MĀNOA — The taraflex will come off the Stan Sheriff Center floor for a prolonged period of time.
Following the No. 3 University of Hawai‘i's string of four consecutive victories in Wednesday and Friday doubleheaders, the school's designated volleyball playing surface will not be rolled out again until March.
With the intent of testing his team's depth, Hawai‘i head coach Charlie Wade scheduled 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. matches on both Wednesday and Friday. The Rainbow Warriors went 4-0 in their matches against Roberts Wesleyan and Rockhurst, improving to 7-1 overall. The 'Bows only dropped one set the whole week, dropping one to Rockhurst in a four-set victory on Wednesday night.
A turnstile crowd of 5,229 was on hand for Hawai‘i's Friday night match against Roberts Wesleyan, the team's final home contest until a March 4 tilt against Pepperdine.
"From a volleyball standpoint, it was really valuable," Wade said following the end of Friday's second match. "A lot of guys got a lot of meaningful minutes, and it's just different. We battle in practice all the time. A lot of guys got a lot of run, and we can't recreate this environment in practice. We just can't."
Youth initiatives were the highlights of Wednesday and Friday's 11 a.m. matches. Wednesday's early match was dubbed "Education Day," where the Stan Sheriff Center played host to local elementary and middle school students. Friday's match was "Club Takeover Day," where teams in town for the TransPacific Volleyball Championships enjoyed a glimpse of the 'Bows.
"That really made a difference for us," said standout hitter Adrien Roure, who did not commit an error in both matches against Rockhurst, racking up 29 kills and 12 digs. "It's not easy to play at 11 in the morning. They really made a huge difference. I thank them a lot, and they made it fun."
While established and healthy starters such as Roure and setter Tread Rosenthal only played one match each on Wednesday and Friday, sophomore Kainoa Wade played in all four matches, registering 48 kills.
Kainoa Wade, Charlie Wade's son, made up for lost time after missing the first week of the season due to injury.
"The first week was just unfortunate. I mean, it's volleyball, it's gonna happen," Kainoa Wade said. "I've been ready to go since the fall, so it's good to be out there."
In Friday's night's match, starting outside hitter Louis Sakanoko was activated by Wade towards the end of a tight second set. Sakanoko finished with four kills and four digs, ensuring a sweep for the 'Bows. Sakanoko had a match-high 15 kills in Friday's morning session.
"All the subs that I made were already kind of predetermined," Wade said. "Louis, he and Finn (Kearney) have been battling for that second (outside hitter) spot, and wanted to see how he performed after sitting for an hour plus and coming in. The plan all along was to get him in the third set and then putting him in the pressure spot there kind of close late in the second, loved how he responded. And again, can't recreate that in practice. Can only do it in the live game."
After squeezing in four matches over two days, the Rainbow Warriors will be idle next week before heading to Pennsylvania for a contest against Saint Francis on Jan. 28 and matches against Penn State on Jan. 30-31.
"Big for us to get an off week," Kainoa Wade said. "We got a bunch of guys dinged up with little knick knack injuries here and there, and so it's good to be able to get everyone back for next week when we go on the road."
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
