Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Wahine can’t afford
to trip this weekend
UH women's volleyball
By Cindy Luis
team hosts UTEP and New
Mexico before making a
crucial road trip
Star-BulletinPacking for next week's first road trip of the season begins this weekend.
The Hawaii women's volleyball team has two matches it hopes will be neat, tidy and quick.
The goal against Texas-El Paso and New Mexico is not just to play well, but to be efficient; not just to be good, but to be dominating. If successful, Hawaii shouldn't have any excess baggage when it travels to Utah and Brigham Young next week.
"I'm not too concerned about losing this weekend like I would be if Pacific or Florida was here," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "We don't want to struggle this weekend. We want to play well going into that trip, where we're certainly going to play two very good teams on the road.
"Both teams coming in this weekend are decent. I'm not really concerned about losing. My concern is about playing better."
The No. 10 Wahine (9-1 overall, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference) weren't sharp in their two-match sweep of St. Mary's last week. Tomorrow night, they'll face Texas-El Paso (8-3, 1-0), which held on to beat struggling San Diego State, 15-11, 15-12, 6-15, 8-15, 15-13, last night.
The Miners were led by a pair of sophomore hitters: Felicia Fahey (23 kills, 17 digs) and Stacy Zimmerman (16 kills, 14 digs). Junior blocker Eryn Polhamus, the team's kill leader going into the match, had 10 kills and was in on nine blocks.
Junior Veronica Acosta, the Mexican National Team setter, ran the UTEP offense. She had 51 assists and three of the team's nine aces in the match, which lasted two hours and five minutes.
It will be the first-ever meeting between Hawaii and UTEP.
UTEP is one of many improved teams -- record-wise -- in the WAC this season. In the Pacific Division, six of the eight teams have eight or more wins, including Fresno State (12-0), one of five undefeated teams in the country.
Three others have 10 wins: No. 5 BYU (10-1), San Jose State (10-3) and Utah (10-3). In the Mountain Division, five of the eight teams are above .600, led by Rice (11-3), UNLV (10-3) and Colorado State (10-4).
At this point last season, WAC teams were a combined 111-75. After last weekend, the WAC was 120-64.
"It's good to see the WAC teams having success," Shoji said. "All the WAC teams have improved their records. Creative scheduling might have something to do with it.
"Are we for real? I think we're a top-10 team. Now whether we're a top-5 team will be answered when we play BYU. That's going to be a tough road trip."
The Wahine face Utah and BYU on consecutive nights (Oct. 9-10), an arrangement Shoji now regrets making.
This weekend, Shoji will put freshman middle Veronica Lima at the left-side hitting spot, giving her more swings at the ball.
"We've struggled on the left and may want to move her out there if things aren't going well," Shoji said. "We want to take the pressure off (left-side hitters) Jessica (Sudduth) and Heidi (Ilustre) of having to take all the swings out there.
"I feel good about where we are right now. They work hard, they have a good attitude coming to practice. They're fun to be around. I just want us to be playing better."
Hawaii has won 50 consecutive conference matches, the seventh-longest such streak in NCAA Division I history. The Wahine haven't lost a regular-season WAC match (31 in a row) since joining the conference in 1996.
Wahine junior Heather Bown leads the country in block average (2.03 blocks per game) and is tied for second in hitting percentage (.472). Senior setter Nikki Hubbert is seventh nationally in assists (14.06 assists per game).
University Lab product Summer Jennings, a sophomore at Colorado State, is third in the WAC in hitting percentage (.395). Jennings, who has moved from blocker to right-side hitter, was named to all-tournament teams in the Rams first two tournaments this season. Last week, she had 19 kills and hit .593 in a 3-1 loss to Loyola Marymount.
WAC Volleyball
Tomorrow: Texas-El Paso (8-3, 1-0) at No. 10 Hawaii (9-1, 1-0), 7:05 p.m.
WAC Women
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Fresno St 1 0 1.000 -- 12 0 1.000 Hawaii 1 0 1.000 -- 9 1 .900 Texas-El Paso 1 0 1.000 -- 8 3 .818 Brigham Young 0 0 .000 1/2 10 1 .909 San Jose St 0 0 .000 1/2 10 3 .769 Utah 0 0 .000 1/2 10 3 .769 New Mexico 0 0 .000 1/2 6 6 .500 San Diego St 0 3 .000 1-1/2 2 12 .143
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 0 0 .000 -- 11 3 .786 Nev-Las Vegas 0 0 .000 -- 10 3 .769 Colorado St 0 0 .000 -- 10 4 .714 Tulsa 0 0 .000 -- 7 3 .700 So. Methodist 0 0 .000 -- 9 6 .600 Air Force 0 0 .000 -- 7 5 .583 Wyoming 0 0 .000 -- 4 8 .333 Texas Christian 0 0 .000 -- 3 12 .200
Texas-El Paso def. San Diego State, 15-11, 15-12, 6-15, 8-15, 15-13
Texas Tech def. Southern Methodist, 15-12, 15-13, 15-9
Fresno State at UNLV
New Mexico State at San Diego State
Texas-El Paso at Hawaii, 7:05 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
BYU at Utah
Rice at Wyoming
Tulsa at Colorado State
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
