Monday, September 14, 1998
Competition is
no competition
for Wahine
Capturing the Aston's Imua
By Cindy Luis
volleyball championship might
have come too easy for Hawaii
Star-BulletinTo paraphrase an old Rolling Stones song, "You can't always get what you need, but you might just get what you want."
Considering that the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team opens Western Athletic Conference play Friday and has a nonconference match with No. 10 Pacific on Saturday, the Wahine might have needed stiffer competition than what they got in last week's Aston's Imua Challenge. But Hawaii got what it had hoped for -- three victories, its fourth consecutive Challenge title and players who were tired, but not as banged up as they had been following the Wahine Classic the previous week.
"We can't put one match over the other this week," said Wahine sophomore hitter Jessica Sudduth, who had 12 kills and 11 digs in Saturday's 15-5, 10-15, 15-7, 15-4 victory over Arizona State. "San Diego State is important because it's a conference match.
"Pacific is important because it's a ranked team, ranked ahead of us. It will help us in the rankings if we beat them. Both matches are important. We need to win both."
Struggling San Diego State (2-6) doesn't have an easy road this week. The Aztecs are at No. 2 Long Beach State tomorrow before flying out for the WAC opener.
Pacific (6-0) hosts Sacramento State Wednesday before coming to Hawaii. The Tigers broke a three-match losing skid against the Wahine last season with a 3-1 victory. Pacific trails in the series, 24-32.
Hawaii was vulnerable in Game 2 Saturday against the Sun Devils. Arizona State recorded eight of its nine team blocks in the second game, jumping out to leads of 9-1 and 13-3 before the Wahine rallied to 14-10.
"We just needed to settle down," Sudduth said of the Wahine, who held off five game points in Game 2. "I thought we were a little uptight. We did a good job at not giving up and had some good momentum coming into the third game."
Hawaii broke away from a 4-4 tie with an 8-0 run. Junior blocker Heather Bown, who had been hitting negative through Game 2, reasserted herself with six kills on eight swings and no errors (.750) and three blocks in Game 3.
Bown finished with 12 kills, nine blocks and her second MVP award in as many weeks. She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Nikki Hubbert and Heidi Ilustre, Baylor's Elisha Polk, Bradley's Lindsay Chang and ASU's Amanda Burbridge and Jolynn Faatulu.
Ilustre, nursing a sore hitting shoulder, finished with a match-high 18 kills. Burbridge led the Sun Devils with 12 kills.
"I think Hawaii has a solid, Top-10 lineup," ASU coach Patti Snyder-Park said. "They've got great ball control, good disciplined defense and some great athletes swinging at the ball.
"They're young, but they are outstanding, and they're only going to get stronger. I don't think they got the challenges like they might have needed this weekend. This wasn't a great tournament for them in that regard. But they'll have their share of big matches that will test them a little bit more."
"What we need to work on this week is our communication," Hubbert said. "There's not any one big area that needs work. It's more the little stuff.
"This was a good tournament for us. With BYU the only WAC team ahead of us, the other WAC teams are going to be scrappy. They'll be the underdogs and we need to be ready for that."
NOTES: Hawaii has not lost a match in four Aston's Imua Challenge appearances. The Wahine are 36-1 in games, with the loss coming Saturday against ASU . . . In six matches this season, Bradley has 94 kills and 36 blocks. Freshman Veronica Lima has 65 kills and 20 blocks.
WAC women
Pacific Division
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Fresno St 0 0 .000 -- 8 0 1.000 Brigham Young 0 0 .000 -- 5 1 .833 Hawaii 0 0 .000 -- 5 1 .833 Utah 0 0 .000 -- 6 2 .750 San Jose St 0 0 .000 -- 5 2 .714 Texas-El Paso 0 0 .000 -- 5 2 .714 New Mexico 0 0 .000 -- 4 4 .500 San Diego St 0 0 .000 -- 2 6 .250
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 0 0 .000 -- 8 0 1.000 Nev-Las Vegas 0 0 .000 -- 5 1 .833 So. Methodist 0 0 .000 -- 6 2 .750 Tulsa 0 0 .000 -- 4 2 .667 Wyoming 0 0 .000 -- 4 2 .667 Colorado St 0 0 .000 -- 4 4 .471 Air Force 0 0 .000 -- 3 5 .429 Texas Christian 0 0 .000 -- 1 7 .125Friday: San Diego State at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
Saturday: Pacific at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
1998 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
