Tuesday, November 6, 2001
Willoughby, Wahine Kim Willoughby crushed her first four sets, nearly deflating the ball and any hopes UC Santa Barbara might have entertained of an upset.
zap the Gauchos
The outside hitter breaks
Teee Williams' school record
for kills in a 3-game matchBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comA crowd of 4,176 watched on a school night as 12th-ranked Hawaii renewed an old rivalry with former Big West foe UC Santa Barbara. The Wahine defeated the Gauchos 30-26, 35-33, 30-27 in just under two hours for their 18th straight win.
Willoughby broke the school record for kills in a three-game match with 34. The previous record of 28 was held by Teee Williams, who did it twice during her career.
"It was just a big game," Willoughby said. "I show up for the really big games ...I have to play my A+ game. I can't just bring the A game. If I establish myself early, then that opens the middles."
Nohea Tano took advantage of that opening for seven kills and hit .462.
There wasn't much else that was pretty for the Wahine.
"It was hard to get fired up," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We were just tired."
Hawaii jumped out to a 7-1 lead in Game 1 behind Willoughby's hitting. The Gauchos made the game interesting, nearly catching Hawaii at 21-19 but the Wahine pulled away.
The Wahine let leads of 12-8 and 15-12 slip away in Game 2. Midway through the game UCSB subbed in 6-foot-2 Amy Sarkaria for 5-9 Brooke Niles to try to slow Willoughby, but it didn't work. Willoughby immediately skied over the block for her 19th kill.
UCSB was effective in slowing Hawaii's other hitters to go up 25-21.
The Gauchos were one away from winning the second game, but Willoughby helped the Wahine fight off three game points. Her 26th kill of the night brought the score to 31-32. Three errors by the Gauchos and a kill by Maja Gustin finally ended the game.
"We were in a position to win all of these games," UCSB coach Kathy Gregory said. "I was really disappointed in Game 2 that we gave it away...the big difference is obviously Willoughby. You have a player like that. It's unbelievable we slowed her down, she still had 11 errors but she's the real deal."
The Gauchos didn't have the same fire power as the Wahine but they had the defense. They dug enough balls to be competitive (60) but could only muster 46 kills. Courtney Guerra led UCSB with 15 kills and 18 digs.
"They have good players but they don't have a Willoughby," Shoji said. "There were just some hits you just can't coach. Elevate, go over (the block), hit it really hard."
The Wahine play San Jose State on Thursday at 7 p.m. Friday's alumnae match starts at 5 p.m. with the Fresno State meeting following at 7 p.m.
Note: Therese Crawford is one of 12 players on the U.S. National team roster for the 2001 Grand Champions Cup. The international tournament features host Japan, China, Russia and Brazil. Crawford joins former Wahine setter Robyn Ah Mow and middle blocker Heather Bown.
UH Athletics