Coach’s Show 6 pm Tuesday; Danielson won’t play
Call the Coach with Shoji 6 p.m. Tuesday 1420-am
296-1420 if you want to chat
Show is at Rumors Nightclub at the Ala Moana Hotel
Danielson had shoulder surgery on a torn labrum (right hitting shoulder) so she will be on the sidelines for Wednesday’s match between Toyota Auto Body and Hawaii.
Reminder: no TV or radio for the exhibition
COMMENTS
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Cindy, will is danielson part of the national team as of the moment?
no, she’s going to be playing in Japan. Season starts in November
On the coach show tonight, Dave responded to a question about using a 6-2. He said he has definitely consider it but presently back-up setter Kendra has not yet shown that her set location is ready yet. He liked the idea of having three hitters up front on all rotations. So, maybe down the road, we may see a 6-2, like Oregon.
I heard only the last part of the show. Dave spoke on Higgins, that she will get better and someone asked on why the setter sets the same player two times in a row.
He spoke on setting to Magill higher, etc. in answer to a question.
That he has two to three scholarships for next year depending on how things play out. That he may use the 6-2 formation later on but Kendra is not ready yet. Tiff does a good job on the show and his picture was on the 1420 website earlier in the day .
Did anyone ask about playing the freshmen more, etc. ?
Not much that hasn’t already been discussed. Didn’t really talk about the freshmen other than maybe moving Greeley to the right more or even Manu-Olevao. Phone connection wasn’t that great, couple of calls were garbled or dropped. Repeated that he didn’t feel Koelsch was ready, needed to get better with her set location. And that Higgins was his setter. The 6-2 has been discussed since the preseason. Someone asked about running plays. He said the X play has gone out of favor.
For some reason, he still had it in his head that there was no more Sunday matches. But think he’s figured it out there UCSB is a Sunday.
As for the scholarship question. He said he has 2-3, depending on what happens. But we know he has 3 verbals for next year. Which means he’ll figure it out.
He did talk a little about Manu-Olevao, how she was thinking about going on her Mission and then there was something about her maybe going to Utah to be with her boyfriend. But she decided to stay and make volleyball and school a priority. I know he’s told me he finds her a ‘changed’ person.
Shoji concerned about Kolesch’s set location? And how exactly does that get alleviated by riding the pine exactly? Higgins….love her….has been playing this whole time and still has set location problems. But he trusts her to work out the kinks in a real game situation and not Koelsch?
At least he admitted one thing….Higgins is his girl which means he has a biased opinion on the setters. Which means that Kolesch will not be seeing more playing time unless Higgins really stinks it up.
I’m definitely overstating this but ahhh….whatever’s.
Cindy,
Regarding Koelsch, it’s plainly obvious that Tayler Higgin’s has trouble with set location so his answer applies to both setters. (UH coaches seemed to like Koelsch’s set location when they scouted her and offered her a scholarship. The 7′ net did not change, the court is the same size.) Both setters will improve with court time, Shoji just chooses to play Tayler the same way he chooses to start Ginger Long every game.
if kyra goodman had stayed at UH she would be the backup setter however with her untimely departure it was imperative that higgins had a backup in case, god forbid, she got injured and we were left with NO setters which is why koelsch is now a two sport athlete.
the thing that separates hawaii fans from every other fan is that hawaii fans have this feeling of entitlement. just because you know the sport doesn’t mean you can coach better than the god himself (dave obviously). the only person I wanted to see changed in the starting lineup is mendoza. kahakai needs to be in for 5-6 rotations because her passing seems much more on point IMO and I love her attitude on the court. even as a freshman she gets jitters but for the most part she doesn’t second guess herself.
They used to say the same thing about Andy Banachowski who won 6 national championships at UCLA. Andy retired in 2010, his last championship was 39 yrs ago. Mike Sealy (formerly Shoji’s assistant) brought UCLA a national championship in 3 yrs. It is human nature that old men get sentimental; but sentimentality in a coach clouds judgement and decision making.
Long needs to sit. Kahakai has potential but she was horrific against USF. Couldn’t pass to save her life. Mendoza is the better choice. If Goodman had stayed, she would have been No. 3 on the depth chart. Scholarship players always get more playing time under Shoji, unless it’s at the libero position.
Thank you for the summaries, everyone!
What happened to Krya Goodman? Did she transfer or is she red shirting?
Was it just me or was there some resentment in his voice aimed at fans who think they could coach this team better. I forgot the question that was asked that set it off but I got the impression that he was saying don’t question me about my coaching.
