Starbulletin.com


[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]



UH



art
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Wahine's Kim Willoughby had 20 kills, 15 digs and three aces last night against Stanford.




Willoughby meets her
match in Tom


Cardinal crash Wahine's party


By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

Consider it "Clash of the Titans, Part I."

In what was billed as a possible preview of next month's NCAA national volleyball championship match in New Orleans, current No. 1 Hawaii met last year's No. 1 Stanford. And, in an even rarer collision, the 2001 Player of the Year looked through the Stan Sheriff Center net at her possible successor.

Cardinal senior Logan Tom and Wahine junior Kim Willoughby carried some heavy numbers into the nonconference meeting as well as heavy postseason hopes. Tom, the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week, continues her rise up the Stanford career charts -- No. 2 in aces and digs, and No. 3 in kills; Willoughby, ranked in the Top 20 nationally in aces, kills and hitting percentage, simply continues to impress.

Something had to give.

Just as in 1996 when unbeaten and top-ranked Hawaii was 23-0 and hosted Stanford, it was the Wahine's perfect record that disappeared into the Manoa night. In front of their first sellout crowd (10,252) since facing the Cardinal in 1999, Hawaii lost 31-29, 30-28, 30-24 in 110 minutes.

Even a pep talk between Games 2 and 3 by former Wahine All-American setter Robyn Ah Mow couldn't turn the momentum. It was deja vu for Ah Mow, whose career ended with a straight-set loss to Stanford in the 1996 NCAA title match in Cleveland.

"Oh yes, I was thinking about that," said Ah Mow, on break from her Italian pro team.

It was the first time the Wahine had been swept in 51 matches, dating back to a 3-0 loss to Southern California in September 2001.

Tom, who spent most of her summers in Hawaii while growing up, finished with 16 kills. She had plenty of help from sophomore Oganna Nnamani (19 kills, .630 hitting percentage) and Sara McGee (11 kills, .471).

"Logan Tom is probably the best volleyball player in the world, maybe," Willoughby said. "Why not let her go up one-on-one (blocking). She's used to doing that every day."

Willoughby had 20 kills and 15 digs, and Lily Kahumoku added 19 kills and 10 digs as the Wahine (23-1) fell to the Cardinal (24-3) for a sixth straight time. Hawaii hasn't beaten Stanford since the two teams split two matches during Thanksgiving week in 1991.

"They're both great players," second-year Stanford coach John Dunning said of Tom and Willoughby. "There's a lot of good players out there and in a perfect setting with a lot of people in a great gym. That's usually what helps you have a chance to see how good you are.

"We've played a lot of good teams and played a lot of good matches. We know that we're good sometimes because we've played good. I think it's hard for Hawaii to sometimes tell how good they are. I don't have any doubt that they're really good."

Hawaii saw its consecutive-game winning streak end at 54 after a 40-minute Game 1. Willoughby had five kills to Tom's four, but Stanford won it when Anna Robinson and McGee blocked Willoughby to end it.

That only served to fire up Willoughby, who opened Game 2 with one of her three aces. But her serving wasn't enough. UH's slim 7-5 lead turned into a 15-8 deficit. The Wahine never got closer than 25-21 on Willoughby's final ace.

Dunning didn't remember if he tried to recruit Willoughby when he was at Pacific. ("A lot of people tried to recruit her," said Dunning, who coached the Tigers to national titles in 1985 and 1986, his first two seasons at UOP.)

Shoji knows he tried to get Tom to come to Manoa but the three-time All-American said she knew better than to make a visit. (I knew if I came, I'd stay," she said in a 1999 interview).

"It was a better ending than the last time we were here," said Tom, whose team lost to Penn State in the 1999 NCAA championship match at the Sheriff Center. "I enjoy playing against Hawaii. And Kim, she's a phenomenal player. She has been since we played on the junior national team together.

"It would be fun to play against Hawaii in the final. I think they're good enough to make it there."



UH Athletics



| | | PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION
E-mail to Sports Editor

BACK TO TOP


Text Site Directory:
[News] [Business] [Features] [Sports] [Editorial] [Do It Electric!]
[Classified Ads] [Search] [Subscribe] [Info] [Letter to Editor]
[Feedback]
© 2002 Honolulu Star-Bulletin -- https://archives.starbulletin.com


-Advertisement-