Hawaii finally gets in a practice after enduring whirlwind travel

EUGENE, Ore. >> The Hawaii women’s volleyball itinerary since winning the Big West championship hasn’t included much sleep.

The morning after securing a fourth straight conference title and 30th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the team left the hotel in Long Beach, Calif., at 5 a.m. local time, flew back to Hawaii, watched the NCAA Selection Show, flew back to California the next day, was delayed two hours in San Francisco, finally made it to Oregon after 2 a.m. local time and was at the hotel by 3.

The team caught up on sleep as much as it could before stepping into Matthew Knight Arena on the University of Oregon campus for two hours on Tuesday evening in preparation for Thursday’s first-round match against Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament.

Junior setter Kate Lang, who played a major role in the Rainbow Wahine’s season continuing on this week, said it was 3:30 when she finally fell asleep Tuesday morning, but it’s all part of playing for Hawaii.

“It’s Hawaii volleyball. We travel, we go crazy, we win, we go hard in the gym when we have time to come to the gym and I mean, the travel schedule being as chaotic as it’s been is just a part of being here and being on the team,” Lang said. “I feel like a lot of teams would be mad or upset it didn’t go our way last night in the airport, but this team, we just love each other, we love being around everybody, and having a good attitude isn’t hard when you love all of your teammates.”

The team got its first look at the court designed with silhouettes of Pacific Northwest tree lines. The floor is hardwood and not the Taraflex UH is used to playing on at home.

Junior Tayli Ikenaga, who has stabilized the UH defense reaching double figures in digs in 11 of 13 matches since taking over as the starting libero, spent all of practice Tuesday sprawling and rolling on the court, getting used to the harder floor.

She had a reason to be as excited as anyone when it was announced Sunday that UH would participate in the Eugene regional.

“I’m really excited because my sister (Cobi) graduated from Oregon and I never had a chance to come here in the gym,” Ikenaga said. “Being here and getting a chance to feel it and experience it is really cool.”

Hawaii played its best volleyball of the season in sweeping consecutive matches in the Big West tournament last week.

The team flew up early in the week and had three full days to prepare with three-hour practices before playing its first match.

This week presents a much different challenge. It will be less than three full days with only one two-hour practice and a 90-minute official NCAA practice today to get ready for a tough challenge in the seventh-seeded Cyclones, who finished fourth in the Big 12.

Lang said Tuesday’s practice started slow as the team got used to the gym and the floor, but ended on a high note.

“Getting those first couple of rolls in before we started practice was really important, which I’m glad we did,” Lang said. “Knowing that we have a short time to get ready and be prepared is a little bit of pressure, but this team excels under pressure, so I’m not worried about it. Taking the time that we do have and not thinking about the time we’re missing out on is going to be real important for our mindset.”

The magic number on offense for Hawaii is a .215 hitting percentage. UH is 20-0 when it reaches that mark this season and has done it every time during a six-match winning streak.

UH has never played Iowa State, which reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2017.

UH is 3-1 against the AVCA Top 25, while ISU, which plays in the tough Big 12, is 3-6. Hawaii has two wins against No. 25 USC and a sweep of No. 22 Florida State. Iowa State beat No. 15 Kansas, No. 23 Baylor and No. 24 Houston, all in five sets. Against common opponents, Hawaii is 0-3 vs. UCSB and TCU, while Iowa State lost to UCSB but beat TCU twice.

Rainbow Wahine Volleyball

>> What: NCAA Tournament, first round

>> Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Ore.

>> When: Thursday, 2 p.m.

>> Who: Hawaii (23-8) vs. Iowa State (20-9)

>> TV: ESPN+

>> Radio: KKEA 1420-AM / 92.7-FM