Friday, December 3, 1999
Prairie View is no match for
By Cindy Luis
the Wahine, who will face Utah
in the NCAA Women's Volleyball
Championships tonight
Star-BulletinIt was more of a passing shower than anything else. And a very brief one at that.
The Hawaii women's volleyball team got its collective feet wet last night in NCAA Tournament play, taking just 57 minutes to send Prairie View A&M back to its hotel via a 15-3, 15-0, 15-3 victory in a first-round match at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The third-ranked Wahine, however, saw a flash-flood warning posted in last night's opening match when Utah upset No. 21 Colorado, 15-10, 15-6, 17-15. It was the Utes' first win over a ranked team in eight tries this year, sending Utah into tonight's 7 p.m. second-round match with Hawaii.
The Wahine (28-1) are 6-0 against their former WAC rival, including two wins last season. But both teams have made some personnel changes since last year and it has Hawaii coach Dave Shoji concerned.
"Utah has some things they didn't have last year,'' said Shoji. "They've got two new left-side players and two returning players who are bigger and stronger.
"They also have a very dynamic setter (senior Graciela Torres-Lopez) who gives them another dimension. They can attack you in a lot of ways so we have to be ready.''The Utes' newcomers are both sophomore transfers. Adrianne Bradley was a Wahine until four months ago when she abruptly returned home to Utah; Alisa Geddes was an all-Big West selection at Cal State Fullerton last season.
The two returnees are McKelle Stilson and Jen Snow-Richards, who combined for 22 kills last night in the win over Colorado. It was enough to send the Hawaii team into a late-night game-film session following its victory over Prairie View.
"I think our team will be focused for Utah,'' said Heather Bown. "We know we can't just walk out there and say we're going to beat them just because we're Hawaii. We know we have to go out and play hard. It's going to be a tougher match (than Prairie View). I think you'll see a lot more fire and intensity from us against Utah.''
Last night, the Wahine went on cruise control early against the Lady Panthers. The closest Prairie View came was at 4-3 in Game 1, with all three of its points coming on Hawaii errors.
The Wahine then scored 37 consecutive points, rolling out to an 11-0 lead in Game 3. By that time, Shoji had cleared his bench and had defensive specialists Aven Lee and SyRina Makainai taking swings from the front row for the first time in their playing careers.
Panther setter Tanesha Dillard broke the drought with a dump shot, eliciting encouraging applause from the crowd of 5,886. But Prairie View, with just three scholarships among its 10 players and no one over 6-feet on the roster, would score just twice more before Veronica Lima finished her perfect hitting night.
Lima was 9-for-9, hitting 1.000. Jessica Sudduth (10 kills, .769) and Heather Bown (8 kills, .889) also had no hitting errors; Hawaii committed just two as a team.
The 6-3 Bown was untouchable in the two games she played. The Panthers dug her once, on Bown's ninth and final attempt in Game 2.
Hawaii, the country's top blocking team, had six stuffs. Prairie View, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance, hit negative .031.
"We've don't see a big block like that in our conference,'' said Chanel Henderson, who led the Panthers with five kills. "The other teams are about our size.''
Last year's entry from the SWAC, Southern, was sent to Long Beach State. Southern didn't score against the 49ers.
Panthers' coach Alicia Pete left with a better feeling.
"We heard good things about the Hawaii crowd,'' she said. "We were excited to be here.''
Utah coach Beth Launiere also said she didn't mind coming back to Hawaii.
"We've been fortunate that, in our two NCAA Tournaments, we've played in places that appreciate volleyball,'' said Launiere, whose team played at Nebraska last season, losing to the Cornhuskers in the second round.
Colorado was one of three ranked teams that was ousted in first-round tournament action.
Both of the other upsets occurred at Clemson, S.C. The host Tigers, ranked No. 16, were eliminated by Indiana and Ball State handed No. 17 Northern Iowa (28-1) its first lost of the season.