On the UCSB issue I had the phone in my hand getting ready to tell him that he might want to tell UCSB because they and also the Big West think the match is on Sunday according to their schedules but as I was trying to get through he said that someone corrected him and the match is on Sunday because of the football game. Dave has a lot of senior moments 🙂
blunite What? Sentimentality? And since Sealy won the championship, UCLA has experienced a complete collapse – a total change in assistant and associate coaches, and after two years of misery, just finally breaking back into the top 25 last week. Perhaps, Sealy was too sentimental? Dave appears to have soften … a little, but still appears hard on players – as he always has been.
I also picked up on the resentment in his voice. He gave cogent answers to his thinking and methodology concerning who he plays and why. In my opinion he is as sharp as ever, in the process of building a first rate team with lesser talent than his opposition. Thats what he does better than anyone else!
LC Yeah, I heard that too in Dave’s voice as he responded to a caller’s question about some of his decisions. I thought it was funny and kind of cute.
The net is 7′ 4″ high, per the internet 8 , for the men. Dave seems to be more animated this yea,r when they show him coaching during the timeouts.
8′ for the men.
Good morning as a coach of any sport, you have to be extremely tolerant of fans who think their knowledge of the game is better than the coach. What people need to realize, it is more than just what a player is doing in the game but also what happens in practice, their level of maturity and the other activities associated with being a student/athletes. Remember Hartong got better with each year being in the program. Dave knows setters and Higgins is his choice at that starting position.
blunite The net height and court size may not have changed, but the speed and complexity of both offense and defense assignments certainly has. I would love to see UH try a 6-2 in the near future with Taylor and Kendra – as soon as both setters settle down and adjust up into Division 1 volleyball speed. IMHO, they both also appear nervous at times, which is to be expected until they become familiar with the SS arena crowd.
I wonder if the scholarship opens up because one of the girls on this year’s team opts for sand volleyball scholarship and relinquishes indoor scholarship. For someone like Long or Passi whose future as starters on indoor looks dim, this might be a way to get school paid for and Dave gets his third scholarship. Long and Passi seem the most obvious.
As for Higgins, give her a break. lets see how she does when the passing stabilizes, if ever. she is running all over the court due to errant passes. Even with Mendoza and Kahakai in the backrow, the passing has been very erratic. A setter can only do so much if she is running across the court to get a pass.
The resentment in Shoji’s voice came out in a question about why the repeat to the same hitter (esp the LS) when the previous play failed. Shoji is very adamant in going to his go-to-hitter in crunch time and he made it very clear how he felt about that. Even you as the coach with this thinking have to give the setter the option to set someone else if she sees the defense setting up (the mb leaning to your LS hitter) to your go-to-LS hitter. It has happened as last year versus Arizona, when leading 24-20, Hartong got blocked three straight times. Ironically who was the blocker (with assist) but Olivia Magill, LOL!
7. yes, they liked her set location in high school. running the UH offense completely different. If you came to practice you’d see the issue with location and speed.
Said weeks ago Ah Mow-Santos wasn’t happy with either setter’s location but, as Shoji said, Higgins is his setter at the moment.
13. I didn’t hear resentment. I know that they were having problems with hearing callers and both he and Wells were frustrated with that. And I know he felt rushed getting down to the show from practice, which is not easy to do with all the no left turns on Kapiolani.
14. that was my text telling him he still had a Sunday match. I think that because TV apparently kept saying that USF was the last Sunday match … I didn’t hear it but from what everyone else has said that TV kept saying it … that he believed it.
10. when you have 12 players on scholarship and 16 on the roster, the odds are that scholarship players will get more playing time. Although Adolpho was not on volleyball scholarship until this year and she’s had a lot of playing time the previous three years.
23. thank you Mauna for getting to the question. As I said, I don’t think it’s resentment being heard as much as his being on the defensive, defending his players, in this case, Higgins’ decision to go back to the same player (believe the caller asked about Greeley). He said she did it because that’s what he has told her to do.
It’s such a split-second decision to be made.
6. don’t think it’s bias. It’s the coach making a decision as to who is setter is.
Yes, being put in the game would give Koelsch more experience but if she can’t put up a hittable ball to the outside consistently what good is that?
I like Koelsch. She’s going to be good. But at the moment Higgins has the edge in consistency. That is based on what I’ve seen in practices. Both of them will get better as the season goes on.
IMHO I’d like to see them go to the 6-2 in certain matches just for the better blocking matchup and having 3 attackers in the front row. They have some bad rotations where you have 2 attackers and the setter in the front row and the L and DS in the back row. Very limited options.
Thought he’d use it against the taller Pac-12 teams. Taylor’s injury to put them in a bind, as well as Manu-Olevao not playing on Sundays.
3 that was my question! yay the question got chosen and was answered !!!
coach was so nice and gave me a hug!! 🙂
Bottom line, Higgins (2013 #19 PreVolleyball Senior Ace) was a highly recruited setter coming out of high school. Kendra Koelsch was not highly recruited (by BCS programs) for indoor volleyball.
