The UH-Hilo volleyball team has a lower hitting percentage than Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific but sits above both in the PacWest Hawaii pod standings.
Experience doesn’t show up on a stat sheet but it does help. In 2019, the Vulcans went 6-1 in five-set matches.
In the words of coach Chris Leonard, they know “how to grind,” and that battle-style mentality showed up in Round 1 of the pod merry-go-round.
UHH split with Chaminade and beat HPU in five sets during this coronavirus shortened spring season, which doesn’t include a postseason.
The Vulcans (3-1) host the Sharks (1-2) and Silverswords (1-2) in Round 2 of the merry-go-round starting at 10 a.m. Friday at the UHH Gym.
“There are a lot of ways to win and lose a volleyball game. Sometimes you’re super efficient, and that’s the key to success,” he said. “But we’re scrappy on defense and hung around to extend rallies and take another swing. That’s definitely our goal this weekend, to be more efficient.”
It helps when Bria Beale puts up All-American stats. She had 18 kills, 20 digs and hit .349 in the first meeting against HPU in a four-set win.
In 2019, when the Vulcans went 23-8 and qualified for the postseason, Beale averaged 39 swings a match.
Yes, she can jump high and has gone skydiving, but she’s also human. Through four matches, she’s averaging 46 swings a match.
No cause for concern, at least not yet, but the matches are compacted, four over two days. So it was nice to see 5-foot-8 senior Taira Kaawaloa, 106 attempts, and 5-8 freshman Samara Cruz, 54 attempts, take swings at outside hitter.
“Fatigue becomes a factor with hitting efficiency,” Leonard said. “You’re more prone to hit errors the more tired you are. That’s for serve-receive, serving and hitting.”
All three teams have a returning All-PacWest first-team hitter. UHH has Beale, Chaminade has Rachel Reedy, and HPU has Cameryn Collie. The Silverswords also added Brooklen Pe’a, a Division I transfer and a 6-foot junior.
But the focus of this season is to develop your secondary players to get them ready for when the matches count in the fall.
“We’re all doing the same thing. We’re looking at different pieces and giving reps to players because it’s important to develop them,” Leonard said. “Collie took a ton of swings and had a nice weekend against us and Chaminade.
“Pe’a is a physical player. She hits a heavy, hard ball. She’s a nice player for them. I don’t know if we can completely stop her but slow her down. All of us will get better. Hopefully, we’ll get better than them in that process.”
There are often two schools of thought when it comes to hitting: Swing hard to blast a ball off the block or swing smart to keep the ball in play for a chance at a block or another swing.
Leonard prefers a combination of the two, and Beale is a good example of that. She’s got all the shots: seam, tool, line, tip and corner. She swings hard and smart.
“You want to mix power with offspeed, like baseball,” he said. “A changeup works better with a fastball. If you tip all the time, teams will figure you’re not a threat to hit the ball. If you mix speeds, it’s tougher to defend.
“The block doesn’t have to be your enemy. It can be a friend if you learn to tool shots off the block. We work on hitting high off the hands. You have to learn what the defense will give you.”
We’ll see if the Vulcans, who are hitting .168, can put their classroom lessons to good use this weekend.
