Collins has better
feel this season
Nevada-Las Vegas brings
By Cindy Luis
more talent to the SEA than
it had last year
Star-BulletinDeitre Collins has been playing the roster roulette table the past three weeks, hoping to find a winner. Just when the UNLV women's volleyball coach thought she had the system beat, her star outside hitter went down with a season-ending knee injury and the Lady Rebels have gone bust in their last five matches. While Collins, a former University of Hawaii two-time All-American, is not completely welcoming tomorrow's match with the No. 18 Wahine at this point of the season, she has nothing to lose. The meeting between the two Western Athletic Conference opponents will not count in the league standings since it is a crossover match between teams in opposite divisions.
And, too, it's a kinder, gentler Collins who brings in her 7-6 team. Last season, her Rebels had the misfortune of being the last regular-season home opponents for the Wahine, whose fans couldn't wait for the match to be pau in order to start the Senior Night celebration.
UNLV was very accommodating; the 15-2, 15-4, 15-2 humbling lasting just 52 minutes. Collins did not allow her team to stay on the court to watch the festivities.
"Maybe I took it a little too personal," said Collins, who won two NCAA championships and was 110-5 her final three seasons as a Wahine. "I've had to realize what happened to my team last year. It was the first time they had ever walked into an arena of that size and played in front of a crowd that size. It wasn't that foreign to me, but it was to them and I needed to understand that. They knew how important it was to me that they play well, and that was a lot of pressure.
"This year, they want to play well for themselves. I feel more comfortable bringing my team to Hawaii this time. We're a more competitive team than we were."
The Lady Rebels are just as young, though. Collins figures to start a freshman, two sophomores and a junior transfer in addition to junior setter Meri-de Boyer and senior blocker Amy Ellenwood.
"But that could change three times before we get to Hawaii," Collins said in a phone call from Las Vegas earlier this week. "We've been struggling ever since (junior hitter) Angie Sylvas blew out her knee (Sept. 12). It was a huge blow because of the stability she brought. We're a capable team without her but for some reason we've lost our confidence."
UNLV also has lost its last five matches after starting the season 7-1. But Collins likes her team's desire to be good.
"Everybody is focused on what the future brings from UNLV," said Collins, who will be inducted into the new UH Letterwinners Club tomorrow night. "I wouldn't say we have a game plan for Hawaii because we're focusing on UNLV. Besides, the tapes we have Hawaii has different people doing different things so what good is it to study their tapes?
"Dave (Hawaii coach Shoji) has a young team, too, and is rebuilding. He's just fortunate to have a young team with better volleyball players."
What the Lady Rebels have is potential to be good.
Collins, a former Olympian, will start Maryknoll High graduate Justine Kamelamela, a freshman outside hitter who leads UNLV in kills.
"Justine is still young and we see her do freshman things," Collins said of her 6-foot hitter. "But she brought good volleyball experience with her and she's going to be really good for us in the long run. The other players recognize that also."
Kamelamela is one of four Hawaii-raised players on the roster. The others are all defensive specialists: sophomore Erica Enfield (Kamehameha) and freshmen Ana Ramos (Kamehameha) and Cobey Shoji (Punahou), the latter is Dave Shoji's daughter.
"I have mixed emotions about seeing Cobey out there," said the Wahine coach. "I want to see her do well if she gets in, but if she does really well that means she's hurting us. I'm happy she's on the squad, hope she does well but it's a strange feeling."
Cobey Shoji has made the traveling squad but has not played this season.
"We're still trying to find the right combinations," said Collins, the only volleyball player to ever win the Broderick Cup as the nation's top female collegiate athlete. "It's still a roulette table in the sense that we're waiting to see who's going to step up. Angie had stepped it up and taken the leadership role. We're still waiting to see who's going to take her place.
"They all want to do it but they don't know how. That comes with experience and that is something we don't have."
The Wahine have more experience but are also struggling to find the right lineup. Shoji has as many as 13 players in a single match and might be without sophomore hitter Heidi Ilustre (strep throat) for the next two matches.
"We're still looking for consistency," Shoji said. "I don't think we're at the point where we can assume any victories."
The facts
What UH Wahine volleyball
1997 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
