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Saturday, November 11, 2000
Even when the undefeated Hawaii Pacific University women's volleyball team hasn't played to the best of its ability this season, it has simply had rival Brigham Young University-Hawaii's number. HPU sweeps BYUH
in PacWest semifinalBy Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinThe national No. 1 and Pacific West Conference Pacific Division champion Sea Warriors had already beaten the No. 7 and defending national champion Seasiders three times this year entering this weekend. In their last regular season matchup two weeks ago, HPU convincingly swept BYUH in perhaps its best performance of the season so far.
While the Sea Warriors did not have the same near-flawless execution against the Seasiders last night in the first round of the PacWest Championship Tournament at Blaisdell Arena, the end result was the same.
Tournament host HPU (22-0 overall, 14-0 conference regular season) handily dispatched BYUH, 15-7, 15-8, 15-5 to move on to tonight's championship game.
"Our passing and hitting were a little off in the beginning," HPU coach Tita Ahuna conceded.
Indeed, the Sea Warriors came out flat against the Seasiders (16-6, 12-2), with only one of their many talented attackers --PacWest Newcomer of the Year Susy Garbelotti -- hitting above .200 in the first game. But the Seasiders started even worse, with four of their hitters attacking for a negative percentage during the same period.
With both teams likely trying to work through early postseason jitters, HPU setter and conference Player of the Year Nia Tuitele stepped up to stabilize the Sea Warriors' offense.
Just as she's done all year, Tuitele set, dumped and served HPU into a groove. She served for five consecutive points during the early stages of the second game. For the match, she was the only Sea Warrior to serve for more than two consecutive points, doing so for four later in the second, then seven in the decisive third game. Tuitele tallied two aces, eight kills, as well as eight digs on the night.
"Nia is the quarterback and she makes things happen," Ahuna said. "We (coaches) picked some spots on the floor to hit on serves and Nia kept hitting them. Nia does such a fantastic job, it makes my job easier, but overall it was still a team effort."
As proof, the Sea Warriors' hitters began to find their mark as well. On the receiving end of most of Tuitele's 37 total assists, outside hitter Flavia Gabinio led the Sea Warriors with a match-high 16 kills and .400 percentage.
Outside hitter Debbie Sant'Anna and Garbelotti chipped in with 14 and 9, respectively.
Outside hitter Vanessa Valansi led the Seasiders with 14 kills in the loss.
HPU will face West Division champion Seattle Pacific tonight at 7:30 p.m. for the PacWest championship. BYUH will play Western Washington in the consolation final at 5 p.m.
Seattle Pacific (24-4, 17-1) defeated Western Washington (24-8, 16-2) in the other first-round match last night, 15-2, 15-10, 12-15, 15-10.
Leilani Kamahoahoa led the Falcons in the victory with 17 kills. Michelle Parker had a match-high 22 kills for the Vikings in defeat.
While Ahuna and the Sea Warriors had not seen the Falcons play this year before last night, she said that she is looking forward to a good match.
As defending conference champion and the favorite to win the national title, Ahuna knows that a Sea Warriors victory is critical for momentum going into next weekend's NCAA Division II Pacific Regional.
"They have some good outside hitters and middle blockers, and they're a disciplined, well-coached team," Ahuna said. "But if it ain't broke, you don't fix it. We really don't worry about anything but ourselves."
Hawaii Pacific def. BYU-Hawaii,
15-7, 15-8, 15-5Seasiders (16-6 overall)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Leota 3 1 2 15 -.067 0 2 4 Olmstead 3 1 1 2 .000 0 0 3 Valansi 3 14 6 43 .186 0 0 3 Peniata 2 0 0 0 .000 0 1 2 Ribeiro 3 7 5 19 .105 0 2 11 Matsuzaki 3 3 6 24 -.125 0 0 8 Elkington 3 3 2 12 .083 0 2 4 Moeai 3 1 2 10 -.100 0 1 1 Totals 3 30 24 125 .048 0 8 36
Sea Warrors (22-0 overall)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Garbelotti 3 9 2 18 .389 2 3 6 Robert 3 4 2 14 .143 0 1 16 Tuitele 3 8 0 11 .727 0 2 8 Lezchuk 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Sant’Anna 3 14 4 32 .313 0 1 10 Gabinio 3 16 4 30 .400 0 1 9 Wean 3 2 0 8 .250 0 2 1 Totals 3 53 12 113 .363 2 10 53 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--BYUH (2): Leota 1, Olmstead 1. HPU (5): Garbelotti 2, Tuitele 2, Sant'Anna 1.
Assists--BYUH (30): Leota 21, Peniata 6, Ribeiro 2, Elkington 1. HPU (51): Tuitele 37, Robert 7, Lezchuk 4, Gabinio 1, Sant'Anna 1, Wean 1.
T-1:21. A--505.
Seattle Pacific def. Western Washington,
Statistical leaders
15-2, 15-10, 12-15,15-10Kills--WWU: Michelle Parker 22, Kristen Mann 10, Shannon Rowland 10, Donja Walker 10. SPU: Leilani Kamahoahoa 17, Leah Wiiest 12, Stephanie Huffman 10.
Blocks--WWU: M. Parker 5. SPU: Nohe Ka 7, Monica Abrahamson 6.
Digs--WWU: Niki Smith 20, D. Walker 16, S. Rowland 14. SPU: L. Kamahoahoa 21, L. Wiiest 16, S. Huffman 15, Katy Higgins 14, Kortnee Osborne 10.
Assists--WWU: Liz Bishop 48. SPU: K. Higgins 46.
Service aces--WWU: Gelinda McKenna 2. SPU: M. Abrahamson 4.
Hawaii Pacific
BYU-Hawaii