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Saturday, December 9, 2000

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
The Wahine had reason to jump for joy after they beat
UC Santa Barbara -- they are going to the final four of
the NCAA Championship.

Wahine advance to the final
four in Richmond by ripping
UC-Santa Barbara for the
West Regional title

Game 2 will be one to remember
Extended family joins in hopes

---

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

It was an anticlimax.

Not what you'd expect the night the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team earned its first trip to the NCAA final four since 1996.

There weren't as many ti leaves or people (8,546). And the atmosphere was lacking the emotional charge of Thursday night's five-game win over traditional nemesis Long Beach State.

Fans even cheered the opposition as it was introduced, a sharp contrast to the deafening boos that greeted each of the 49ers.

But Hawaii's 8-15, 15-1, 15-10, 15-3 win over No. 14 UC-Santa Barbara (26-8) last night in the West Regional final at the Stan Sheriff Center punched the Wahine's ticket to Richmond, Va.

Unlike the tooth-and-nail war with the 49ers, the Wahine thoroughly dominated UC-Santa Barbara, outhitting the Gauchos, .329 to .093 and outblocking them, 20-5.

"We always felt like we were on defense," said UC-Santa Barbara head coach Kathy Gregory. "In order to get to the final four, you have to make the big plays. They outplayed us. We're not used to hitting .093."

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Veronica Lima slams one of her 11 kills last night.

No. 3 Hawaii (31-1) will play the winner of the No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 5 Arizona match in the Central Regional championship.

"I am so excited that I do not have enough English to explain," said Maja Gustin, the 6-foot-3 freshman middle blocker from Slovenia, whose comeback from a painfully sprained ankle made the difference for Hawaii in the regionals.

Gustin, who is one of several walking wounded Wahine, led four players in double-digit kills. She had 15 kills and 10 blocks while hitting .714.

One of the nation's blocking leaders all season, Gustin had missed three matches. But with her lower right leg encased in a hard plastic brace, the Wahine's Balkan princess got off the floor enough times to be involved in 19 blocks in two nights against the 49ers and the Gauchos.

"Maja was on fire tonight," said Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji. "They had no one who could stop her on the wings, especially when she went behind the setter and attacked the ball at the pin. She hit the ball so hard tonight, it was virtually unstoppable."

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
UH Wahine Jessica Sugguth watches the ball fall
between UC Santa Barbara's Simone Kuhn (#15)
and Brieanna Lampe.

Shoji said Gustin didn't actually touch every ball when she was in on a block, but her very presence at the net was a major psychological factor for the team.

"She has that stature that makes us know we're secure with her in the middle," he said. "You look at her and she's like a rock. There's never any doubt in her face ever, and it rubs off on everybody."

As she left the locker room, Gustin was asked about her ankle.

"It's not time for my ankle now," she said. "It is perfect and we are going to Richmond."

Shoji said he'd been talking about this night with his team since their 3-1 loss to Texas A&M in the NCAA Mountain Regional on Dec. 9, 1999, at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I got them together a week after we lost to Texas A&M and I said it's going to be different next time around," Shoji said. "We're not going to talk about how good we are. We're just going to go out and show people on the court. So, it's been a long 12 months because every day of the year I've been thinking about that loss."

Jessica Sudduth, the Wahine senior team captain and left side hitter who went from an .022 hitting night against Long Beach State to a .258 night against USCB (11 kills, 14 digs, seven blocks), has played in pain all year with a surgically repaired right thumb.

That thumb was somewhat aggravated Thursday night when it was yanked by a 49er player during the pre-match handshakes.

When asked how the thumb felt at the postmatch news conference, Sudduth replied without mentioning the incident. "It is what it is. ... No one is healthy at this point," she said. "You just put it behind you and compete."

Hawaii got off against the Gauchos much as it did Sept. 15 in the same arena, losing the first game and then winning the next three.

In game 1, the Gauchos went up, 4-0, before Hawaii scored a point. The Wahine hit .157 to UC-Santa Barbara's .279, and saw the Gauchos outdig them, 22-15.

Despite Hawaii's size advantage, the Wahine only outblocked the Gauchos, 3.5-2.

But Shoji got animated in between games 1 and 2 and lighted a fire UC-Santa Barbara could not extinguish the rest of the evening.

In game 2, Hawaii went errorless and outblocked the Gauchos, 7-0.