Utah 3, Colorado 0: The Stan Sheriff Center has been anything but friendly to the Buffaloes. Colorado saw its postseason hopes end for the second time in four seasons in Hawaii, this time by the Utes.
The Buffs are 0-4 in their last three visits, losing to the Wahine in the second round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament. In mid-September, they fell to Hawaii and Long Beach State on consecutive days.
"What you saw tonight was how our team has been all season,'' said CU coach Pi'i Aiu, a Kamehameha Schools graduate. "It's been up and down all year. We can play better than we did tonight.''
Utah wouldn't let them. The Utes trailed for most of Game 3 but rallied to take a 14-13 lead.
The Buffs held off four match points, tying it at 14 and 15. But the Utes' Stilson served an ace (the team's 10th) and, when Sonja Nielsen launched her 50th swing somewhere near Moiliili, Utah had advanced to the second round.
Statistical leaders Utes-Buffaloes
Kills-UU (65): Geddes 18, Snow-Richards 12, Stilson 10, Bradley 10. CU (55): Engelking 18, Nielsen 12. Blocks-UH (1 solo/12 assist): Torres-Lopez 1/3, Beal 0/5. CU (2/14): Engelking 1/3, Barkman 0/4, Gower 1/2. Digs-UU (62): Geddes 14, Barton 12, Bradley 11, Turkova 10. CU (57): Bowen 12, Nielsen 11. Aces-UU (10): Turkova 3, Snow-Richards 2, Geddes 2. CU (3). Assists-UU (64): Torres-Lopez 51. CU (52): Campbell 44. T-1:41
Division I tournament glance
Yesterday's results
First RoundNorthern Iowa def. Ball State, 3-2 (12-15, 15-9, 10-15, 15-2, 15-12).
San Diego def. James Madison, 3-0 (15-3, 15-7, 15-11).
Arizona def. Virginia, 3-0 (15-8, 15-4, 15-12).
North Carolina def. Northern Arizona, 3-0 (15-6, 15-8, 15-10).
Nebraska def. Davidson, 3-0 (15-3, 15-5, 15-3).
Texas A&M def. Stephen F. Austin, 3-0 (15-4, 15-7, 15-1).
Indiana def. Clemson, 3-1 (15-9, 11-15, 15-5, 15-12).
Illinois def. Wis.-Milwaukee, 3-1 (15-13, 10-15, 15-12, 15-6).
Florida def. Liberty, 3-0 (15-4, 15-1, 15-2).
Texas def. Houston, 3-0 (15-6, 15-7, 15-10).
Santa Clara def. Cincinnati, 3-1 (15-13, 15-12, 9-15, 15-5).
Kansas St. def. Louisville, 3-0 (15-1, 15-6, 15-10).
Colorado St. def. Loyola, Ill., 3-0 (15-5, 15-9, 15-8).
Loyola Marymount def. Southeast Missouri St., 3-2 (15-8, 15-6, 11-15, 5-15, 20-18).
Utah def. Colorado, 3-0 (15-10, 15-6, 17-15).
Stanford def. Florida Atlantic, 3-0 (15-3, 15-1, 15-5).
UC-Santa Barbara def. Oral Roberts, 3-0 (15-11, 15-9, 15-8).
Hawaii def. Prairie View, 3-0 (15-3, 15-0, 15-3).
Today
First RoundhTemple (25-5) vs. Baylor (25-8) at University Park, Pa., noon.
Arizona St. (14-12) vs. Wisconsin (21-9) at Provo, Utah, 2 p.m.
Robert Morris (19-14) at Penn State (30-1), 2:30 p.m.
Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo (20-8) vs. Michigan State (20-12) at Malibu, Calif., 3 p.m.
Michigan (15-14) vs. Fairfield (30-3) at Stockton, Calif., 3 p.m.
Minnesota (25-8) vs. Cal.St.-Sacramento (22-9) at Los Angeles, 3 p.m.
Arkansas (29-6) vs. Georgetown (27-4) at Long Beach, Calif., 8:30
Princeton (23-6) at Brigham Young (26-4), 4 p.m.
Colgate (17-17) at Pacific, Calif. (28-2), 5 p.m.
Hofstra (26-5) at Southern California (20-8), 5 p.m.
Arkansas St. (28-6) at Pepperdine (24-3), 5:30 p.m.
Florida A&M (23-8) at Long Beach St. (27-3), 5:30 p.m.Second Round
Northern Iowa (29-0) vs. Indiana (20-10) at Clemson, S.C., 2 p.m.
Illinois (17-10) at Florida (31-10), 2 p.m.
Arizona (20-10) at Texas (22-7), 3 p.m.
San Diego (23-5) at Nebraska (26-5), 3 p.m.
North Carolina (28-5) at Texas A&M (26-5), 3 p.m.
Kansas St. (21-9) at Colorado St. (29-2), 4 p.m.
Santa Clara (21-10) at Stanford (27-2), 5 p.m.
Loyola Marymount (20-10) at UC-Santa Barbara (27-5), 5:30 p.m.
Utah (22-9) vs Hawaii (28-1), 7 p.m.
Tomorrow
First RoundOhio St. (16-11) vs. Notre Dame (20-8) at Los Angeles, 3 p.m.
Eastern Washington (24-7) at UCLA (25-3), 5 p.m.Second Round
Temple-Baylor winner vs. Robert Morris-Penn St. winner, 2:30 p.m.
Arizona St.-Wisconsin winner vs. Princeton-BYU winner, 4 p.m.
Minnesota-Cal St.-Sacramento winner vs. Hofstra-Southern Cal winner, 4 p.m.
Cal Poly-SLO-Michigan St. winner vs. Arkansas St.-Pepperdine winner, 5 p.m.
Michigan-Fairfield winner vs. Colgate-Pacific, Calif. winner, 5 p.m.
Arkansas-Georgetown winner vs. Florida A&M-Long Beach St. winner, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday
Second RoundOhio St.-Notre Dame winner vs. Eastern Washington-UCLA winner, 3 p.m.
Wahine box score
No. 3 Hawaii def. Prairie View A&M, 15-3, 15-0, 15-3
Lady Panthers (18-17)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Dillard 3 4 1 6 .500 0 0 0 Tanner 3 1 2 6 -.167 0 0 0 Henderson 3 5 4 14 .071 0 0 0 L.Hurst 3 3 2 14 .071 0 0 4 Allums 3 0 2 3 -.667 0 0 3 K.Hurst 3 3 4 11 -.091 0 0 1 Blanton 3 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 2 Brooks 3 1 2 6 -.167 0 0 0 Davis 2 0 1 4 -.250 0 0 3 Totals 3 17 19 65 -.031 0 0 13Wahine (28-1 overall)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Carey 3 0 1 1 -1.000 0 1 2 Sudduth 3 10 0 13 .769 1 2 6 Bown 2 8 0 9 .889 0 3 2 Kahumoku 2 3 0 5 .600 0 2 3 Lima 3 9 0 9 1.000 0 1 4 Ilustre 3 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 2 Vakasausau 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 2 Nikolic 1 1 0 3 .333 0 1 0 Makainai 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 Roberts 2 2 1 7 .143 0 0 2 Lee 1 2 0 4 .500 0 0 1 Totals 3 36 2 54 .630 1 10 24Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.Aces--UH (6): Bown 2, Lima 2, Sudduth 1, Roberts 1.. PV (1): Davis 1. Assists--UH (36): Carey 31, Vakasausau 4, Roberts 1. PV (13): Dillard 10, Allums 1, K. Hurst 1, Blanton 1.
A--5,886. T-0:57. Officials: Mickey Matthews, Todd Brownell.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
