clutch kills at the end of the set.

Overall:

Penn State brought out Hawaii's flaws which was their block. However Hawaii cleaned it up throughout the next few sets and Penn State made more errors than usual. There were a few career highs tonight with Zarkovic and his 22 kills, Olsen getting 15 kills, Fey with two digs, Mol with three kills, and Kanatake with seven digs. This match also showed that Hawaii can play against top teams.

Next Up:

UCLA Bruins 

1/11/14: 7pm HT (Outrigger Invitational Day 3) (Championship Match)

Hawaii vs Ohio State

Outrigger Warrior Invitational

Ohio State Buckeyes

2014 Record: (0-0) (0-0)

Top Players: Andrew Lutz, Michael Henchy, Peter Heinen

Head Coach:

Series Record: 3-1 (UH)

Last Meeting: Jan. 10, 2013 (3-2 tOSU)

Coverage:

Televised: OCSports

Live Stats: HawaiiAthletics

Set One: 25-22 (Hawaii)

Starters were the players that I predicted a few days ago: Olsen, Zarkovic, Sedore, Ramos, West, Averill, Kanatake. Hawaii made the real plays that set and Ohio State showed that they were young as they couldn't control the ball as well as UH. Iain McKellar and Jennings Franciskovic came in towards the end of the set with McKellar getting two kills on two swings and Franciskovic getting two assists. Johann Timmer also came in as a serving sub but served in the net.

Set Two: 25-21 (Hawaii)

This set really gave the feeling that it is mens volleyball. It was pretty slow and there was a lot of errors. However Hawaii did toy with the Ohio State passing line by mixing up their serves. Ohio State improved in their back row defense. Hawaii showed that they can really run the middle and have great results when they are set. Zarkovic and Olsen still struggled with their hitting although Sedore, West, and Averill were good enough to stay in it. The same reserves came in (Timmer, McKellar, Franciskovic) but in the third set we will probably see one or more new reserves in.

Set Three: 25-21 (Hawaii)

It was a little more exciting that set two. There was a few different plays that Siki ran where he can on an inside set and hit a B ball from the back row. The blocking for UH picked up a little bit but Ohio State was the overall better blocking team. The best play of the match was the one that set up match point as the great defense for Hawaii ping-ponged the ball back over the net along with the play with Olsen's three great digs. Franciskovic was the only same reserve to come in however freshman Kupono Fey came in. He was given high remarks about his progress in camp and in his first collegiate swing he got a kill.

Overall Review:

After watching this match, I was pretty impressed with the Warriors brought on the court tonight. They definitely have the potential to be a top team however they had a few sloppy plays but it is the beginning of the season. Sedore really stuck out as the go-to guy and he showed maturity on the court. West also showed maturity opposed to how he used to act the last two years. Siki looked like he was fooling around a little bit too much with his celebrations and his erant fake pass. Kanatake showed a lot of confidence compared to his freshman season and his speed and lateral movement has improved. Averill has worked hard in the off season and he was disappointed with his play during the exhibition matches but proved how he can be tonight. 

Next Up:

Penn State Nittany Lions

1/10/14: 7pm HT (Outrigger Invitational Day 2)

2014 SCVA Invitational Results

After three days of competitive boys volleyball, three Warrior recruits fought for a bid to be in the Open Division of the Boys Junior National Championships. Larry "Tui" Tuileta (Ka Ulukoa), Luke Owens (Ku'ikahi), and Kekoa Pukahi (Coast) were all there in Anaheim, California. Tuileta and Pukahi both succeeded in getting a bid while Owens' team was close.

Tuileta's Ka Ulukoa team came second as they defeated a tough HBC 17's team that was undefeated in the semifinals. That match was the most exciting one of the tournament as fans from all the other teams came to watch. Pukahi and Owens were both there in attendance watching future teammate Tuileta get yet another victory. However Tuileta and team fell in the championship match of the qualifiers to a Balboa Bay team. That is the second year in a row that the Ka Ulukoa team has fallen short of a No.1 finish.

Pukahi's Coast team finished in fifth place as they lost to Ka Ulukoa in the quarterfinals of the gold bracket. Owens' Ku'ikahi team finished 17th place as they lost to Yorktowne in the quarterfinals of the silver bracket. There was a total of 83 teams in this tournament.

With the bid, Ka Ulukoa and Coast are able to compete in the Open Division in Houston, Texas at the 2014 BJNC. Ku'ikahi will not play in anymore qualifiers putting them in the Club Division.

Coast
Record: 7-1
Started/Finished: 6th/5th

Ka Ulukoa
Record: 9-1
Started/Finished: 3rd/2nd

Ku'ikahi
Record: 4-4
Started/Finished: 43rd/17th

Wahine takes Shocker Classic Title

Recap | Box Score

Hawaii defeated the home team Wichita State in three (25-20, 25-20, 25-23) and completed the
tournament with a 3-0 record. The match lasted a little over ninety minutes but was a competitive match. They are now 11-1 on the season before opening conference matches.

