Wahine coach Dave Shoji says all positions are up for grabs

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http://www.staradvertiser.com/sportspre ... =279102651

Wahine coach Dave Shoji says all positions are up for grabs after a poor road showing

Excerpt from the above link:

"I think it's a good time to be off and regroup," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We have to re-evaluate the lineup and everything that we've been doing.
"Every position is now back up for grabs. No one played well enough to secure a starting spot. Everyone will have to go back in the gym and earn their playing time."

Lineup at Northridge and Long Beach:
Outside Manu-Olevau/Greeley
Opposite Taylor
Middle Blocker Magil/Adolpho
Setter Higgins
Libero Mendoza

Depth at outside/opposite:
Long, Passi, Huff

Depth at Middle:
Maglio

Libero/DS
Mendoza, Kahakai, Ponce, Anderson Guinasso

AT Northridge and Long Beach: 1) Poor passing kept Hawaii’s middle attack with few opportunities to change the course of both match; 2) The Pin hitters all had bad matches—at Northridge hitting % from .158-.174%—at Long Beach hitting % from .054-.103%. Their overall-efficiency was terrible. However (no pun intended) Manu-Olevau so far has been very inconsistent terminating (her kill to error ratio is poor), hitting wide or long even with a good set and blockers not yet set. As per last year, she again has been inconsistent as a primary passer.

Except for Huff at outside, Maglio at middle, and the return of Kahakai at DS, there’s not much depth to overhaul the starting lineup.

My thoughts:

1) Keep Manu-Olevau as OH1; a) However, sub her out when she rotates to the back row with a now healthy Kahakai; b) Or sub Manu-Olevau after she serve. At this point of the season, IMHO, her serving is probably the most consistent of all her skills. Bottom line she has the athleticism, the quickness, the powerful arm-swing, but has yet to prove she can consistently terminate with a wide array of shots.

2) Move Taylor to OH1 and Manu-Olevau to opposite. Taylor will be a primary passer and Manu-Olevau gets subbed after serving.

3) Keep Greeley at OH2—only a freshman, her skills will only improve with more sets and maturity.

4) When a pin hitter is having a bad day, don’t hesitate to sub in Megan Huff. Let whoever she’s subbing for sit for a rotation. LOL…if Huff is putting the ball down, blocking aggressively, keep her in the game. At this stage of the season, at 6-3 and athletic, Huff is a much better option as a front row blocker/attacker than (no pun intended) Long or Passi. Like Greeley, Huff is the future of Wahine’ volleyball.

5) If Magil is healthy for the next game, she should start-- no Ifs or Buts. However, if Adolpho is having a bad day, coach shouldn’t hesitate to bring in Maglio—like Greeley and Huff she is also the future of Wahine’ volleyball. If Maglio is performing well, putting down the quick or slide, and blocking the ball down or slowing down the ball so the back-row can make a play, keep her in--Let Adolpho sit and reset for the next set or match.
Note: Higgins quick set to Magil have not always been perfect; but, there have been many occasions when Higgins has just begun to set the ball, but Magil was already air-borne, resulting in a much too low a set .

6) a) Keep Higgins at setter. 59 sets played and the Wahine’ passing continues to be inconsistent that Higgins has had few opportunities to involve the middle with a quick, or set the pin hitters for one-on-one opportunities; b) Sub Koelsch for Higgins when she rotates to the front. Koelsch at 6-1 makes for a more intimidating block alongside the middle blocker. This will enable Higgins to continue to do her thing on the service line and also be the setter coming from the back-row.

7) a) Discontinue the revolving door serving of Ponce, Anderson, and Guinasso. Check the stats and pick one as a designated server; b) Just stick with Mendoza and Kahakai as the Libero/DS, and for serving.

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Three things that have impacted this year’s team: 1) Lack of senior leadership due to the following athletes transferring to other programs (from the #10 rated recruiting class of 2010, #81 Senior Ace 6-3 OH Waber, and from the #12 rated recruiting class of 2011, #7 Senior Ace 5-11 OH Crossan, #89 Senior Ace 6-4 MB Vorster, and Next 150 Stauber at setter); 2) A poor 2012 recruiting class that netted one freshman, Next 150 Senior Ace 6-1 Manu-Olevao; 3) Nikki Taylor’s elbow injury. Reportedly arm swing is still not at 100%.

Crossan, never hit for a high %, but as a primary passer she definitely would’ve made the back-row defense “mo bettah”.

Competition for the two middle positions during the pre-season (Magill, Adolpho, Vorster, and Maglio) would’ve been a battle, with Magill winning one slot, and Vorster probably winning the 2nd slot.

IMHO Crossan was the KEY; her all-around skills would’ve made the Wahine a much better team.