DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Melissa Villaroman, Karin Lundqvist, and Susie Boogaard showed their joy after a Kim Willoughby ace against Fresno State. The Wahine leave the stressing to the coaches, while they take care of business on the court. UH visits Nevada tomorrow.
Today, Hawaii travels to the den of another team that knows how good it is to play at home. Coaches stress out,
but UH keeps rollingBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comNevada (18-3, 7-1 Western Athletic Conference) owns a 10-0 record at home and has lost just two games at Virginia Street Gym this season.
The Wolf Pack put that record on the line tomorrow at 5 p.m. Hawaii time when the second-ranked Rainbow Wahine (19-0, 7-0) visit.
Last year, Hawaii breezed in and broke the Wolf Pack's 11-match home win streak before a Nevada record crowd of 1,419. The Wolf Pack haven't lost at home since.
"All over the country, teams get beat, especially when they go on the road, especially in the tough gyms," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "If everything's not right, then you have a chance to lose. This will be one of the tougher places to play, this and Fresno.
"We just have to prepare ourselves well and put a lot of the things that affect you in a negative way out of our mind."
That's pretty much been the philosophy that the Wahine have adopted. Junior Kim Willoughby said the Wahine haven't felt much pressure and that Hawaii coaches worry enough for everyone.
"Our coaches, they feel so much pressure and they're stressed out so much that we don't even worry about anything," Willoughby said. "We're trying to make sure we don't get stressed out the way they are because then we're all stressed out. And then we're not going to play Hawaii volleyball. Our players are staying relaxed and letting all the coaches get gray hair.
"It's really tough to play in that gym. They're playing really well and they have some really good players. It's been tough, but the thing about us is that we're worried about what we can do and we know that we're a team that can beat any team we play."
Playing "Hawaii volleyball" has led to a perfect season so far and a program-record 42-game winning streak. The Wahine last lost a game almost two months ago.
Nevada is the last WAC West team capable of doing some damage and stopping the streak. Two years ago, the Wolf Pack took the then-No.2 Wahine to four before succumbing.
Nevada has been tenacious at home, and no one has been tougher on opponents than senior Michelle More. The middle blocker is a marvel with a solid hitting percentage (.399) and a kills-per-game average most outside hitters (5.61) would love.
Setter Jill Couwenhoven averages a WAC-best 13.50 assists and freshman Salaia Salavea is the best blocker in the conference with 1.54 per game.
A splendid season this year has Wolf Pack coach Devin Scruggs just one win shy of her 100th coaching victory. That milestone may be delayed until Sunday, when Nevada plays San Jose State. The Wolf Pack have beaten the Wahine only once (1992) in 13 previous meetings.
Hawaii plays Boise State on Saturday at 4 p.m. Hawaii time. The Wahine return home Sunday.
Notes: Junior Nohea Tano will not make this road trip. The right-side hitter sprained her left ankle two weeks ago in practice. Tano will return to practice Monday. ... Willoughby is featured on ESPN.com's college sports notebook. ... Only 100 tickets are left for the match against No. 6 Stanford on Nov. 10.
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