Tuesday, October 20, 1998
Ailing Ilustre
cranks it up
for Wahine
Despite a sore
From staff and wire reports
hitting shoulder, the junior
has a big game as Hawaii
defeats San DiegoSAN DIEGO -- It was like watching a balloon slowly losing air. And it was the 10th-ranked Hawaii women's volleyball team deflating San Diego's upset hopes.
The Wahine fought off the challenge by the No. 16 Toreros last night, finally wearing them down, 15-11, 8-15, 15-12, 15-3. The match at the USD Sports Center last 2 hours and 5 minutes; until the final 20 minutes, the outcome was in doubt.
"It was pretty tight until Game 3 and it was 10-10," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "When we won that won, it obviously took some air out of them.
"It was a big win in more ways than one, a good quality win on the road. I don't know how much it will help us (in the rankings) but this was one nationally that we couldn't afford to lose."
Hawaii (14-2) got huge games from two juniors nursing injuries: Heidi Ilustre (sore hitting shoulder) and Heather Bown (strained stomach muscle, sprained ankle). Ilustre put down a career-high 22 kills, hitting .326, while Bown added 22 kills.
"Heidi was on fire tonight," Shoji said. "She saw the block well. She hit low when she had to, hit high when she had to. She had been up-and-down lately but she came up big tonight.
"Heather is still bothered by her ankle and stomach. She can't do everything she wants. You can tell especially in her blocking, that she can't raise her arms like she's used to. But she's real tough and got us key sideouts."
Ilustre came up big in Game 3 as she had three consecutive kills from the back row to help the Wahine rally from a 10-7 deficit to a 12-10 lead. USD's All-American candidate, junior hitter Petia Yanchulova, got the Toreros to 12-11 and then to 14-12 but Bown ended it with a kill.
USD didn't have much fight left, falling behind quickly in Game 4, 8-0 and 13-1. Ilustre put down the match-ender, bettering her previous kill high by two.
"Often times that third game is the swing game," Shoji said. "Their kids had confidence after winning Game 2. We were fortunate to play well at the end of the third. It set the tone for the fourth.
"It helped that we had a pretty relaxing weekend. We had a day off between matches, we weren't in altitude, we had nice weather. We have five girls from California so they felt more at home than on our previous road trip."
Hawaii had a considerable cheering section among the 705 in attendance. Former Wahine players Chastity Nobriga and Sarah Chase were in the gym, as well as former island prep players Stacie Tongg (Punahou) and Tiffany Ahuna (Iolani).
The Wahine returned home this afternoon and will have one day to prepare for consecutive WAC matches.
On Thursday, it's San Jose State 14-5 overall, 3-2 WAC); on Friday, it's Fresno State (14-5, 3-2).
"Both those teams are capable of playing well," Shoji said. "It will be a challenge on the short week. It's not an ideal week for us, but our kids' technique is so good right now. You worry about the technical skills starting to go if you don't get to practice. But I think we're good to go in that area."
Yanchulova finished with 31 kills in 76 swings, hitting .316. She was a big factor in the Toreros jumping out to an 11-6 lead in Game 1.
Hawaii went on a 9-0 run to close out the game "and I think that stretch gave us a lot of confident," Shoji said. "It showed our kids that they had to play hard. We didn't play well in the second but at the end of the third and in the fourth it was all ours."
Sophomore Jessica Sudduth added 15 kills for the taller Wahine, who barely had the edge in blocking (9-8). Also in double-kill figures for the Toreros were Adrian Frediani (17) and Debra Robertson (11).
Box Score
Hawaii def. San Diego, 15-11, 8-15, 15-12, 15-3
g k e at pct. bs ba d Karratti 4 8 2 20 .300 0 3 7 Sudduth 4 15 4 31 .355 0 2 15 Bown 4 22 9 44 .295 0 4 0 Hubbert 4 3 2 6 .167 0 1 7 Lima 4 8 5 20 .150 1 5 16 Miyashiro 4 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 9 Roberts 4 7 0 12 .583 0 1 0 Ilustre 4 22 7 46 .326 0 1 8 Totals 4 86 29 180 .317 1 16 62
g k e at pct. bs ba d Lindquist 4 4 1 9 .333 0 2 12 Robertson 4 11 2 22 .409 0 3 3 Spaulding 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Bretz 4 6 4 19 .105 0 1 7 Yanchulova 4 31 7 76 .316 0 1 9 Frediani 4 17 5 36 .333 0 3 15 Ravensberg 4 1 2 8 -.125 1 3 1 Moreno 4 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 7 Totals 4 71 21 171 .292 1 13 54Aces--UH (8): Hubbert 3, LIma 2, Karratti 2, Sudduth 1. USD (4): Yanchulova 3, Lindquist 1. Assists--UH (72): Hubbert 68, Karratti 2, Lima 1, Roberts 1. USD (60): Lindquist 56, Bretz 3, Yanchulova 1. A--705. T--2:05. Officials: Patsy Malta, Jesse Martinez.
WAC women
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Brigham Young 5 0 1.000 -- 17 1 .944 Hawaii 5 1 .833 1/2 14 2 .875 Fresno St 4 2 .667 1-1/2 15 3 .833 San Jose St 3 2 .600 2 14 5 .737 Utah 2 3 .400 3 12 6 .667 Texas-El Paso 2 3 .400 3 10 6 .625 San Diego St 1 6 .143 5 4 15 .211 New Mexico 0 5 .000 5-1/2 6 11 .353
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Nev-Las Vegas 5 0 1.000 -- 16 3 .842 Colorado St 5 0 1.000 -- 15 4 .789 Wyoming 4 1 .800 1 9 9 .500 Rice 2 3 .400 3 14 6 .700 So. Methodist 2 3 .400 3 11 9 .550 Tulsa 1 4 .200 4 8 8 .500 Air Force 1 4 .200 4 8 9 .471 Texas Christian 0 5 .000 5 3 17 .150
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