WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Wahine dig themselves out of deep hole
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » New Mexico State wasn't just pulling out the brooms last night, the Aggies had shovels. The Western Athletic Conference newcomers were poised to bury No. 11 Hawaii and the Rainbow Wahine's nation-leading conference winning streak.
Instead, it was Hawaii that found the spades, digging out of a very deep hole to rally for a 28-30, 26-30, 30-21, 30-22, 15-10 victory over New Mexico State. Junior Sarah Mason came off the bench for 19 kills and senior Victoria Prince added 13 kills and 10 blocks to lead the Wahine over the Aggies in front of 7,112, a record crowd for volleyball at the Pan American Center.
Hawaii (9-6, 3-0) needed 2 hours and 30 minutes to keep its WAC regular-season winning streak alive at 94. The Wahine used 12 blocks over the final three games to hand the Aggies (7-4, 1-3) only their third loss in 41 matches at the PAC over the past four years.
Hawaii's huge sigh of relief rivaled that of the winds left over from Hurricane Kenneth.
"This win might go a long way to turning our season around," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We could have just as easily lost the match. The team showed a lot of fortitude.
"The win itself is just one of many wins we'll have this season, but the way we won it ... the players stayed with it, believed in themselves. It was a very, very big and emotional win for us."
Hawaii had not lost a regular-season WAC match since being swept at Brigham Young on Oct. 10, 1998. The Wahine also had not lost on an opponent's home court since Nov. 24, 2001, when they were unable to hold off Pacific in five, a streak of 32 straight.
Last night was the first time in three five-game matches this season that Hawaii was able to pull out a win, having fallen earlier against Penn State and Loyola Marymount. Game 5 against LMU eerily resembled Game 5 against NMSU last night, with the Wahine taking a 10-7 lead in both.
Hawaii wound up losing to the Lions 15-13 but didn't allow it to happen against the Aggies. Tara Hittle put down her 11th kill and Mason added her 19th to give the Wahine breathing room at 13-9.
The Aggies held off one match point, getting a kill by Tanya Allen, to close to 14-10. Allen's service error was the anticlimactic end to NMSU's comeback.
Alice Borden led the Aggies with 16 kills with Kim Oguh finishing with 15 and Amber Simpson 10.
Also in double figures for Hawaii were Juliana Sanders and Susie Boogaard with 12 kills each. Hittle and Boogaard also had double-doubles, finishing with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.
Shoji said he challenged the team during the break between Games 2 and 3, saying the team wasn't being aggressive and didn't compete very hard in Games 1 and 2.
"Our players really stepped it up and played well after that," Shoji said. "I don't know if (NMSU) started pressing, but we definitely changed what we were doing. I don't know if it was them unraveling as much as it was us playing well.
"Mason gave us a big lift offensively and Hittle came through after struggling. Boogaard really stepped it up, so did Ashley (libero Watanabe) on defense. Our seniors really stepped it up tonight."
Boogaard and Sanders were each in on six blocks. Watanabe finished with 14 of the team's 60 digs and three of the aces.
Hawaii improved to 16-0 against New Mexico State in the first meeting of the teams since 1995, when both were members of the Big West. It was the first time the Aggies had hosted a ranked team since Oct. 14, 1999, when being swept by then-No. 9 UC Santa Barbara.
Shoji was impressed with the WAC newcomers.
"It shows just how good a program they are," he said. "But we showed them some good volleyball, too.
"It's definitely going to be a much shorter flight home than it could have been."
Hawaii was to return home today. The Wahine host Fresno State on Friday and WAC-leading Nevada on Saturday.
Hawaii def. New Mexico St.
28-30, 26-30, 30-21, 30-22, 15-10
Rainbow Wahine (9-6, 3-0 WAC)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
5 |
12 |
3 |
25 |
.360 |
2 |
4 |
1
|
Boogaard |
5 |
12 |
5 |
24 |
.292 |
0 |
6 |
10
|
Hittle |
5 |
11 |
10 |
45 |
.022 |
0 |
2 |
11
|
Arnott |
4 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
-.222 |
0 |
1 |
7
|
Kamana'o |
5 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
0 |
2 |
10
|
Prince |
5 |
13 |
4 |
33 |
.273 |
1 |
9 |
3
|
Gregory |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Houston |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Watanabe |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
14
|
Thurlby |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Mason |
2 |
19 |
5 |
37 |
.378 |
0 |
4 |
4
|
Totals |
5 |
69 |
30 |
176 |
.222 |
3 |
30 |
60 |
Aggies (7-4, 1-3 WAC)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Silagy |
5 |
5 |
2 |
16 |
.188 |
1 |
7 |
1
|
Choi |
5 |
5 |
2 |
12 |
.250 |
0 |
1 |
5
|
Oguh |
5 |
15 |
5 |
35 |
.286 |
1 |
4 |
3
|
Allen |
5 |
9 |
12 |
36 |
-.083 |
0 |
1 |
10
|
Simpson |
5 |
10 |
5 |
22 |
.227 |
0 |
6 |
0
|
Borden |
5 |
16 |
9 |
51 |
.137 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Torres |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
9
|
Akrie |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
8
|
Bostic |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
25
|
Laakso |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Totals |
5 |
60 |
35 |
172 |
.145 |
2 |
20 |
62 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (6): Watanabe 3, Prince, Thurlby, Mason. NMSU (4): Choi 2, Torres, Akrie. Assists -- Hawaii (65): Kamana'o 61, Boogaard 2, Watanabe 2. NMSU (51): Choi 49, Silagy, Torres.
T -- 2:20. Officials -- Jamie Lipman, Craig Smith. A -- 7,115.