I’ve been watching several of their games this season, and I wanted to jot down some thoughts. First, this team plays ugly. Bad passes on serves, hitting errors, and other mistakes—this team commits too many of them. Additionally, at times their block seems non-existent. And yet, they’re 6-1. If they were a high school team, I would guess their opponents just played worse–making a lot more errors. But that’s not the impression I’m getting.

So what explains their winning? Defense–i.e., digs–seems like the biggest reason for their success. This is a really scrappy team, at times reminding me of Japanese teams. If you want to see some good digs and long rallies due to defense, this is a team to watch. On the other hand, with good defense, I would expect better passing on serves. They’re passing can get really shaky at times, even from Ikenaga or Levya. (Levya has been an impressive freshmen, and in time could be special.)

Tough serves and good play in timely moments are probably the other reasons they’ve won. For example, against Oregon State, after an almost non-existent block in the early part of their match, their block game alive. In terms of serving Levya seems like a best server. (Ikenaga has been solid as a server, too, and follows Levya in the serve rotation, creating what looks like a solid one-two punch.)

With the way they play I’m not sure how long they can keep winning. I feel like they will get destroyed by really good teams, based on the way they’ve been playing. On the other hand, this team hangs in there (They’ve had a lot of 4 or 5 set games), and they shouldn’t be too rattled when going through rough patches during a match.

One other thing I want to mention–the coaching, particularly in terms of substitutions and making adjustments. Coach Robyn will pull Kate Lang and put in Jackie Matias at surprising moments. Against Oregon State, Ah Mow-Santos took out starting middle Jacyn Bamis pretty early in the match and put in Maddie Way, a shorter (5′ 11″) freshmen, who hadn’t played much (if at all). It seemed to be a good move, as Way provided a good spark for the team.

Now, while I do think the play has been inconsistent and ugly, they do have a lot of new players (while losing really good ones). It may take times for this team to gel and clean up their game. They have shown grit and fight, though, and that makes them worth cheering for.

I found this discussion between Micah Christenson, Micah Ma’a, and Gage Worsley. If you don’t know, the first two are volleyball setters from Hawai’i, both Native Hawaiian, while Worsley is from California and is the former libero for UH men’s volleyball. Worsley ask Christenson’s about his thoughts on UH men’s volleyball–specifically, the way the players, who are mostly not local, represent UH, Hawai’i, and Hawaii or even Native Hawaiian culture. I thought his and answer the discussion was interesting and also made me chuckle at some points, partly because I think I understood his answer and his reactions, even though I don’t think his answer was necessarily clear, especially to someone who wasn’t from Hawai’i. I post the clip below, and later give my “translation” of what I think Christenson is saying. (Note: The topic pertains not just to athletes from the continental U.S., but foreign athletes as well–basically, anyone not from Hawai’i.)

Off the top of my head, here’s my list:

1. Derek Tatsuno
2. Yuval Katz
3. Robyn Ah Mow
4. Colt Brennan
5. Kolten Wong
6. Anthony Carter
7. Mario Monico

Others: Michael Carter, Timmy Chang, Mario Monaco, Rocky Ynklan, Ashley Lelie.