Rainbow Wahine’s Joshua Walker era begins with sweep of Chaminade
· Yahoo Sports
First-year Hawaii women’s volleyball coach Joshua Walker got to see all 15 of his players on the floor Monday night.
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A rare fall exhibition for the Rainbow Wahine ended in a 25-20, 25-16, 25-10 sweep of Chaminade at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The two teams played a fourth set, but by then, it was clear who was the superior team.
Walker, less than three months after he was hired, saw a lot of what he has seen in the practice gym translate to the arena. He also was happy to see his team adjust from tallying only one block in the first set to seven for the match.
“As we kind of got through the match, the things we’ve been working on, people starting making adjustments,” Walker said. “Things definitely got a little bit cleaner as we got more comfortable. Very glad we had this exhibition.
Newcomer Panna Ratkai, a fourth-year senior transfer, led UH with 13 kills and co-captain Miliana Sylvester hit .625 with 11 kills and six blocks.
The team had its trip to Hilo over the weekend for an exhibition and a keiki clinic canceled due to Hurricane Lala.
The storm kept the team from practicing on Sunday.
“A lot of girls didn’t have power (Sunday), so we were kind of hunting for food and everything like that,” Sylvester said. “Most people showed up early today knowing we didn’t have practice yesterday to get extra reps. We had a really good serve pass and kind of just continued on from that.”
Tabby Allen had six kills to lead Chaminade, which was held to a minus-.035 hitting percentage.
The Rainbow Wahine closed out the first set on a 7-3 run and ended it on a Hawaii challenge of a touch at the net on a swipe kill from Cha’lei Reid.
Ratkai had eight kills on 18 swings in the opening set and Sylvester added six kills on 11 swings in the middle.
They were by far the most targeted players by setter Adrianna Arquette, who guided UH to a .319 hitting percentage.
“I knew what to expect,” said Ratkai, who played in UH’s spring exhibition matches. “Obviously, with the different coaching staff and the different team dynamic, this was something new, so it’s always very exciting.”
Hawaii stayed on the same side of the floor for Set 2 per a new NCAA rule this season. Teams will play the first two sets on the same side before switching for the next two sets. The fifth set would depend on the coin flip.
Walker made one change to the lineup, bringing in newcomer Maeli Cormier on the right side and switching Reid to the left in place of Tali Hakas.
The added height, with Sylvester in on every UH block, allowed Hawaii to triple its total of one to three blocks in the second set.
Reid added four kills and Rachel Purser, a 6-foot-3 freshman who started the match alongside Sylvester, put down her second kill to end the set.
The score differential after two sets would be even more lopsided if it weren’t for 16 service errors by the Rainbow Wahine.
Hawaii emptied the bench in the third set and used all 15 players on its roster.
Freshman setter Manon Baudrillard, from Paris, had six assists in limited action and was nearly flawless on her sets.
Freshman Mano Antiga, a 6-foot freshman hitter from Lublin, Poland, was the last player off the bench and ended the match with an ace that trickled off the top of the net onto the Silverswords’ side.
UH won the fourth set 25-13. Stats were not kept.
UH will open the season in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic on Aug, 28 against Georgia Southern.