"It wasn't just the blocking that changed, it was the whole energy," said junior middle blocker Veronica Lima, the regionals MVP who had 11 kills and seven blocks against UC-Santa Barbara. She had hitting nights of .414 and .500.

"We would not let anybody beat us here because we wanted it too badly. We would not just roll over and die. We would fight to the end."

Shoji said he felt the Wahine were a bit paralyzed in game 1, possibly from the emotionally draining marathon with the 49ers.

"We were a bit like deer in the headlights," he said. "They were on the bench with pretty blank stares after the game. I don't know what I said exactly but I wanted to get them focused."

Shoji said whether the Wahine face Nebraska or Arizona, both are "very big physical teams, much like Long Beach State."

Final four Semifinals At Richmond, Va. Dec. 14 Hawaii (31-1) vs. Nebraska (31-0) or Arizona (28-4)

Hawaii def. UC Santa Barbara,
8-15, 15-1, 15-10, 15-3

Gauchos (26-8)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Lampe	4	6	4	22	.091	0	2	1
Rundle	4	1	3	7	-.286	0	0	4
Guerra	4	14	8	41	.146	0	3	9
Bauer	4	12	7	33	.152	0	2	14
Kuhn	4	13	10	38	.079	0	2	6
Niles	4	5	4	19	.053	0	1	12
Samson	2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
McFarland	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	5
Edmonds	4	0	0	1	.000	0	0	0
Totals	4	51	36	161	.093	0	10	51

Wahine (31-1)

	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Willoughby	4	11	5	32	.188	0	7	11
Carey	4	0	0	5	.000	0	4	14
Sudduth	4	11	3	31	.258	2	5	14
Kahumoku	4	11	4	32	.219	0	2	2
Lima	4	11	2	18	.500	1	6	4
Gustin	4	15	0	21	.714	1	9	2
Nikolic	1	1	0	1	1.000	0	0	0
Gomez-Tukuafu	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	7
Lee	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	2
Villaroman	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	8
Totals	4	60	14	140	.329	4	33	64

Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--UCSB (7): Guerra 2, McFarland 2, Rundle, Kuhn, Niles. UH (5): Lima 3, Gustin, Villaroman.
Assists--UCSB (49): Rundle 44, Niles 3, Kuhn, McFarland. UH (55): Carey 49, Willoughby 3, Lima 2, Sudduth.
T-1:50. Officials: Patty Salvatore, Ken Taylor. A--9,219.

---

Sweet start
in game 2 key
to UH victory

---

By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin

The colorful candies spilled and bounced all over the floor of the Stan Sheriff Center.

While jogging her victory lap after Hawaii's 8-15, 15-1, 15-10, 15-3 victory over UC-Santa Barbara last night, Maja Gustin fumbled a rainbow of tasty pellets.

It was seemingly the only mistake UH made after the first game last night, and now the Wahine are headed for Richmond, Va., and the final four.

Gustin's errorless 15 kills paced Hawaii, as the Wahine built up steam after a lethargic first game loss.

The small but quick Gauchos outhustled Hawaii early and took advantage of some weak Wahine passing.

But the second game brought about a quick role reversal that put UH in control and brought the near sell-out crowd -- like the Wahine, suffering a hangover from the previous night's emotional victory over Long Beach State -- into the match.

UCSB's sparkplug setter Brooke Rundle and two other Gauchos let the first serve of the second game fall untouched among them.

It was the turning point of the match.

"I think that set the tone for that game," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "If they get off to a good start in game two, it could be 1-2-3."

It led to a plethora of uncharacteristic miscues for UCSB that allowed the Wahine to build an 8-0 lead and time to awake from their hitting, blocking and passing slumber.

After hitting .157 in the first game, UH went errorless and needed only 12 swings to win in the second.

After that, Hawaii's balanced attack got into gear, and it was soon time for the Gauchos to saddle up for a long ride home.

"We needed another hitter desperately," UCSB coach Kathy Gregory said.

But it was the second-game mess-ups that did in the Gauchos. They knew they had to play defense to have a chance against Hawaii's firepower.

"This was the worst ever I've seen us pass," Gregory said. "Seven direct shanks."

As for the Wahine, they remain in the hunt for their first national championship in 13 years.

"It's a dream of ours," senior captain Jessica Sudduth said. "We've made unbelievable sacrifices.

"This is money time, money play."

But it's sure to be more difficult than last night. After game 1, it was like taking candy from a baby.

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UH Athletics