Wahine Playbook
VS. Stanford Cardinal
Tomorrow: No. 7 Stanford (16-2, 9-1 Pac-10) at No. 2 Hawaii (17-0, 6-0 WAC), 5 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center.
Coaches-Hawaii: Dave Shoji (25th season, 698-135-1), 4 national titles. Stanford: Don Shaw (16th season, (425-69), 4 national titles).
Series: Hawaii leads Stanford, 16-8. The Cardinal have won the last four meetings, dating back to a split over the 1991 Thanksgiving weekend. Hawaii defeated the then-No. 1 Cardinal, 3-0 ,but Stanford came back the next night with a 3-2 victory. In 1996, Hawaii was 23-0 before the Cardinal came into the Stan Sheriff Center and left with a 3-1 victory. Seven weeks later, Stanford swept the Wahine, 3-0, in the quickest NCAA championship final in history (15-7, 15-3, 15-5). Last meeting: A 3-1 victory by the Cardinal at home in 1997... In Honolulu, Hawaii leads, 9-4.
Top players_Hawaii: Heather Bown (6-3 Sr. MB) 4.21 kpg, .394, 2.25 bpg, 15 aces; Jessica Sudduth (6-2 Jr. LS) 3.21 kpg, .232, 17 aces, 2.52 dpg; Veronica Lima (6-2 So. MB) 2.12 kpg, .294, 2.69 dpg, 1.20 bpg, 20 aces; Jennifer Carey (6-1 Fr. S)12.08 apg, 2.90 dpg, 1.04 bpg; Lily Kahumoku (6-2 Fr. LS) 3.33 kpg, .299, 2.06 dpg. Stanford: Kerri Walsh (6-2 Sr. MB) 3.21 kpg, .339, 3.46 digs, 1.14 bpg; Logan Tom (6-1 Fr. OH) 4.98 kpg, .337, 18 aces, 2.83 dpg. Sara Sandrick (6-1 So. MB) 2.57 kpg, .346, 1.20 bpg; Lindsay Kagawa (5-9 Jr. S) 13.45 apg, 14 aces, 2.32 dpg;
About the Wahine: Hawaii ran its perfect records to 17-0 overall and 6-0 in the WAC with a 71-minute victory over UTEP Thursday.The win was the 32nd straight at the Stan Sheriff Center. (Their longest home winning streak is 55, set from 1986-89). Sudduth had a team-high 10 kills and Bown added 9 kills and 8 blocks. Carey was back in the lineup at setter but Kahumoku sat out the match because of back spasms Kahumoku is expected to be ready to play tomorrow... Hawaii surpassed the 100,000 mark in attendance for the fifth consecutive season against the Miners (6,180 tickets). The only other collegiate volleyball team to ever draw 100,000 fans in a season are the Rainbow men. Tomorrow's match is expected to be the first sellout of the season. The last sellout came in the 1996 NCAA Tournament against BYU.
About the Cardinal: Stanford extended its home winning streak to 37 straight last night with a 15-2, 15-7, 15-6 victory over California at Maples Pavilion. The match lasted 69 minutes. It was the 33rd consecutive victory by the Cardinal over the Golden Bears ... On Tuesday, Stanford escaped with a 16-14, 15-7, 6-15, 5-15, 15-13 win over No. 3 Pacific at Maples ... Against Cal last night, Stanford hit .419 and had 16 blocks. Cal hit negative .029. Yamasaki and Sandrick each had eight kills. Walsh was in on seven blocks to move into fourth-place on the school's all-time list with 426 career blocks. Walsh leads active Pac-10 players in three Top 10 categories: kills, digs and blocks... Against UOP, Tom had 21 kills and 17 digs, while hitting .333. Walsh hit .326 with 20 kills and 26 digs.
The match: It will pit two of the premier players in the country - Hawaii's Bown and Stanford's Walsh - as well as two of the top freshman of the year candidates - the Wahine's Kahumoku and the Cardinal's Tom.
On the air: Live on KFVE TV (Channel 5) and KCCN radio (1420-AM).
Tickets: $5-$9.
By Cindy Luis, Star-Bulletin
