At times, the UH-Hilo volleyball team will bear somewhat of a striking resemblance to the Chicago Cubs — lovable losers that lived with the mantra: Wait till next year.
It should be noted that coach Tino Reyes’ Vulcans can’t be classified as losers. They don’t have a 23-year collegiate record losing streak. However, they haven’t been to the postseason since the most dominant player in program history left.
It’s pretty much a given that the Vuls will take care of business against the mediocre PacWest teams. It’s the ones with better records that present problems, outside of an upset against Chaminade last month.
On Thursday, the Vulcans cleaned out Notre Dame de Namur 25-14, 25-20, 25-15 before 341 fans in just under 90 minutes at UHH Gym, extending their winning streak to a modest two matches.
Against a block made of Swiss cheese, the Vulcans (6-5, 4-4) teed off and had a .330 attack percentage. In a statement not said this season, everyone did well: Morgan Lees (13 kills, .367 hitting), Marley Strand-Nicolaisen (9, .238), Kyndra Trevino-Scott (7, .400) and Evelin Solyomvari (6, .667).
The Argonauts (7-10, 3-5) had a night to forget. They hit .057 and had twice as many hitting errors as the Vuls (20-10). Basically, UHH picked up a lot of free points when it was NDNU’s turn to hit.
Dominique Tarrant had 13 kills and hit .171. She was the only Argonaut who seemed capable of hitting the side of a barn.
It’s a longshot that the Vuls will return to the postseason for the first time since 2011, Hilary Hurley’s last year. The powerful outside hitter was the PacWest player of the Year as a junior in 2010, and a first-team selection as a senior, UHH’s last first-team honoree.
Four conference losses are usually a death sentence for a school’s shot at the postseason. Last season, BYU-Hawaii (18-2 PacWest) and Dixie State (17-3) qualified for the West regional.
The Vuls have four matches remaining on their homestand and there are no doormats to kick around. They host Fresno Pacific on Saturday, and later Azusa Pacific, California Baptist and Chaminade, all above UHH in the standings.
When the Vuls lost three straight before beating Point Loma Nazarene on the road, Reyes lamented his team’s lack of consistent serving and passing.
“It’s the first easy game we had all year,” he said. “We were a little better than them in those areas. I liked how the team played and the progression of the middles (Solyomvari and Shelby Harguess). Kyndra had a nice night. She hit .400 and we usually don’t get those kind of numbers. It helped take pressure off the left-side hitters. But we have to do it consistently.”
NDNU coach Nicole Annaloro would gladly trade her team’s similar woes, especially in the first set. The Vuls spanked the Argos and blasted balls at a .400 clip. The visitors hit negative .032 and had eight hitting errors.
Unlike the Cubs, the Vuls are not loaded with game-changing potential that translated to instant production, which led to the NL championship series. No one landed on the All-PacWest first, second, third team or received honorable mention last year.
But if there’s any year UHH makes a serious postseason run it’ll likely be next season because the team is junior-heavy, including starters Strand-Nicolaisen and Lees at outside hitter, Trevino-Scott at opposite and Sienna Davis at setter.
More than anything, the Vuls will likely have to rely on intangibles, such as teamwork, chemistry and pure willpower to defeat the bullies of the PacWest. They lost to BYUH in five sets, and defeated Chaminade in five sets, so that’s good motivation as any for thoughts of next year.
Reyes pointed out that UHH has four redshirts, who may make an impact next season, including a setter to finally challenge the inconsistent Davis for playing time. As the saying goes, there’s nothing like competition to bring out the best in someone.
“We’re still trying to figure things out this year,” said Reyes, who has a wonderful smile when his Vuls play hard and win. “I think we have potential for next year, and we only have one senior (middle Harguess) this year.”
