Penn State No. 1;
Wahine remain No. 11

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

Three victories did wonders for Penn State in the first regular-season college women's volleyball poll. Three wins did nothing for the University of Hawaii.

Despite winning its own Aston's Imua Challenge, the Wahine yesterday remained right where they were in the preseason poll: at No. 11 in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25.

The Nittany Lions, aided by a defeat of preseason No. 1 pick Stanford 10 days ago, moved up a notch into the top spot. Penn State earned 59 of 60 first-place votes for 1,499 points.

Florida, a 3-2 winner over Nebraska last weekend, jumped from fourth to second. Stanford, with the remaining first-place vote, dropped to third.

Rounding out the top 10 are Long Beach State, Nebraska, Washington State, Pacific, Texas, UC Santa Barbara and Southern California.

Western Athletic Conference preseason favorite Brigham Young University dropped from No. 8 to No. 13 after losing to Long Beach State, 3-1, and UC Santa Barbara, 3-0.

The other major upset last weekend was then No. 15 Southern Cal upending fifth-ranked Michigan State, 15-5, 12-15, 15-4, 15-7.

Two WAC teams fell victim to ranked opponents: New Mexico losing to Pacific, 3-0, and Fresno State falling to Loyola Marymount, 3-0.

TOURNEY TALK: The WAC had 12 of its 16 teams involved in tournaments last weekend and came away with four titles.

Besides Hawaii's championship, Colorado State won its University Park Classic by defeating Central Michigan, Northern Iowa and California; Nevada-Las Vegas beat Nevada, Oregon and Kan-sas to capture the Nevada-Reno Taco Bell Invitational championship and Wyoming won the Idaho State Tournament with victories over Illinois-Chicago, Boise State and Idaho State.

Hawaii's Therese Crawford was one of three players to earn tournament Most Valuable Player honors.

The others were Colorado State's Janie Penfield and Wyoming's Julie Overton.

SURPRISE TEAMS: Texas Christian is 2-1, having finished second at the New Mexico State Invitational. The Volleyfrogs were 4-30 last season.

UNLV, coached by former Wahine All-American Deitre Collins, is 3-0. The Lady Rebels were next to last in the Pacific Division last season with a 5-22 overall mark.

Maryknoll High School graduate Justine Kamelamela, one of four Hawaii prep products on the UNLV roster, had 16 kills in the Lady Rebels' win over Nevada-Reno.

PRACTICALLY KAMAAINA: UCLA returns to Hawaii to compete in its 10th consecutive Hawaiian Airlines Volleyball Classic. The Bruins and Hawaii each has won four tournament crowns. Penn State claimed the 1993 championship.

UCLA has played in Hawaii every season since 1976. The Wahine lead the all-time series, 27-25.

AVCA/USA Top 25 Women's Poll

NCAA Division I
First-place votes in parentheses

  			W	L	Pts	Prv
 1. Penn State (59)  	3	0	1,499	2
 2. Florida		3	0	1,409	4
 3. Stanford (1)  	1	1	1,390	1
 4. Long Beach  	2	0	1,304	15
 5. Nebraska 		2	1	1,285	3
 6. Washington State  	4	0	1,234	7
 7. Pacific  		3	0	1,059	10
 8. Texas   		0	0	1,020	9
 9. UC Santa Barbara  	2	0	999	12
10. Southern Cal  	3	0	936	15
11. Hawaii  		3	0	849	11
12. Michigan State  	2	1	836	6
13. Brigham Young  	1	3	732	8
14. Wisconsin 		3	0	699	18
15. Loyola Marymount  	3	0	667	16
16. Texas A&M 		3	2	640	13
17. Ohio State   	3	11	510	14
18. Washington  	3	0	491	19
19. Arizona   		2	0	417	20
20. Notre Dame  	2	1	378	17
21. UCLA  		0	0	317	21
22. Colorado 		1	0	217	23
23. Maryland  		4	0	191	--
24. Colorado State  	3	0	171	24
25. Arkansas  		3	0	106	25

Also receiving points: South Florida, 76; Kansas State, 38; Minnesota, 37; George Mason, 18; Northern Illinois, 14; Texas Tech, 12; Georgia Tech, 9; Pepperdine, 9; San Diego, 7; Arizona State, 4; Louisville, 3; Georgia, 1; Clemson, 1.

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1997 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule