Wagoner’s Christmas wish: Be back home, playing in NCAA final four

By Cindy Luis

You can go home again. At least that is the hope for sophomore hitter Riley Wagoner.

The last time the 6-foot outside hitter for the Hawai’i women’s volleyball team was back in her home state of Ohio was for the 2020 Christmas break. The Rainbow Wahine already knew that they would not be playing in the 2021 spring season, unlike most of  NCAA women’s volleyball world (UH’s conference, the Big West, and the Ivy League were the only two to opt out, citing COVID concerns).

But it didn’t mean that Wagoner, who had 14 starts as a freshman in 2019, was opting out on her career as a Wahine. As with the rest of her returning teammates, it only strengthened the resolve to get better and to get on track for the 2021 fall campaign.

There was added incentive for Wagoner to already be back home for this coming Christmas break. The NCAA Tournament is being held in Columbus, Ohio, a hop-skip-and-a-booming-serve away from her hometown of Dublin. 

Wagoner played many a club tournament in Columbus, some 17 miles away from Dublin. She wants nothing more than to share her area expertise — not to mention a few of the renown Buckeye candies — with her collegiate court sisters, as well as performing again in front of relatives.

“It would mean the world to me,” Wagoner said as Hawai’i was in the midst of Week 2 of double-days. “My family is a super big part of my life. I want to be able to go back and show them my hard work.”

Her parents were part of “Warrior Nation” that watched Hawai’i win the NCAA men’s championship last May at Ohio State’s Covelli Center. The women’s final four is scheduled for Dec. 16 and 18 at the larger Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus.

“My parents loved it, loved being part of all the energy in the gym,” Wagoner said. “They want us back there so they can watch us.

“It’s what we’re striving for. It’s mentioned every day in practice, that that’s where we want to be.

“It’s our ultimate goal.”

Wagoner said there was never a thought about not returning to Manoa for her delayed sophomore season. She was one of four indoor Wahine who crossed over to play for the beach team — senior hitter Brooke Van Sickle, sophomore middle Amber Igiede and sophomore hitter Tiffany Westerberg were the others — and Wagoner went 4-2 when teaming with Kylin Loker at Flights 4 or 5.

“I have so much love for the game, my only thought was I’m going to work even harder to perfect my skills,” Wagoner said of coming back. “I’m just working hard every day to show I’m an option (for a starting spot)

“We have a lot of freshmen who have really good skills who are pushing all of us. It’s great to see us back on court so we can show Coach Robyn (Ah Mow) and all the other coaches how hard we all have worked.”

Asked which of her teammates has impressed her the most, Wagoner responded: “Brooke Van Sickle. She is super competitive. She’s the person I try to beat out all of the time.

“Things are going really well. We’re trying to find our groove. We have a lot of new people and we’re excited to see the pieces some together.”

The Wahine conclude their two weeks of two-a-day practice Saturday. Next week, the schedule returns to single practices in addition to game prep for the seasoning-opening tournament. Hawai’i (26-4 in 2019) opens the Hawaiian Airlines Classic next Friday with Fairfield at 7 p.m.

The Stags played a conference—matches-only in spring 2021 finishing 9-1 to share the MAAC regular-season title with Quinnipiac; the only loss came against Quinnipiac in the regular-season finale..

Fairfield was the top seed in its conference tournament but withdrew after a positive COVID test within the program. 

In the HAL Classic opener, Marquette takes on Texas A&M. At 4:45 p.m. The Golden Eagles were 10-4 overall, 4-2 in the Big East, and lost to. Creighton in the conference tournament final.

The Aggies, who host No. 10 Baylor in an exhibition tonight, were 9-9 overall as well as the SEC, losing their final five matches in a tough stretch that included two matches at Missoui (coached by Punahou alum Josh Taylor, and two home matches against Florida, which was eliminated by top-seeded Wisconsin in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

“The team is super grateful that we have a season,” Wagoner said. “It’s exciting to think we have a game soon.”

NOTE: There is no word as to whether fans will be allowed to watch next week’s tournament. As a state facility, the Stan Sheriff Center is subject to state guidelines in regard to COVID restrictions.