Emily Hartong led the team with 13 kills followed by Tai Manu-Olevau who had 10. Freshman Nikki Taylor came up with nine kills and hit (.350). Vorster had three kills (.429) and had four blocks. Mita Uiato had 36 assists and Ali Longo came up with 20 digs.

[EDIT]
All-Tournament Team:
Emily Hartong-Hawaii (MOP)
Kalei Adolpho-Hawaii
Mita Uiato-Hawaii
Jess Bird-Creighton
Kate Elman-Creighton
Ashlyn Driskill-Wichita State
Kendall Kritenbrink-South Dakota

Tournament Results:
1. Hawaii (3-0)
2. Creighton (2-1)
3. Wichita State (1-2)
4. South Dakota (0-3)

Next Match:
Hawaii vs Toyota Auto Body
(Honolulu, Hawaii)
September 25th, 2013
-7 pm HT - 10 pm PT-

Wahine Denies the Bluejays

Recap | Box Score

The #7 Rainbow Wahine received a scare from the #23 ranked Creighton Bluejays as this match that took place on a neutral floor went to five sets. The score went (25-17, 25-16, 19-25, 20-25, 15-9) and gave the Wahine their tenth win of the season.

Hawaii was led by senior outside hitter Emily Hartong who got her sixth double-double of the season with 20 kills and 16 digs. The next best offensive weapon was sophomore outside hitter Tai Manu-Olevau who had another career high in kills and digs with 14 each. Junior middle Kalei Adolpho had 14 kills while hitting (.480) and senior libero Ali Longo picked up 23 digs.

Congrats to Longo for picking up her 1000th career dig in the second set. Although it does not get announced because she transferred from Penn State after her sophomore season, it is still a great accomplishment for her.

Next Match:
Hawaii vs Wichita State
(Wichita, Kansas)
September 21st, 2013
-7:30 pm CT - 2:30 pm HT-

Road Win #1

Photo from Hawaii Athletics

Recap | Box Score

The seventh ranked Rainbow Wahine came off a sweep of the South Dakota Coyotes in their first non-conference tournament since a 2006 AVCA Showcase in Nebraska. The score came out (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) but took less than ninety minutes to accomplish the win.

The Wahine were led by Tai Manu-Olevau who had a career high 13 kills to go along with five digs and Emily Hartong who had 13 kills and 13 digs. Jade Vorster who is third in the nation in hitting percentage (.510) increased it by collecting seven kills in ten attempts with no errors. Her season hitting percentage is now at (.528). Ali Longo who came into this match with 979 digs, collected 14 today and now has 993. Look for her to reach 1,000 career digs against No. 23 Creighton tomorrow.

Hawaii vs #23 Creighton
(Wichita, Kansas)
September 20th, 2013
-5 pm CT- -12pm HT-

Hawaii vs UTEP Recap

Photo from Hawaii Athletics

Recap | Statistics

The Rainbow Wahine are now 2-0 overall after the sweep of UTEP. They won 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-10). This match was a very dominant game by the Wahine with all 16 players seeing action. The main hitters tonight were senior Emily Hartong and freshman Nikki Taylor. Hartong had a match high 14 kills with only two errors and hit .387. Taylor continued to impress with 10 kills with no errors and hit an amazing .769 to go along with one block.

Seniors Ashley Kastl and Kristiana Tuaniga made their 2013 debuts in the second and third set of the match. Kastl had nine kills with three errors and hit .333. Tuaniga had three kills in four swings and hit .750 to go along with a team high three blocks.

Tomorrow due to religious reasons, Tai-Manu Olevau will not be playing in the match against San Diego. Most likely in her place will be Kastl who showed tonight that she is ready. Look for this match to be tough as the Toreros took the Longhorns to five sets and had a swing for match point.

Next Match: San Diego (1-1), Sunday at 5P.M.

Hawaii vs Texas Recap

Recap | Statistic

This overall was one of the best matches in Rainbow Wahine history. Defeating a #1 team is something that does not happen that often since we do not get to play a team like that in the conference. The team defeated Texas 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 27-25, 25-16) in a match that went on for a little over two hours.

With a lot of unknowns coming into the match with who will start and what will happen, they were answered. Head coach Dave Shoji started sophomore Tai Manu-Olevau on the outside along with freshman Nikki Taylor on the opposite. The announcers say that Taylor was put in because of her big block which came out a success. The freshman started off her career with 10 kills while hitting .500 clip to go along with six block assists. Manu-Olevau hit .240 with eight kills and eight digs. This experiment by Shoji was a good decision by him and I believe he has gotten more respect for it.

Some new career highs tonight were 11 kills by Adolpho, Manu-Olevau's eight digs, one dig for Mendoza, and Taylor's 10 kills, hitting .500, four digs, six blocks. Also congratulations to Emily Hartong for getting her 1000th kill of her career.

