What Ahuna hopes is that her Sea Warriors put into practice the things they learned in their exhibition loss to Nittaidai. HPU heads off to Laie tomorrow for the NAIA Far West-Hawaii playoff at the Cannon Activities Center.
At stake is BYU-Hawaii's No. 1 ranking, the Seasiders' 49-match winning streak and HPU's postseason dreams. BYU-Hawaii needs only to win tomorrow to earn the automatic berth in the NAIA National Tournament, Dec. 4-7, in San Diego.
The scenario is more complicated for HPU, currently ranked 14th in the poll. The Sea Warriors would need to beat the Seasiders tomorrow to force a deciding match on Thursday, and win on Thursday as well for the automatic berth.
Or HPU hopes that its ranking and record are enough for one of 11 at-large berths in the 20-team tournament next month. The Sea Warriors have used at-large spots successfully in three previous national tournaments, finishing third in 1988, second in 1989 and first in 1990.
"This is do-or-die for us," said Ahuna, whose team lost to Nittaidai, 15-1, 15-10, 15-13, last night at St. Andrew's Priory Gym. "We've lost to BYU-Hawaii three times already but we have another chance at them. My ladies want to do well and we've got to be ready to play, physically and mentally.
"Playing Nittaidai gave us more confidence that we can play against great teams. They're very similar to BYU-Hawaii with a quick offense and great defense. We need to win two."
No one has been able to take even one from the Seasiders in the last 16 months. The two-time defending NAIA champions last lost on Sept. 21, 1995, at Hawaii-Hilo, the only blemish on a 35-1 season.
This year, BYU-Hawaii has dropped just five games in 23 matches. HPU took a set off of the Seasiders on Sept. 20, the only NAIA school to do so.
Saturday night, BYU-Hawaii stunned Nittaidai in straight sets, 15-11, 15-7, 15-7. Earlier last week, the Japanese university team swept UCLA and Southern Cal but lost, 3-1, at Long Beach State.
Last night, Atoh Mayumi and Mithuko Nomose each had 13 kills to lead Nittaidai over HPU. The Sea Warriors, who led for most of Game 3, including a 13-11 edge, got nine kills apiece from Lei Kaisa and Tofoi Tuitele.
Tomorrow: No. 14 Hawaii Pacific (16-6) at No. 1 Brigham Young University-Hawaii (23-0), 7:30 p.m.
Thursday: (if necessary) Hawaii Pacific University at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Cannon Activities Center.