The road woes are creeping up again for the University of Hawaii at Hilo volleyball team, and just in time for a visit to the mainland.
The road woes are creeping up again for the University of Hawaii at Hilo volleyball team, and just in time for a visit to the mainland.
“If we don’t fix this it’s going to be a long road trip,” Vulcans coach Tino Reyes said.
Friday night’s setback on Oahu was quicker, but Saturday night’s three-set loss against Chaminade was all the more painful.
“We laid an egg,” Reyes said. “I couldn’t tell you who played good. It was a hard match to watch.”
Outside hitter Morgan Lees led the Vulcans (3-4, 2-2 Pacific West Conference West) with seven kills and 11 digs. Outside hitter Marley Strand-Nicolaisen posted six kills but made seven errors and middle blocker Kyndra Trevino-Scott finished with five on only 11 swings.
UHH hit just .125 in losing 25-21, 25-23, 25-18, allowing eight aces while committing six service errors.
Reyes felt his team was overmatched on Friday against BYU-Hawaii and star outside hitter Shih Ting Chen, but the Vulcans had swept the Silverswords last Saturday in Hilo — all the momentum from the victory appears to have been sapped.
“This one was harder to take,” Reyes said. “The things we talk about in practice and in film session don’t come to fruition.”
Cassie Rushlow finished with 16 kills for Chaminade (8-6, 1-3), but Reyes pointed out she does not come close to possessing the wide array of shots that Chen does.
“(Cassie) only hits at an angle,” Reyes said. “Our blockers have to be brain dead. We’re not doing the things we talked about.”
The Vulcans continue to struggle away from home, falling to 1-4 on Oahu, including a pair of losses to Chaminade. Last season, its lone road victory of the season came at Chaminade.
UHH begins a four-match swing through Northern California on Wednesday at Academy of Art.
“Sometimes they’re just not mature enough to make plays,” Reyes said. “I don’t know why they freeze up.”
Reyes appears frustrated with the the play of sophomore Sienna Davis (five kills, three errors), and he has been content to let senior Stacey Witt (22 assists) assume her role at setter.
“She almost plays close to her potential,” Reyes said.