Hawaii women’s volleyball: Dual setters Iosia, Choy outduel St. John’s

One of the biggest questions of the preseason for the Hawaii women’s volleyball team was the roles of senior setters Norene Iosia and Bailey Choy.

Coach Robyn Ah Mow decided on a straight split heading into Friday’s opener against No. 21 San Diego, and stuck with it Saturday night in a second straight five-set comeback, this time against St. John’s, 26-28, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12 in front of a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,623.

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Heading into Sunday’s 5 p.m. matchup with No. 13 Washington for the Hawaiian Airlines Classic title, UH has strictly employed a 6-2 offense — one not seen too often at the Division I level — switching off between Iosia and Choy every three rotations.

And that’s what UH will continue to do moving forward, according to Ah Mow when she was asked postgame how she liked the system so far.

“I have two really good setters. And they both set different. Like I said, people are going to have off days. I said in the locker room, it’s how fast you turn it back on,” Ah Mow said, snapping her fingers. “We can go little ripples like this, but it’s just how fast you turn it back on. And it’s maybe not necessarily the setters, but, if they feel their hitters are not doing something, I know as a setter they’re going to try to do something different. Or they’re going to try and help them. And they take themselves out of rhythm.

“I mean, I have two really good setters. They both serve really well. They play defense really well. And they set good. So, to answer your question, I’ll stick with the 6-2.”

Iosia was an established setter in the program, a three-time All-Big West first-team player who displayed a propensity for double- and triple-doubles. Last season, UH played a modified 6-2 with Iosia playing all six rotations (three as a hitter). Choy, an ‘Iolani product, is the newcomer but also a veteran, a graduate transfer from Utah with over 3,000 career assists to her name.

Iosia started the first three sets Saturday, then yielded to Choy to open the fourth and fifth. But often over these first two nights, the one who started a set was not the one who finished it. The two high-fived on their frequent exchanges.

“I don’t think it’s, like, different,” Choy said when asked how she’s adapted to the 6-2, which is designed to keep three front-row attackers at all times. “Obviously you come off the bench, and it’s hard to get back in a rhythm when you go back in the court, but really, to help that nervousness and misconnect sometimes, is the communication with the hitters. I think Norene and I talk about that. We need to talk more to our hitters. And we need to trust ourselves as setters that we know where to set and we can trust our hands.”

The two combined for 47 assists (27 by Iosia, 20 by Choy) and 20 digs.

Choy set up Jolie Rasmussen for a solid swing to send it to a fifth set.

Iosia had a key pancake dig in Set 5, setting up Kirsten Sibley’s cross-court kill. At least, it appeared so — St. John’s challenged it and replay showed the ball was down. That gave the Red Storm a 6-5 lead.

Choy came on for a late serving run to get UH to 14 — the UH block came up big at that point — and St. John’s obliged with a serving error to end it on match point No. 2.

Of her former Pac-12 foe Washington, Choy said: “I’m excited. I’m really excited. Watching them again, obviously they’re really good out of system, so I think we can handle them as long as our block timing is good.” She laughed. “But they’re a really good team. Really dynamic. Big girls. And we’re excited to play them. We’re excited to take on the challenge.”