Wednesday, August 22, 2001
Wahine end camp The University of Hawaii volleyball team heaved a collective sigh of relief yesterday as the Wahine concluded fall training camp with a shortened practice.
a closer, wiser team
UH opens its season Friday
against top-ranked NebraskaBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comAfter two three-hour sessions a day for the last two weeks, the Wahine ended yesterday's practice after an hour on the court with a closed-doors team meeting.
Despite the rigorous and exhaustive training, not a single player was complaining. Most considered camp a positive experience.
"I'm sad," sophomore Kim Willoughby said. "I actually like it because the more touches you get, the better you get.
"It's just making us come together more as a team and have fun and get to know each other on a more personal level, on and off the court."
With three starters gone from last year's squad and a mix of transfers and walk-ons, the 2001 team has its work cut out for it both on and off the court.
Since practice started, the Wahine have had plenty of bonding time, living in the same housing facility and spending the majority of their waking hours together.
On the court, head coach Dave Shoji changed the emphasis of this year's camp. The Wahine focused more on team exercises and re-working their offense.
"It's a little different because we had so many team things so early," Shoji said. "A lot of the monotony of training camp wasn't the same. We haven't had as many reps as we normally do. We tried to put the offense together.
"I don't think we needed to do a lot of reps because the people who are playing are returnees. We're not doing a lot of teaching anymore. We're just trying to get enough reps to be comfortable."
After overhauling the offense and shifting players into new positions, the additional reps helped, but they also exhausted the players.
"I'm excited that double-days will be over," Western Athletic Conference preseason player of the year Maja Gustin said. "It was fun but it was very hard. ... We needed that.
"We had a great time. We learned a lot about each other. The chemistry with our team is much, much better. We think positively. Double-days gave us a lot."
But will it be enough for Friday's season opener against top-ranked Nebraska?
The Wahine left early this morning for the State Farm Classic in Stockton, Calif.
Notes: Nohea Tano was back in practice yesterday after aggravating a pulled abdominal muscle on Saturday.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
