Throughout fall camp, HawaiiAthletics.com will provide a position-by-position breakdown of the 2017 Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, leading up to their season opener against Marquette, Aug. 25 as part of the Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
Position Breakdown: Outside Hitters | Middle Hitters | Setters | Defensive Specialists
 
With the first few days of practice in the books for the University of Hawai'i women's volleyball team, head coach Robyn Ah Mow-Santos is looking to see where all of her players will fit on the court. The position with the most depth is also the position that former Rainbow Wahine Nikki Taylor used to dominate, the outside.
 
"I want them to be able to pass, have ball control and hit balls," Ah Mow-Santos says are the keys for her outsides this year. "Those are the three hardest things. The blocking and the serving, it'll come, but you need a lot of reps for defense."
 
Taylor was a four-year starter and two-time AVCA second-team All-American. Last season, the two-time Big West Conference Player of the Year finished with a league-best 4.54 kills per set average and ranked No. 2 nationally in aces per set.
 
This year's group of outside hitters are looking to maintain a strong offense through teamwork and by having confidence in every player who steps on the court while the defense is still a work in progress.  
 
Junior McKenna Granato may not have the height of the other outside hitters, but her strength, versatility, and ball control will be key components to the game in the front row. The Kailua, O'ahu native made 23 starts last season and finished second on the team with a 2.90 kills per set average.
 
"She's going to be, hopefully, one of our primary passers with the libero," Ah Mow-Santos said of the 6-foot junior from Kailua, O'ahu.
 
Senior Kalei Greeley hopes to write her comeback story in 2017. The senior from Riverside, Calif., has suffered through injury for most of her career, however, this season she's looking to return to the level of play that made her a starter in her freshman year and an honorable mention all-Big West selection in 2015.
 
"She's a very stable passer and for attacking, she's steady," Ah Mow-Santos said. "She doesn't make a lot of errors."
 
Making the transition from a defensive specialist to outside hitter is sophomore McKenna Ross. The sophomore from Aliso Viejo, Calif., will be looked to for the passing and ball control in the front row.
 
Coming off an impressive freshman career where she took the place of an injured Taylor, Kirsten Sibley is looking to continue on that path. Also having faced the setbacks of illness, Ah Mow-Santos is hoping that the 6-foot-2 sophomore will utilize her height and add to the block on the net.
 
Junior Casey Castillo has seen time in the middle, left-, and right-side of the court. Ah Mow-Santos has promised to try to keep her on the outside this season, but depending on the play of the middles, admits she may not be able to keep that promise.
 
"Her strong suit is she's a utility player, if you need her to go on the left or the right or the middle, she can do all three," Ah Mow-Santos said.
 
Freshman Shaney Lipscomb has been nursing an injury for the last four months and hasn't been able to show exactly what she has to contribute to the team yet.
 
While Ah Mow-Santos admits there are things all of her outsides still need to work on, such as moving their feet to get to a ball instead of lunging for it, these are habits she knows will take more than two weeks to correct. The biggest contribution she wants to see her outsides give are passing and ball control in order to improve the offense.