VIDEO: Match Point Against #1 Texas (Video from Big West Conference)

Hawaii vs #1 Texas

Texas Longhorns

Texas Longhorns
Location: Austin, Texas
Head Coach: Jerritt Elliott
Key Players: Hannah Allison, Khat Bell, Haley Eckerman, Molly McCage, Sarah Palmer, Bailey Webster
2012 Record: 29-4
2012 NCAA Post Season: National Champions

Chevron Wahine Volleyball Invitational
Match 1: San Diego vs. UTEP
Match 2: Hawaii vs. Texas
Live Stats: Hawaii Athletics

13 Days+Ann Kang Invitational

Photo from Hawaii Athletics Instagram

The Wahine team took their team photos on Friday (Aug. 16) with their new uniforms. The uniforms remind me of Cal Poly's uniforms but they are both still nice.

Ann Kang Invitational

Teams from all over the state and some from California have traveled to Iolani Schools to compete in the Ann Kang Invitational. This tournament has been very competitive for years and has attracted many players to become interested in the University of Hawai'i (Ex: Emily Hartong, Jane Croson, Sarah Mendoza, Monica Stauber).

This season brings in California schools: Huntington Beach, Long Beach Poly, Mater Dei, Mira Costa, Sage Hill, Saint Joseph's, Windward.

From Huntington Beach is the senior duo of Gianna Guinasso and Kendra Koelsch. Koelsch is a sand recruit and Guinasso is a indoor and sand recruit. Their team had a 6-0 record after the first two days and reached the Championship match of the Gold Bracket but fell to Punahou Schools (25-15, 25-19).

Future Wahine at Junior Nationals

Of the seven total women's indoor recruits coming in the next two years, four of them will be playing in the 2013 USAV Junior National Championships in Dallas, Texas.

All Team Results

2013 Recruits
Tayler Higgins:
Higgins is playing in the 18 Open division with her Ku'ikahi team. Her team is seeded 24th out of 32 teams. She is in the same division as Kendra Koelsch and Laguna Beach.

Nikki Taylor/Hannah Rooks:
Taylor and Rooks is playing in the 18 Nationals division with their Imi Ike team. Their team is seeded 29th out of 48 teams. They are in the same division as Kalei Greeley and Rancho Valley.

2014 Recruits
Kalei Greeley:
Greeley is playing in the 18 Nationals division with her Rancho Valley team. Her team is seeded 3rd put of 48 teams. She is in the same division as Nikki Taylor and Imi Ike.

Savanah Kahakai:
Kahakai is playing in the 17 Open division with her Imi Ike team. Her team is seeded 12th out of 32 teams.

*Kendra Koelsch:
Koelsch is playing in the 18 Open division with her Laguna Beach team. Her team is seeded 17th out of 32 teams. She is in the same division as Tayler Higgins and Ku'ikahi.

*=Sand recruit
 
Notes:

• Kyra Goodman was on the same team as Koelsch but has been taken off the roster due to some injuries she has been going through for a while 
• Koelsch went from the starting opposite to the starting setter because of Goodman's injury and other teammate Kelsey Humphreys is with the USA Junior National Team
• Gianne Guinasso's Tstreet team is the only team in her club not listed in this tournament
• Emily Maglio's team from Canada is not in this tournament
• Sand recruits Sydney Shinn, London Chow, and Kelsi Delgado are also not in this tournament
• Higgins' team and Koelsch's team will play each other on Day 2

The link for each players name is the results page for their club team. I will post a schedule for the matches later. I may or may not post results. The 18's division starts June 28th and the 17's division starts June 29th.

Wichita State Tournament Revealed

Wichita State

Creighton Schedule

Today Creighton revealed their 2013 volleyball schedule. Creighton was the team that was rumored to be in the tournament with Hawaii and Wichita State. That rumor was true. These three teams will be joined by South Dakota.

The tournament schedule should look like this:

• Sept 20: Hawaii vs. Creighton (12pm HT/5pm CT)
• Sept 20: Wichita State vs. South Dakota (2pm HT/7pm CT)
• Sept 21: Creighton vs. South Dakota (12pm HT/5pm CT)
• Sept 21: Hawaii vs. Wichita State (2pm HT/7pm CT)
• Sept 22: Hawaii vs. South Dakota (7am HT/12pm CT)
• Sept 22: Wichita State vs. Creighton (9am HT/2pm CT)

The time for the last game are my guess since the home team is usually the last to play so it would mean Hawaii plays before them. Overall this is a pretty good tournament for Hawaii to be in especially with two very tough teams.

*EDIT*
Hawaii updated their schedule but it is different from Creighton's schedule.

• Sept 20: Hawaii vs. South Dakota (3pm HT/8pm CT)
• Sept 21: Hawaii vs. Creighton (12pm HT/5pm CT)
• Sept 22: Hawaii vs. Wichita State (2:30pm HT/7:30pm CT)