By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Jessica Sudduth, left, and Heidi Ilustre can only
watch as another UCLA kill hits the floor.
Bruins put the hammer
down on Wahine
UCLA's sweep of Hawaii is
By Cindy Luis
the first ever in the confines of
the Special Events Arena
Star-BulletinThey came out of a haze and went into a fog. And the smoke-and-mirrors trick plays could not save the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team from seeing its unbeaten season vanish. The Wahine's offense disappeared last night as they lost the championship of the 10th Hawaiian Airlines Classic to No. 21 UCLA. The 15-6, 15-10, 15-9 defeat was the first-ever sweep of a Wahine team in the Special Events Arena since it opened in October of 1994 -- a streak of 61 matches -- and the first time Hawaii had been swept at home since Oct. 23, 1993 (by Long Beach State).
The Bruins claimed the Classic title for the first time since 1994, also the last time they beat the Wahine. It also gave UCLA its fifth Classic trophy, breaking a tie with host Hawaii.
"This was humbling," said Wahine senior Crawford, who put down a team-high 14 kills in the 99-minute defeat. "It lets us know that we're not quite where we need to be. That we're not at the same level as UCLA.
"We really did learn something from this. If we had gone 6-0 maybe we would have thought we were pretty good. UCLA went to another level of play and we weren't ready to answer."
The Wahine (5-1) came into the arena through a manufactured cloud of smoke. They left the court with a cloud of questions hanging over them. Coach Dave Shoji admitted that, if he had to play today, he could only name three starters: left-side hitter Crawford, middle blocker Cia Goods and Heidi Ilustre on the right side.
"I don't know who else will be starting for us Friday (against Pepperdine)," said Shoji. "We've got some retooling to do. A lot of our deficiencies were exploited during this tournament.
"I need to rethink the lineup and rethink the strengths and weaknesses of each player. I need to try to come up with more strengths and weaknesses."
Which means he'll be taking a hard look at setter, where redshirt freshman Keala Nihipali and true freshman Tehani Miyashiro are pushing junior Nikki Hubbert. Shoji experimented with freshman Jessica Sudduth at middle this weekend, moving her from her natural position on the left side.
Sudduth put down both kill attempts in Game 3 from the middle and "we needed to get her more swings," said Shoji. "We tried to find something that was working during that match. We did things that we hadn't practiced much. That probably wasn't real smart for me as a coach but we were trying to win the match."
After chasing UCLA all night, Game 3 was the closest Hawaii came to slowing down the Bruins. The Wahine led 8-7 but were out-scored 8-1 in the last 15 minutes.
Hawaii couldn't dig UCLA's tip shots or stop eventual tournament MVP Kara Milling, who had four of her match-high 18 kills in the final run. The Wahine also had trouble stopping 6-foot-3 middle Tamika Johnson, who had 13 kills coming into the match but had 14 and hit .565 against Hawaii.
"We didn't expect her to have that good of a night," said Crawford. "But I think we allowed her to have that great of a night. She played well. But we gave her a lot more than she took."
The Bruins took away the Wahine's momentum in Game 3 with a frustrating defense and big block. Celeste Peterson put down one of her 10 kills and Tanisha Larkin her 18th kill of the night to gain match point. Amy Nihipali blocked the overpass of the serve to finish it.
"Yes, I expected more from Hawaii," said Milling. "I thought they would fight back harder in the third game. But we played pretty well to not let them get back in.
"I'm really proud of my team for not letting down in the third game. That's hard not to do when you're up 2-0. I felt we had pretty good control the whole time."
It was quite a different Classic story for the Bruins a year ago. UCLA went 1-2, losing its season opener for the first time in history, en route to its worst-ever record (17-14) and missing the post-season for the first time.
"This was a nice reward for three weeks of hard work in the gym," said UCLA coach Andy Banachowski, who ran his record to 26-27 against Hawaii. "Having three seniors on the court helps. I think we're getting smarter as we get older. We kept Hawaii out of sync and out of their offense.
"We're happy to get off to such a good start. I like the way we're attacking the ball and the way we're scrambling on defense. If we can continue to put up numbers like this ( hitting .343 as a team with 14 blocks and 47 digs), we'll certainly be a threat to Stanford (in the Pac-10 race)."
"They took advantage of us not being in the game," said Goods, the only other Wahine in double-
kill figures (12). "We're not used to being down 0-2. I don't think their block was a huge factor but it was part of what was going on."
Goods and Crawford were named to the all-tournament team, along with UCLA setter Kim Coleman and hitter Tanisha Larkin, Houston's Debbie Vokes and Punahou product Erin Berg of North Carolina.
Houston 3, North Carolina 0: In a match closer than the final score, the Cougars (3-3) wore down the Tar Heels (4-3) after 100 minutes, 18-16, 15-11, 15-7.
Emily Leffers put down 15 kills and Vokes had 14 kills, 12 digs and 6 blocks for Houston. The Cougars pulled away from a 7-7 tie on the serving of Kristin Guidish, who served for the final six points, the last two on aces.
Lori Carlson led North Carolina with 12 kills.
At Special Events Arena Box Score
UCLA def. Hawaii, 15-6, 15-10, 15-9
g k e at pct. bs ba d Bachman 1 2 0 2 1.000 1 1 0 Coleman 3 5 0 9 .556 1 6 11 Coopman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 9 Lawson 2 0 0 1 .000 0 0 3 Johnson 3 14 1 23 .565 1 3 1 Peterson 3 10 6 23 .174 0 2 11 Milling 3 18 6 39 .308 0 2 3 Nihipali 3 6 2 14 .286 0 7 2 Larkin 3 12 5 26 .269 0 1 7 Totals 3 67 20 137 .343 3 22 47
g k e at pct. bs ba d Crawford 3 14 4 35 .286 1 0 13 Goods 3 12 5 32 .219 0 5 3 Cordray 1 5 2 11 .273 0 0 0 Sudduth 3 3 3 14 .000 0 2 6 Hubbert 3 0 1 2 -.500 0 3 5 Stevens 3 3 5 17 -.118 0 0 0 Miyashiro 3 0 1 1 .000 0 0 6 Roberts 1 1 1 2 -1.00 0 0 0 Lee 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Ilustre 3 9 3 22 .273 1 2 11 Totals 3 47 25 136 .162 2 12 45Aces--UCLA (2): Coleman 1, Coopman 1. UH (1): 1, Lee 1. Assists--UCLA (60): Coleman 49, Milling 6, Larkin 2, Peterson 1, Lawson 1, Coopman 1. UH (45): Hubbert 43, Ilustre 1, Crawford 1.A--8,344. T--1:39. Officials: Hironaka, Lee.
Statistical leaders
Kills--Hou (54): Emily Leffers 15, Debbie Vokes 14. UNC (46): Lori Carlson 12. Digs--Hou (50): Bethany Hill 13, Vokes 12. UNC (44): Alicia Alford 8, Carlson 8. Blocks--Hou (4 solo, 14 assisted): Bobbi Stewart 1/7, Vokes 1/7. UNC (0-18): Tori Seibert 0/4. Erin Berg 0-4. Assists--Hou (49): Hill 39. UNC (40): Berg 33. Aces--Hou (8): Vokes 4. UNC (7): Allison Hobson 2, Carlson 2.
UCLA: Kim Coleman, Tanisha Larkin. Hawaii: Therese Crawford, Cia Goods. Houston: Debbie Vokes. North Carolina: Erin Berg.
MVP: Kara Milling, UCLA.
1997 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