IMHO Higgins will be the next AA setter for Hawaii. Not this year, but watch out from next year on.
Glad to see that so many others also detected what I heard,resentment. Not our fault that the protectors ( a word use by another poster that is growing on me ) hear only what they want to hear. 🙂
But at the same time Dave is the coach and gets paid to coach so I don’t feel that he needs to take advice from fans.
When you know a coach or public servant for many years, you view him like a dad. Is it loyalty or is it the truth that he is not on top of his game. Old school or new school? One thing for sure is that your every move will be under the microscope. I like Shoji, in my opinion, when he retires, only then will lots of people see what we had.
So now the question is…who take over the program when Dave decides to retire? I’m sure many coaches are thinking about now. Does UH go with someone that knows the program? or some other big name coach with the ability to improve a program?
Fuller? Wong? Sunahara? Davidson? ???
#31. My guess is Scott or Robyn. I don’t expect Dave to retire before 2016, the pay off year for the frosh and sophs on this year’s team plus whoever else he brings in.
Or we could do it how they do it in North Korea. Succession by heredity, Kawika or Erik.
LC I listened to the show and did hear the voice inflection from Dave but personally I attributed a good part of it to frustration. To me, the term resentment suggests indignation or bitter feeling. I don’t think anyone believes that Dave feels bitter toward fans. Do you? Rather, I would suggest it was a combination of frustration and a little hurt pride. After all, it was pretty tough to lose 3 very winnable contests. Everyone knows how competitive Dave is, as it is one of the traits that have driven Wahine Volleyball to the success that it is.
28. I like your optimism,But I haven’t seen any improvement from Higgins, and her last match was probably the worst of the season thus far. I don’t see all american.
All american players just the “it” factor from the get go, don’t see that in Higgins.
but hope she proves me wrong.
32. Scott’s got my vote, unless he decides to concentrate on the Beach team.
KK had the AA “it” factor from the get-go and held it for 4 years as freshmen of the year and I believe as a 4X AA, with her last year as 3rd team AA. However, it took Ah Mow until her soph. year to start sharing the setting duties with Anderson, and then winning the starter setting position outright in her Jr. and Sr. year as 1st AA both years. So, not all AA have the “it” factor from the get-go. Higgins may be just like Ah Mow – or not.
Especially during the pre-season, would love to see Maglio & Huff more in game situation as I think they along with Greeley will be a big part of the future in Wahine volleyball.
#28
Objectively, we all see the game in a different light.
Bottom line, what makes a setter look good 1) primary passers who can consistently give Higgins, a good enough pass so that Higgins have four hitters to go to at any time 2) Pin or 10 meter attackers who can consistently put the ball down at = or > .275%, or when the pass is not good enough, keep the ball in play 3) Middle attackers who can hit at = or > .350%, or when the set is not there, can keep the ball in play or still make a kill.
To date, the pass has not always been there for Higgins. And, when the set was just right, we’ve seen to many unforced errors at inopportune times.
Higgin’s pluses 1) a serve that will get better as the season progress 2) attacking at a good percentage-IMHO she should be more aggressive; thereby, holding the MB from releasing to the outside a second later 3) put up a pretty good block.
A healthy Nicky Taylor from the get go, would’ve made this team better, offensively and defensively-and definitely taking some pressure off of Higgins.
Bottom line, the Wahine’ setter starting every season have always had an AA outside hitter or and AA MB to go to…no Hartong, no Kanani, no Houston, no Willoughby, no Kahamoku, no Lungquist, no Bown, no Duggins, no Prince, etc.
This is a very young team with no returning AA. The returning starters 1) Nicky Taylor posted great numbers as a freshman, but was out with an elbow injury to start the season 2) Manu-Olevau have had more downs and ups the previous two season. This year she’s doing much better, but need to consistently hit at a .225-.250 clip 3) Adolpho, after a great pre-season last year, was not a factor for most of the BWC games. This pre-season as middle attacker her numbers have been overall woeful. But, as a middle blocker, she has posted positive numbers-not always putting the block down, but definitely touching a lot of balls, giving the back row an opportunity to dig/pass the ball to Higgins.
I don’t really remember, did Robyn struggle the start of her sophomore year?? I know she had to compete with a returning starter in Kari.
Dani Mafua really struggled her sophomore year and by her senior year was pretty good so Im hoping for the same with Higgins.
37, Magill is an all american this season doesnt matter if she wasn’t one last season, that’s a moot point IMO . and my main problem with Higgin’s setting thus far, is her sets to the middles, even on free passes are just not on point. If they were, I think magill would be hitting close to .500 this season.
Having a great serve is nice but I’d prefer better location.
