By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Therese Crawford and the No. 18 Wahine are in the
unusual position of looking up at their competition.
Wahine just
need a win
After three straight losses,
By Cindy Luis
Hawaii is still looking for consistency.
Shoji hopes he'll find it
against LMU
Star-BulletinInvitations for the NCAA women's volleyball tournament won't go out for another 10 weeks but Steve Stratos is already thinking about the postseason RSVP chaos. Four of the most competitive conferences in the country -- the Western Athletic, Pacific-10, West Coast and Big West -- are in the same region this season. Stratos, whose Loyola Marymount team is in the WCC, says the NCAA tournament process will involve considerable travel.
Consider that, as of Tuesday's AVCA poll, 14 of the top 26 teams belong to one of the aforementioned conferences. Even though the tournament has expanded from 48 to 56 teams, there is no way the NCAA selection committee can keep all of the West teams in the same 18-team region.
"I was talking to (UC Santa Barbara) coach Kathy Gregory and going through the Top 25," said Stratos, whose 16th-ranked Lions take on No. 18 Hawaii tomorrow and Saturday. "We were running out of room in the region just with the ranked teams. They (the NCAA) are going to have to shift quite a number of teams out of our region."
The top eight teams are seeded into the four regional brackets. Both Loyola Marymount and Hawaii are hoping to use this weekend's matches to move up in the poll and regional rankings.
The Wahine (5-3) have not beaten a ranked team this season, losing consecutive matches to the current Nos. 17 (UCLA), 19 (Pepperdine) and 11 (Pacific). The only losses for the Lions (8-2) also have been to ranked teams: No. 7 UC Santa Barbara and No. 13 Michigan State.
"These are important matches for both programs because we're both about to start conference play," said Stratos, whose team is favored to win the WCC. "When Dave (UH coach Shoji) and I decided to do this, we both knew we had young teams that were talented but needed good competition.
"The better the competition you play prior to getting into conference, the more prepared you are. When you play your young people in these situations, they're in a position where they need to grow up quickly. As I'm telling my team, the babies need to grow up."
It appears LMU is out of preschool already. The Lions return three starters from last season when they were 26-3, including senior setter Tracy Holman and senior All-American candidate Sarah Noriega, a 6-foot-2 opposite hitter.
"We're still looking for the right combination," Stratos said. "It's been a revolving door, very similar to what Dave is going through."
Not quite. It's been more like a trap door for a team that lost two All-Americans and five senior starters that went 35-3 in '96.
The biggest difference between the two teams is at setter. The Wahine have junior Nikki Hubbert, who saw limited playing time last season. The Wahine also have had trouble putting down the ball, hitting .232.
Senior co-captain Therese Crawford has been the Wahine's only consistent hitter.
"The bottom line is we need to get some offense out of our other four players other than Crawford," Shoji said. "Our lineup isn't decided and everyone has a shot this week.
"I'm encouraged by the attitude in practice but we need to put the ball on the floor, get some kills, hit for a higher percentage and need to be more balanced offensively.
"Loyola gave us all we could handle two years ago (a long, four-game match won by UH) and we had a pretty good team then (31-1). These will be some very competitive matches. I feel we can get two wins against a quality team this weekend."
If not, it would mean the worst start for Hawaii since the team went 2-4 to open the 1993 season. In the 24-year history of the program, the Wahine have lost five matches in a row just twice (1984 and 1985), but never five consecutive at home.
A victory over the Wahine in Hawaii is something the poll voters recognize as a major accomplishment, Stratos said. He is one of the 50 voters in the weekly AVCA/USA Today Top 25.
"Hawaii is a great program and it's a difficult place to play for opponents," Stratos said. "For Pepperdine to beat Hawaii at home is a great win. If we are beaten by Hawaii twice, then we've played a great program on their home turf.
"Some of the things I consider when voting are strength of schedule, where the matches are being played at, how the scores go. I ranked Hawaii higher than 18 this week. I've been voting Pepperdine high every week and obviously, I was right about them."
Pepperdine was unranked before knocking off both Hawaii and Pacific last weekend. On Tuesday, the host Waves (10-0) handed UC Santa Barbara its first loss.
"Dave and I have both been on fishing expeditions the past three weeks," Stratos said. "We've both used a lot of players, which makes it difficult to scout and prepare for and hard to figure out."
Shoji is trying to figure out his team.
"It's like having a kid," he said. "You keep waiting for them to grow up."
The facts
Who Hawaii (5-3) vs. Loyola Marymount (8-2)
1997 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
