Hawaii setter Kanoe Kamana'o was named the WAC's Player of the Year.
The Rainbow Wahine sweep
the conference's top honors
Brooms continue to be the favorite tools for the No. 2-ranked Hawaii women's volleyball team.
The Rainbow Wahine (23-0) swept their regular-season matches in the Western Athletic Conference, going 13-0.
Yesterday, for the second time in five years, they swept the WAC's top honors:
» Freshman of the Year: outside hitter Tara Hittle;
» Coach of the Year: Dave Shoji for the fifth time.
The announcement came prior to yesterday's practice, giving Hawaii an extra lift as the team prepared to defend its WAC tournament title. The top-seeded Wahine put their 103-match conference winning streak on the line when taking on eighth-seeded Southern Methodist (13-12, 5-8) on Friday at 10 a.m. HST.
Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji was named the WAC's Coach of the Year yesterday.
"In the past, playing the eighth seed would have been a walk-over match. I don't think that this will be a walk-over."
It also won't be the feature match. Host Nevada wanted to be playing in the first game of the second session, which puts the Wolf Pack up against San Jose State at 5:30 p.m.
The other matches have Boise State (4) against Fresno State (5) in Friday's second contest and Rice (2) against Tulsa (7) in the nightcap.
Most expect the Wahine to make it to Sunday's final again. Hawaii has advanced to the championship all six times the tournament has been held, losing the first two to BYU then winning the last four.
Who the Wahine would play is a tossup. Since the tournament was revived in 2001, the second seed has never made it to the final.
"I don't care who we see, I just want to survive and get to the final," Shoji said. "I think Boise-Fresno is a tossup and San Jose will be a dangerous match for Nevada.
"I think it will be more exciting in terms of a crowd if it's us and Nevada."
If it is a Wahine-Wolf Pack final, it would be a rematch with the only team to have taken Hawaii to five games twice in a WAC season. The Wahine survived to win both meetings, including last Saturday's nail-biter where UH rallied from an 0-2 deficit for the victory.
"I definitely think our conditioning gets us through those long matches," said Prince, whose five straight serves helped UH jump out to a 5-0 lead in Game 5 Saturday. "We condition every day, lift every day. Our fitness coaches keep us ready so that when it comes down to a fifth game, we are strong.
"I want to say we have the edge against SMU on a neutral court because we have more talent. I think as long as we stay focused, we should win."
For the first time ever, all five of the Western Division teams -- Hawaii, Nevada, Boise State, San Jose State and Fresno State -- advanced to the tournament. The Wahine beat their division rivals twice as well as the solo meetings with the Eastern Division teams: Rice, Tulsa and SMU.
Shoji thought that first-year Rice coach Ginny Volpe would earn Coach of the Year honors. She had his vote ... but not the unofficial vote from the Wahine team.
"I thought Dave was a shoo-in," associate coach Charlie Wade said. "If you can win the league with a whole new team ... "
Shoji said he was somewhat surprised by his honor but agreed with most of the team selections. "I couldn't vote for my own players but, if I could have, I would have voted for Kanoe," Shoji said. "She's the biggest reason we are were we are. I thought (Fresno State's) Christianna Reneau) might get the freshman award. Hittle had more big games.
"I think my award should be a "Staff of the Year" award because everyone contributed from strength coach Tommy Heffernan to our managers and trainers. The players have taken it upon themselves to get in the best shape and I thought this summer's effort was the best we've ever had. You can be in the weight room without working hard and our players have proven they've worked hard."
Kamana'o agreed.
"We knew we were losing such great players and we would be a rookie team," said Kamana'o, who is the ninth consecutive Wahine to win the WAC's top player honor. "That gave us the incentive to push ourselves and be the team we wanted to be. We worked hard over the summer and we push each other every day to get better.
"I'm humbled and overwhelmed by this award but I give the credit to my teammates. I just put the ball up there and they're the ones who hit it. If I could vote for the Player of the Year I'd give it to the whole Hawaii team."
All-WAC
First Team |
|||
| Player | Team | Pos. | Yr. |
| Alicia Arnott | Hawaii | LS/RS | So. |
| Cameron Flunder | Boise State | MB | So. |
| Kristina Hoban | Rice | S | Jr. |
| Beth Karasek | SMU | OH | Sr. |
| Kanoe Kamana'o | Hawaii | S | So. |
| Tessa Kuykendall | Rice | MB | So. |
| Rebeca Pazo | Rice | OH | Sr. |
| Olaya Pazo | Rice | RS | Jr. |
| Victoria Prince | Hawaii | M/RS | Jr. |
| Salaia Salave'a | Nevada | MB | Jr. |
| Jessie Shull | San Jose St. | L | So. |
| Joyce Silva | Tulsa | OH | So. |
Second Team |
|||
| Tristin Adams | Nevada | S | So. |
| Tiffany Bishop | Fresno St | MB | Sr. |
| Susie Boogaard | Hawaii | OH | Jr. |
| Lindsey Carter | Rice | OH | Sr. |
| ac-Rebecca Kainz | Rice | MB | Jr. |
| Heather Malaschak | Boise St | MB | Sr. |
| Carrie Nash | San Jose St | OH | Sr. |
| Joy Okpa | La.Tech | MB | Sr. |
| Tuli Peters | Fresno St | OH | So. |
| Christianna Reneau | Fresno St | OH | Fr. |
| Karly Sipherd | Nevada | MB | Fr. |
| Ashley Watanabe | Hawaii | L | Jr. |
All-Freshman |
|||
| Teal Ericson | Nevada | OH |
|
| Tara Hittle | Hawaii | OH |
|
| Christianna Reneau | Fresno St | OH |
|
| Juliana Sanders | Hawaii | MB |
|
| Jennifer Sentfleben | San Jose St. | MB |
|
| Karly Sipher | Nevada | MB |
Player of the Year: Kanoe Kamana'o, Hawaii
Coach of the Year: Dave Shoji, Hawaii
Freshman of the Year: Tara Hittle, Hawaii