Think this team will win the league then move on to post season. This TEAM will improve and get better, does anyone believe otherwise? Higgins is a “young” setter and she is getting better, besides, Robin will not settle for less. Betcha, they are not happy with their performances and are working it, getting better.
Believe Shoji will be a GREAT coach until he chooses to retire. His level of excellence is sustained, by his level of passion for the game and care of his players. Let’s not forget he has the most wins of any coach and more still coming, it ain’t waning.
Believe our TEAM will play well this year, however, foresee the pay off (final four) in another year or two.
Love watching them play and yes, I roll my eyeballs up sometimes too…
Go Wahine …Go Bows…
http://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2014/9/17/WVB_0917140418.aspx?path=wvball
It’s really hard to believe Koelsch’s set location is really all that much worse than Higgins by the way. the times Koelsch has gone on she has really only had one bad set and her sets to the outsides are always really really nice.
Kari & Robyn battled for the setter position in ’93 & part of ’94 until the coaches made a decision to keep Robyn as the #1 string setter.
42, from the 5 min total you’ve seen her play? 4 of those min she was primarily used as a blocking sub. she’s made 2-3 total sets and you’ve already come to that conclusion? damn LOL you should succeed dave shoji as the next head coach for na wahine.
I like what said LC. Dave gets paid to coach. he doesn’t get paid to listen to the millions of head coaches watching from home 😉
I think (of course subject to adverse comments), that Dave will grow increasingly frustrated. The bottom line is our recruits and transfers may get us into the NCAAs but in reality it will be very difficult for Na Wahine get into the sweet sixteen or even beyond unless we can recruit top ten volleyball candidate. I think we have a very good team and the ranking does justify where we are in contrast to the top 20 teams
G.ood coach can only go so far. Russ Rose and John Dunning are examples. I don’t think Dave is any less of a coach than either but look at their recruits year in and year out.
The comments here concerning Dave are laughable. It’s comedy right? You’re all kidding right? I would bet the couch potatoes here never played competitive volleyball in their lives. Heck, I bet you couldn’t pass a ball to save your life. Oh, you don’t need to play to know how to coach right? There’s a couple people here that know what they are talking about, but that is it. Get real spud duds cause the only thing you know about coaching is nothing and that is more than you should get credit for.
47. Not sure if your comment is directed to me (46) but it’s not a comment directed to Dave as a coach. It’s just the reality of the level of talent we can expect to recruit now the BCS schools see volleyball as a major women’s sport.
47. And some of us. Have played competively and have coached organized volleyball before. UH is not the only collegiate volleyball program in the state. Bottom line is, despite what you may think, people in hear knows exactly what they say. Just because Dave or anybody else doesn’t agree, that doesn’t make the scouting notes any less true. For example. I’ve said from the start of the season, Long has been a consistent serving target from all the teams. Yet did anybody care to respond? No. Of course that scouting note was to point out that even though many have said Long was an asset defensively, the stats her proven the opposite. And in fact it has been proven by the other teams serving her, that they can score with her in the back row playing defense. So again, as a coach on any team, why would you continue to bring that player into the match when it is safe to say it is a liability to do so? How is that a sound coaching decision? She has been removed from the match every time except once. As an example, it demonstrates that, that decision is questionable from others that can make the argument to not play her. So yeah, others have brought various scouting notes to the blogs attention. And yet like other sports forum where the merits or demerits are discussed, here all you get is denial and no discussion about the scouting notes that others have brought up. It would much more credible if the discussions could continue to look at the notes/observations that are brought up instead of trying counter with unconnected reasoning. As I said, in the end Dave can do whatever he likes…it’s his team to coach. But as sports enthusiast we have the right to voice our observations as well.
bows handling it vs the queenseis
29. What some called resentment others called frustration. You heard what you wanted to hear as well
29. If you want resentment here you go. t’s your constant negativity and now the inference of ‘protector.’ with the insipid use of an emoticon. as if that’s supposed to forgive everything. it is not amusing.
nice battle at the end queenseis took set 1 in some push comes to shove
49 Oh my. You seem offended.
Please, please get a grip on your “scouting” notes. Discussing and dissing are two different things. People want respect, then people should show some.
Also, it would be nice if you would use spell check, grammar check, writing check and content check to better convey your message. Your posting is like an underhand serve to the back of your middle blockers head.
Nikki resting, looks like .
Check out Volero Zurich’s home page…….our emily with attitude! LOL
What happened to Nikki Taylor?
Hope all you 6-2 proponents are here at the arena to see it in action! So far, pretty good…a little adjusting to backrow defense needed, but otherwise it looks okay!
that is bad. kahakai in crutches
bows take set 3 decisively. magill and huff did good serve and good service hitting/blocking
Man Greeley has way too many sets
now that was a good scrabble for the bows from an out ball to a dump at the net
scramble*
na wahine vs queenseis taking it to a 5 set thriller!