Saturday, September 11, 1999
No. 3 Wahine
top No. 20 USC
Hawaii rallies to win the last
eight points of the match on the
way to a four-game victoryBy Cindy Luis
Sunday, September 12, 1999
Wahine defeat Nevada three games to one,
15-8, 15-6, 14-16, 15-2
Complete coverage tomorrow.
Star-BulletinThose who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
That's what was going through Dave Shoji's mind when the Hawaii volleyball coach called a timeout last night with his team trailing, 10-7, in Game 4 against No. 20 Southern Cal. Last season, an early loss to Florida came back to haunt the Wahine when it came playoff time; Hawaii was sent to Gainesville where the Wahine lost to the host Gators in the regional final, one match short of the final four.
The 90-second pep talk worked wonders as the third-ranked Wahine rallied with eight straight points to remain unbeaten with a 15-12, 13-15, 16-14, 15-10 victory over the Women of Troy. Hawaii (6-0) goes for its fifth consecutive Aston's Imua Wahine Challenge title tomorrow against Nevada (4-1), at 5 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
In yesterday's first match, the Wolf Pack outlasted Tennessee, 5-15, 16-14, 15-13, 12-15, 15-8. At 2 p.m. today, the Lady Vols were to take on USC.
ASTON'S IMUA CHALLENGE
Today: No. 20 Southern Cal vs. Tennessee, 2 p.m.
"We needed to win this match for national consideration," said Shoji.
A loss to a lower-ranked team may have prevented the Wahine from a top-four finish and regional hosting duties during the postseason. It didn't happen, thanks to the serves of Veronica Lima and a career-high-tying 19 kills from Jessica Sudduth.
Lima served the final eight points of the match and "at that point of the game, you don't want to take risks with your serve," she said. "It's a big deal to lose the serve when you are trying to rally. All you are trying to do is keep the ball in play."
While Lima was doing her job, Hawaii's blockers were doing theirs, stuffing both Kashi Cormier and Antoinette Polk during the Wahine's late rally, with Heather Bown in on both blocks.
Sudduth put down the final two kills, ending the marathon after 2 hours and 31 minutes.
"SC was a really good team and showed a lot of heart," said Sudduth. "There were a lot of peaks and valleys in this match. Matches like this just remind us that we have to stay steady. The good thing was we stuck it out together when it counted."
The teams volleyed the momentum in front of 6,397 (7,434 tickets). The Wahine held off the Women of Troy in Game 1 but couldn't in Game 2, with SC rallying from a 13-9 deficit to score the final six points.
A costly red card on SC coach Jerritt Elliot helped Hawaii's cause in Game 3. The Women of Troy swung for the game at 14-9 only to have Bown put down one of her 17 kills.
Elliot's use of profanity when protesting that Bown had mishandled the ball gave the Wahine a free point. Hawaii went on a 5-0 run, with freshman Lily Kahumoku's solo block completing the comeback.
Kahumoku tied her career high with 19 kills and added 10 digs. Bown had 10 blocks, while Lima was the third Wahine with a double double with 10 kills and 20 digs.
"There were a bunch of momentum switches," said Shoji. "I give SC a lot of credit. They played extremely well, could have won the match. We knew they had the personnel to play well and they certainly proved us right.
"We are concerned about Nevada. They're real pesky. We have to regroup and be ready to go, otherwise we'll have a rough time. Nevada is very scrappy, the best defensive team we've seen this season."
Polk and Cormier each had 20 kills for USC, while Jennifer Pahl added 14.
Nevada 3, Tennessee 2
Kellie LaBossiere had 19 kills and the Wolf Pack rebounded from a tough 3-2 loss to Southern California Thursday with a 2 hour, 19 minute win over the Lady Vols."We had a ton of five-game matches last year (6) so we feel mentally and physically strong," said LaBossiere. "If we get Hawaii to five ... we have nothing to lose. We know it's going to be a tough match."
Ariana Wilson and Stephanie Knight each had 18 kills for Tennessee, which outblocked Nevada, 17-11.
Hawaii def. USC, 15-12,13-15, 16-14, 15-10
Women of Troy (2-2)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Lindquist 4 0 0 2 .000 0 0 6 Polk 4 20 5 53 .283 1 5 16 Killian 1 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 0 Oliver 4 5 5 20 .000 1 5 0 Henry 4 9 7 45 .044 0 0 22 Pahl 4 14 3 34 .324 2 2 11 Mariani 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 14 Munneke 4 7 4 16 .188 0 1 11 Cormier 4 20 7 43 .000 0 1 14 Totals 4 75 32 215 .200 4 14 94Rainbow Wahine (6-0)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Carey 4 5 1 13 .308 0 3 18 Sudduth 4 19 7 54 .222 0 1 9 Bown 4 17 3 38 .368 4 6 12 Kahumoku 4 19 6 51 .255 1 0 10 Lima 4 10 3 25 .280 1 0 20 Ilustre 4 8 5 24 .125 0 1 11 Vakasausau 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Nikolic 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Roberts 3 1 3 11 -.182 0 1 0 Lee 3 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 5 Totals 4 80 28 217 .240 6 12 89Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.Aces--USC (8): Mariani 3, Munneke 2, Henry 1, Pahl 1, Cormier 1; UH (4): Lima 2, Illustre 2. Assists--USC (71): Munneke 48, Lindquist 13, Cormier 4, Oliver 2, Henry 2, Polk 1, Pahl 1; UH (74): Carey 63, Illustre 6, Lima 2, Kahumoku 1, Roberts 1, Lee 1
A--7,434. T--2:31. Officials--Wayne Lee, Ernest Ho.
Nevada def. Tennessee, 5-15, 16-14, 15-13, 12-15, 15-8
Lady Vols (3-4)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Clayton 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 12 Wilson 5 18 7 39 .282 1 8 0 Elliott 5 5 1 24 .167 0 0 5 Lear 5 3 3 12 .000 0 4 14 Scott 5 8 6 35 .057 0 5 12 Knight 5 18 2 35 .457 0 2 18 Bergey 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Brez 5 13 7 37 .162 2 5 0 Hester 3 2 3 9 -.111 1 2 0 Peterson 5 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 17 Totals 5 67 30 193 .192 4 26 78Wolf Pack (4-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d LaBossiere 5 19 6 36 .361 1 4 13 Chambers 5 9 5 25 .160 0 2 13 Couwenhoven 1 2 0 2 1.000 0 0 2 Netherby 5 16 11 52 .096 1 1 10 Stonebarger 5 15 10 48 .104 0 2 19 More 5 13 2 33 .333 3 2 1 Dare 5 0 0 1 .000 0 0 5 Ostoich 4 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 5 Harris 5 4 1 8 .375 0 1 14 Stemler 1 1 1 2 .000 0 0 0 Totals 5 80 36 208 .212 5 12 82Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.Aces--Tennessee (10): Elliott 3, Lear 3, Scott 3, Knight 1; Nevada (7): Dare 3, Netherby 2, Stonebarger 1, Harris 1. Assists--Tennessee (63): Lear 56, Knight 2, Peterson 2, Clayton 1, Wilson 1, Scott 1; Nevada (75): Harris 55, Couwenhoven 9, Chambers 5, Netherby 3, Dare 2, Stonebarger 1.
T--2:19. Officials--Denice Hanson, Dan Hironaka.
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Ka Leo O Hawaii
