Monday, October 19, 1998
The Yankees
of women’s
volleyball?
With a victory over USD today,
By Cindy Luis
the Wahine would be 2-0 in
their San Diego 'series'
Star-BulletinDave Shoji is tempted. He last attended a World Series game when he was a senior in high school -- in 1964, when the New York Yankees played the St. Louis Cardinals.
"Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Bob Gibson . . . it's something you never forget," the Hawaii women's volleyball coach said.
It would be easy for Shoji to spend another day in San Diego, hoping to latch onto a ticket for tomorrow's Game 3 between the Padres and the Yankees. But he said he will return with the team tomorrow, arriving in Honolulu about the same time the first pitch is thrown at Qualcomm Stadium.
Shoji and the No. 10 Wahine hope to have emulated the Yankees by then, going 2-0 against San Diego teams. It won't be easy -- junior kill and block leader Heather Bown is listed anywhere from doubtful to probable for tonight's match with No. 16 San Diego.
"We'll see if Heather can play or not during warm-ups," Shoji said last night from San Diego. "We don't know how bad her abdominal muscle is. It's not a good injury for a volleyball player and we don't want to risk it getting worse. It's one of those injuries that could be a slight strain or something more serious. We don't want to lose her for longer than we have to."
Bown left Saturday's match against San Diego State in Game 4 with the Wahine trailing, 9-1. Hawaii lost the game, but rallied to beat the Aztecs, 15-5, 15-8, 14-16, 12-15, 15-10.
Bown has been slowed by a sprained ankle. She wasn't in the front-row rotation for two practices prior to the Utah-BYU road trip two weeks ago.
"At least we know what it looks like without her up there," Shoji said. "The rest of the lineup is the same, the passing formations are the same.
"Jenny Roberts will start at middle with Leah Karratti on the right. Leah's almost like a seventh starter anyway so we'll be all right there. Heidi (Ilustre) didn't hit in practice today (sore shoulder) so that's what makes practice tough because it's hard to simulate team things."
While Shoji hopes the team won't simulate the collapse against San Diego State today against the Toreros, he would like repeat performances from Karratti (career highs in kills, digs and aces) and Veronica Lima (15 kills and a career-high 12 blocks).
"Veronica hit the best that we've seen in a while and we'll need a good block," Shoji said. "We've got to stop USD's left-side hitters. We aren't concerned about their middle attack, but it will be a challenge to stop (Petia) Yanchulova. She's an all-American type player."
Yanchulova, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Week last week, was ranked 12th nationally in kills (5.39 per game) and 15th in digs (4.02 per game). The Toreros split two West Coast Conference matches over the weekend, losing to Santa Clara, 3-1, Friday, but topping St. Mary's, 3-0, Saturday.
"It's a good team that we have to beat," Shoji said.
The Wahine have little time to prepare for back-to-back WAC matches this week. They face San Jose State Thursday and Fresno State Friday.
Wahine volleyball
Today: No. 10 Hawaii (13-2) at No. 16 San Diego (15-3), 4 p.m.
WAC women
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Brigham Young 5 0 1.000 -- 17 1 Hawaii 5 1 .833 1/2 13 2 Fresno St 4 2 .667 1-1/2 15 3 San Jose St 3 2 .600 2 14 5 Utah 2 3 .400 3 12 6 Texas-El Paso 2 3 .400 3 10 6 San Diego St 1 6 .143 5 4 15 New Mexico 0 5 .000 5-1/2 6 11
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Nev-Las Vegas 5 0 1.000 -- 16 3 Colorado St 5 0 1.000 -- 15 4 Wyoming 4 1 .800 1 9 9 Rice 2 3 .400 3 14 6 So.Methodist 2 3 .400 3 11 9 Tulsa 1 4 .200 4 8 8 Air Force 1 4 .200 4 8 9Texas Christian 0 5 .000 5 3 17Hawaii (10) at San Diego, 4 p.m.
(Rankings in parenthesis)
Hawaii (10) def. San Diego State, 15-5, 15-8, 14-16, 12-15, 15-10
BYU (5) def. Fresno State, 15-11, 15-6, 15-12
Utah def. San Jose State, 15-10, 15-10, 15-5
Rice def. Tulsa, 15-8, 12-15, 15-6, 15-6
UNLV vs. TCU, 15-4, 13-15, 16-14, 15-7, 15-8
SMU def Air Force, 13-15, 15-5, 15-5, 15-2
1998 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
