Hawaii is done with Big West play, but it doesn’t mean the Rainbow Wahine are done with Big West honors.
Senior opposite Nikki Taylor and setter Norene Iosia repeated as Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. Monday’s award was the fourth of the season for Taylor, the reigning conference player of the year, and the 10th of her career. She is second only to Cal Poly’s Kylie Atherstone in all-time Big West honors; Atherstone (2005-08) had 11.
Taylor had a combined 37 kills with eight aces in the wins over Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, helping Hawaii (22-5, 15-1) successfully defend its conference title and give coach Dave Shoji his 1,200th career win. Against the Gauchos on Saturday, she had 22 kills and 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and exceeded the 20-kill mark for the seventh time this year.
Taylor leads the conference in kills per set (4.59), aces (51), aces per set (.65) and points per set (5.85 pps).
It was the third weekly honor for Iosia, who is two assists shy of 900 in her young career. She had a combined 74 assists and 25 digs, her two double-doubles giving her 12 this year.
Also on Monday, Hawaii headed into the final week of the regular season with new rankings in both the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Ratings Percentage Index and the AVCA Coaches Top 25. The Wahine have a bye week and will learn their postseason fate on Sunday during the NCAA Selection Show.
Hawaii moved up eight places to 28 in the computer-generated RPI and one spot to No. 13 in the poll.
Regaining the top spot in the RPI was Wisconsin (24-3), followed by Texas (21-4), Nebraska (26-1) and Minnesota (23-4). All of the teams that beat Hawaii in the nonconference season are ahead of the Wahine in the RPI.
Besides the Badgers who won the season opener against the Hawaii, Washington (24-4) is at 11, UCLA (23-5) at 12 and Kansas State at 19. Long Beach, which handed Hawaii its lone conference loss, is at 79.
In the poll, defending national champion Nebraska remained the unanimous No. 1, receiving all 64 first-place votes. Also staying put were Minnesota at No. 2, Wisconsin at No. 3 and Kansas (25-2) at No. 4.
Rounding out the top 10 were Texas, North Carolina (25-3), Washington, UCLA, Florida (24-3) and BYU (26-3).
As Hawaii looks to the “second” season — the NCAA tournament — the Wahine also continue to look to the future. Arden Misraje, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter-opposite at Crossroads School for Arts & Science in Santa Monica, Calif., committed for 2017 as an invited walk-on.
“I’ve always watched their matches on YouTube and you hear all these incredible stories about the program,” Misraje said in a telephone call to the Star-Advertiser. “Dave Shoji is a legend. I’ve read about everything he’s done. Getting 1,200 wins is incredible. It’s a blessing to have received approval from him to be part of his program.”
Misraje is a former Mizuno Volleyball Club teammate of current Wahine freshmen Emma Smith and Iosia. Her Crossroads team won its CIF Division III state tournament match on Saturday; the Roadrunners (25-4) will face West Hills today for the Southern Division championship.
Misraje also is a standout beach player and said she’d be interested in playing both indoor and beach for the Wahine. She is the second invited walk-on to commit to Hawaii, the other being Janelle Gong, a 5-9 libero-hitter from Campolindo High and former teammate of current Wahine freshman Kirsten Sibley.
Earlier this month, Hawaii signed three players from California to National Letters of Intent in 6-2 middle Sophia Howling (Venice High), 6-2 middle Styler Williams (Mayfield High) and 6-1 middle-opposite Shaney Lipscomb (Cathedral Catholic). Lipscomb’s top-ranked Dons play Glendova today for the CIF Division II Southern Division championship.