From TCOB to TTIN.
The time is now for UH-Hilo’s volleyball team after taking care of business on the road.
The Vulcans ride a six-match winning streak into Wednesday’s home match against Azusa Pacific, note the 6 p.m. start time, and a chance to reach first place in the Pacific West Conference.
“I have never been able to say that,” senior libero Mina Grant said.
No Vulcan has, which is one of the reasons coach Gene Krieger dragged the team into a full practice session Sunday – a workout, film work, drills, the works – just a day after UH-Hilo returned from a whirlwind tour through Northern California in which it survived five matches in seven days.
Early on during the trip, UHH (18-5, 14-3 PacWest) secured its first winning season since 2011, and the 18 victories are the Vuls’ most since 2010, though the team’s aspirations are much higher than that.
“I been here four years, I been through a lot of teams,” Grant said. “This team has the best chemistry, we have the best offense, we’re so spread out, and I think if we just take care of business, we can beat anyone.”
“This season there is no one that is way up there … we’re right there with them,” she said.
Grant missed four-plus matches with a shoulder injury, but she worked her way back into the lineup the past five matches, compiling 60 digs, while playing through pain.
“There is a hole in my shoulder,” she said.
Among her maladies is a dented bone bruise, which doesn’t sound so bad when you consider she also has a torn labrum in her right shoulder.
Grant can’t serve or hit with her injury, but she still can fill her job description at libero.
“I really didn’t care what the situation was,” she said, “because I was going to play somehow: tape, duct-tape, staple, whatever I could to get back on.”
Grant admitted, some ask her, “Why are you playing?”
Well, here’s one reason:
Tighter than bark on a tree, the top four teams in the PacWest stands were written on a chalkboard at Monday’s practice: Azusa (15-2), Biola (15-3), UHH (14-3) and Chaminade (14-4), while fifth-place Point Loma (13-4), which visits the Vuls on Saturday, is just two games out of first place.
Ranked seventh in the West Region, Azusa comes in after avenging earlier losses to Biola and Point Loma, and the Vuls will try to do the same Wednesday night. The Cougars took the first matchup 25-23, 27-25, 25-12, though the Vuls say that was before they began to spread their wings.
“We were young and naive (then),” Krieger said. “The season is like a lifetime ago when you have three freshman and two sophomores.
“Part of the strategy has been to learn from every circumstance. We’re really pounding home that we’re trying to accelerate the learning curve, and they’ve done well with that.
Azusa is No. 1 in the PacWest in hitting percentage (.258). The Vuls are No. 1 in hitting defense (.143) while the Cougars (.150) are no slouch in third. UHH is first in blocks, its 2.49 per set average just edging Azusa (2.29) in second.
The Cougars’ Julianne Miller is second in hitting percentage (.413) and Katarina Radisic adds to her team’s hitting prowess, averaging 2.80 per set. Miller is fourth in blocks (1.03 per set), a category paced by UHH sophomore Ashton Jessee (1.35), the reigning PacWest defender of the week.
“The team stats are close,” Krieger said, “It’s really going to come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.”
In the first matchup Sept. 17, host Azusa was the definitive winner in that department, eking out the first two sets before routing Game 3, forcing the Vuls into errors.
Since its first big conference match of the season, UHH is 11-2 since, splitting four matches against the other members of the Big 5: losses to Chaminade and Biola and wins against Point Loma and Biola.
“We have been through so many challenges and adversities that back then we didn’t have,” Grant said. “We can take those experiences and put them into action.”
Of UHH’s five regular-season remaining matches, three are against other members of the Big Five. The Vuls finish the season Nov. 10 at Chaminade, ranked eighth in the West. The Silverswords host No. 10 Point Loma on Thursday and Azusa on Saturday.
Biola is in the best position. None of the Eagles’ four remaining matches is against a team with the winning record. Three conference winners along with five at-large teams will gain invitations to the West Regional.
“I really think we have a chance,” Grant said. “I’m really passionate about this and I want the community to be as well. I know they are behind us and support us. I’m just so excited.”
She’s playing with a broken shoulder to prove it.
