Monday, November 9, 1998
BYUH out
to prove
it belongs
The NCAA Division II volleyball
By Cindy Luis
power has had success against the
Wahine in the past
Star-BulletinIt's hard to believe the Manoa mist could be cold. But it was on that October night in 1992.
Dave Shoji was poised to win his 500th match as the Hawaii women's volleyball coach. But the congratulatory cake went into the dumpster outside Klum Gym along with the Wahine's postseason hopes.
It was only the 13th match of Hawaii's injury-plagued season, but the 13-15, 15-10, 16-14, 15-12 loss to defending NAIA champion BYU-Hawaii was beyond embarrassing. It more than likely kept Hawaii out of the NCAA Tournament for the first -- and only -- time.
Tomorrow night at the Stan Sheriff Center, the two teams meet for the first time in the regular season since 1992. Hawaii (21-2) has won nine in a row. BYU-Hawaii (24-0) hasn't lost since late 1996, a streak of 61 in a row.
This past spring, the Seasiders beat the Wahine in a match that used an experimental scoring format (14-minute running clock, rally scoring every point). BYUH coach Wilfred Navalta said the outcome tomorrow will show the gap between NCAA Division I and Division II volleyball.
"Hawaii has personnel now that they didn't have in spring," Navalta said. "They didn't have (Heather) Bown and (Veronica) Lima in the middle. We were successful back then, but now they have two very strong middles. There's a totally different look to them.
"It's realistic for me and the girls to think that we can have a competitive match. But every player Hawaii has is a concern because they're big and talented. They're well-balanced from the setter to the opposite to the middle to the outside to the defensive specialist.
"We have two to three athletes who can compete with them, but comparing our roster to their roster, we don't have the balance they have."
Navalta said the match is part of his plan to get his team playing at the Division I level."This is part of getting our program in the position to go Division I," Navalta said. "This will tell us how far our program is from that level and how far we need to go in terms of recruiting, preparation and foundation. If we can stay close and be competitive, it will give us some positive information that tells us we can go D-I in the near future."
"I've told our team that they'd better not think of BYUH as a Division II team," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "They're not your typical Division II team.
"Sure, I remember '92, but more importantly I remember the spring of '98 when they totally kicked our butts. They clearly were the better team. We're better than we were then with Heather and Veronica. But we know how good they are and we cannot take them lightly."
Navalta, who hosts the PacWest Tournament later his week, said playing in the Sheriff Center should duplicate tournament conditions for his team.
"I expect to get some good experience playing away from home in front of a nice crowd," Navalta said. "It's a hostile, exciting environment for us. If we go to the nationals, that's the kind of environment we'll see.
"Actually, this will be more competitive, more imposing than we'll see at the national tournament. This is the best way for us to prepare for the regional and the national tournaments."
Women's volleyball
Tomorrow: Brigham Young-Hawaii (24-0) at Hawaii (22-2), 7 p.m.
1998 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
