ByGeorgeF. Lee, Star-Bulletin
The University of Hawaii women's volleyball team
had reason to celebrate after it won the Aston's Imua
Challenge. The Wahine beat San Francisco and Kansas
State yesterday for the championship.
Shoji: Nice to be 3-0
Wahine have wonderful weekend
By Cindy Luis
Star-BulletinThis could be the season of the unexpected. Where consecutive matches will be like day and night, just as happened literally yesterday. A lackluster afternoon turned into a luminous evening. And the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team emerged as the surprising champion of its own Aston's Imua Challenge.
What transpired between the uninspired 15-10, 15-9, 15-6 win over San Francisco in the afternoon and the solid 15-5, 15-3, 15-8 victory over Kansas State in the nightcap still remains a mystery. To be 3-0 at this point is as surprising to Heidi Ilustre as the all-tournament plaque the Wahine sophomore hitter picked up at the Special Events Arena.
"I was just doing my job out there," said Ilustre, who capped a solid tournament showing with 10 kills and 13 digs against Kansas State. "We were determined not to go more than three games. We didn't want any letup like Friday.
"We were determined to start strong from the beginning. We were expecting more from Kansas State but we came in ready for this game and we played well."
Hawaii did, hitting .439 as a team to K-State's .194. Tournament MVP Therese Crawford had no errors in putting down 17 kills in 25 swings and sophomore blocker Jennifer Roberts added a career-high 14 kills with just one error in hitting .684.
"I probably could have given this MVP award to any of my teammates," said Crawford, who finished with 39 kills in three matches. "I would have given it to anyone but me. Jessica Sudduth played awesome as a freshman. (Freshman) Jameka Stevens had really good numbers for the little time she played. Cia (Goods) had some awesome blocks.
"Before the tournament, we were kind of unsure of where we were. We've come a long way, even from the scrimmage (Aug. 23). After tonight, I feel a lot better about our potential and about the future of this team."
That confidence will be tested shortly. The Hawaiian Airlines Classic begins this Friday with No. 21 UCLA, North Carolina and Houston coming in.
"You've got to give Hawaii a lot of credit, they upgraded their play over the past few days," said Kansas State coach Jim McLaughlin. "I don't know if it was us being bad or them being good. I kind of think it was them being good."
The Wahine were subtle in their control. A tenuous 6-4 lead turned into a 15-5 runaway in Game 1, helped by error-free hitting of Crawford and Roberts (a combined 13 kills in 22 swings).
It was 2-2 in Game 2. Nineteen minutes later, Crawford had served for four straight points, freshman Tehani Miyashiro for six and Goods and Hubbert stuffed all-tournament pick Dawn Cady to end it.
"We played as well as I can expect for this point in the season," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. "I don't know if I expected us to play this well. I really liked how Jenny Roberts played, even blocking some balls, which is not her strong point.
"Heidi is a lot stronger than last season. And for someone like Therese to take that many swing and have no errors says a lot about where she's come in the last few weeks. This was a good weekend for us. It's nice to be 3-0 and, hopefully, we'll be 5-0 when we see UCLA (next Sunday).
ILLINOIS STATE 3, SAN FRANCISCO 2: After 2 hours and 44 minutes, all-tournament pick Michelle Kutcher put down the match-winning kill to give the Redbirds (1-2) the marathon win over the Lady Dons (0-3).
Hawaii def. U. of San Francisco, 15-10, 15-9, 15-6 WahineBoxScores
g k e at pct. bs ba d Daniels 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Schopflin 3 8 8 33 .000 0 0 11 Lomax 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 Sargenti 3 4 2 13 .154 1 1 4 O’Bryan 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Kruger 3 2 3 9 -.111 1 0 1 Moran 3 13 5 31 .258 0 0 12 Tinetti 3 4 3 21 .048 0 0 3 Zeiter 3 17 4 22 .136 0 1 8 Totals 3 38 25 130 .100 2 2 42
g k e at pct. bs ba d Crawford 2 7 2 20 .250 0 0 5 Karratti 2 2 0 6 .333 0 3 2 Goods 3 8 3 20 .250 0 3 5 Suddoth 2 7 2 15 .333 0 1 8 Elkington 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Hubbert 3 2 1 5 .200 0 1 8 Stevens 2 7 0 16 .438 0 0 2 Miyashiro 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 11 Roberts 3 9 3 19 .316 1 3 3 Lee 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Ilustre 2 5 3 9 .222 0 1 7 Totals 3 47 14 111 .297 1 12 52Aces--USF (5): Tinetti 2, Schopflin, Moran, Zeiter 1. UH (5): Suddoth 2, Karratti, Goods, Miyashiro 1. Assists--USF (35): Kriger 33, Tinetti, Zeiter 1. UH (46): Hubbert 39, Suddoth 2, Goods, Karratti, Stevens, Miyashiro, Ilustre 1.A--6,104. T--1:30. Officials: Ho, Lee.
Hawaii def. Kansas State, 15-5, 15-3, 15-8
g k e at pct. bs ba d Branting 3 9 4 22 .227 0 1 6 Cady 3 18 5 40 .325 1 0 16 Shepherd 3 3 5 17 -.118 0 3 4 Zschau 3 8 0 24 .333 0 0 8 Ryning 3 1 2 5 -.200 1 0 4 Thomas 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Phillips 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Wieck 3 5 3 21 .095 0 2 3 Totals 3 44 19 129 .194 2 6 33
g k e at pct. bs ba d Crawford 3 17 0 25 .680 1 1 12 Goods 3 5 2 17 .176 1 6 6 Suddoth 3 9 5 25 .160 0 1 5 Hubbert 3 3 1 5 .400 0 1 7 Stevens 1 2 0 3 .667 0 0 0 Miyashiro 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Roberts 3 14 1 19 .684 1 0 2 Lee 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Ilustre 3 10 1 20 .450 0 4 13 Totals 3 60 10 114 .439 3 12 54Aces--KSU (1): Branting. UH (6): Ilustre 3, Crawford 1, Suddoth 1, Hubbert 1. Assists--KSU (40): Ryning 35, Shepherd 3, Cady 1, Zschau 1. UH (55): Hubbert 45, Goods 4, Ilustre 3, Crawford 1, Miyashiro 1, Lee 1.A--7,385. T--1:29. Officials: Lee, Hironaka.
UH: Cia Goods, Heidi Ilustre. KSU: Dawn Cady, Devon Ryning, Val Wieck. ISU: Michelle Kutcher.
MVP: Therese Crawford, Hawaii.
1997 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
