WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Jamie Houston and Victoria Prince celebrated a point during last night's match at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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Rainbow Wahine hit 100
Hawaii wins its 100th straight WAC match with another easy victory over San Jose State
Craig Choate picked up a victory the very first time he faced Hawaii as the San Jose State coach. That was back in 1993.
Choate is still waiting to win another.
The Rainbow Wahine used a balanced attack, led by sophomore middle Juliana Sanders' 12 kills, to top the Spartans for the 26th consecutive time. Last night's 30-27, 30-22, 30-24 victory was 11th-ranked Hawaii's 100th straight in Western Athletic Conference play and was the Wahine's sixth sweep in a row.
A crowd of 5,646 (7,556 tickets) at the Stan Sheriff Center watched for 98 minutes as Hawaii (15-6, 9-0) continued its dominance in the series, running its record to 52-4 against San Jose State (9-11, 4-4). The Wahine have also won 21 games in a row, a streak that began after going down 0-2 at New Mexico State on Oct. 1.
"Hawaii is just bigger, stronger, faster," Choate said. "It's not the same as in the days where they had (Kim) Willoughby and (Lily) Kahumoku, but they're still really good.
"Physically, I think there's a couple teams who could beat them, but I don't think anyone believes they can, they've been beaten by them for so long. Someone's got to break the spell."
The Spartans, energized after upsetting Nevada in five Thursday, gave it a good shot. Their best was in Game 1 when rallying to tie at 26-26.
Alicia Arnott put down her first kill, then served an ace for a 28-26 margin. Nia Freeman's kill brought the Spartans to within 28-27 only to see freshman setter Brittany Collet called for a lift and Sanders and Arnott then team to block Colleen Burke to end it.
The pattern continued, with the Wahine going on runs, the Spartans coming back, Hawaii pulling away for good.
"We had some mental errors, lapses in our intensity," said Sanders, who was in on a career-high eight blocks.
"The game was at a different speed, a different tempo," added setter Kanoe Kamana'o, whose solo block of Burke ended Game 2. "It's a little frustrating when we'd feel comfortable, get a lead and they take advantage of us letting up. As a team we need to keep the momentum, get the lead and end it fast."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Susie Boogaard smashed a kill past San Jose State's Dyana Thompson during last night's match.
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Hawaii was able to slow down Jennifer Senftleben, who went off for 26 kills against Nevada. The sophomore hitter had 10 kills, eight coming in the first two games, when she had no errors in 29 swings.
Burke finished with 10 kills for San Jose State, which hit .136 as a team. Junior libero Jessie Shull had 22 digs, and is now 15 shy of the school record.
Susie Boogaard added 10 kills for the Wahine, hitting .250. Hawaii libero Ashley Watanabe had a match-high 24 digs.
"It was a very uneven performance, very uninspiring, but it was fairly efficient," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "There wasn't a lot of energy out there. But as I told the team, to win 100 (straight WAC) matches, you've got to show up every night. For the most part, we have.
"It's hard to fire up night after night. Tonight, there wasn't much fire, but we still played OK."
There was some concern in Game 2 when Wahine junior hitter Sarah Mason tweaked her right ankle after blocking Niki Clement and then landing on Clement's foot. It was the same ankle that kept Mason out of the first five matches of the year.
Hawaii had just taken an 11-3 lead behind a 9-0 serving run by Kamana'o. Mason left the match after putting down eight kills with no errors in 11 attempts; she also had five blocks.
The injury was minor and Mason would have been available to return had she been needed.
Hawaii next travels for a match at struggling Nevada on Thursday. The Wolf Pack lost for the second straight time yesterday, falling to Fresno State, 28-30, 32-30, 30-23, 24-30, 18-16.
Alison Pittman had a career-high 29 kills for the Bulldogs, who held off four match points.
All-WAC senior hitter Salaia Salave'a was again limited to back-row play after spraining her ankle in the win over Utah State eight days ago. Salave'a had no kills, taking one attempt.
The Wahine are at Fresno State on Saturday.
Hawaii def. San Jose State
30-27, 30-22, 30-24
Spartans (9-11, 4-4 wac)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Clement |
3 |
5 |
5 |
17 |
.000 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Collet |
3 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
.500 |
0 |
2 |
5
|
Conrad |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
6
|
Orong |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
11
|
Senftleben |
3 |
10 |
4 |
43 |
.140 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
Burke |
3 |
10 |
7 |
30 |
.100 |
0 |
6 |
0
|
Shull |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
22
|
Thompson |
3 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
.250 |
1 |
2 |
1
|
Freeman |
3 |
6 |
3 |
28 |
.107 |
0 |
4 |
1
|
Totals |
3 |
38 |
20 |
132 |
.136 |
1 |
16 |
53
|
Rainbow Wahine (15-6, 9-0 wac)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
3 |
13 |
3 |
25 |
.400 |
1 |
7 |
0
|
Boogaard |
3 |
10 |
3 |
19 |
.368 |
0 |
1 |
5
|
Hittle |
3 |
4 |
7 |
25 |
-.120 |
0 |
1 |
10
|
Kamana'o |
3 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
.333 |
1 |
3 |
10
|
Prince |
2 |
8 |
3 |
15 |
.333 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Mason |
2 |
8 |
0 |
11 |
.727 |
1 |
4 |
5
|
Gregory |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
.000 |
0 |
3 |
0
|
Keefe |
1 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
.429 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Arnott |
2 |
2 |
3 |
11 |
-.091 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Houston |
2 |
7 |
2 |
21 |
.238 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Watanabe |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
24
|
Thurlby |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Ong |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Woolford |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Totals |
3 |
56 |
21 |
140 |
.250 |
3 |
20 |
64 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- San Jose State (3): Burke, Orong, Shull. Hawaii (7): Prince 2, Thurlby 2, Arnott, Kamana'o, Watanabe. Assists -- San Jose State (35): Collett 28, Shull 3, Orong 2, Senftleben, Thompson. Hawaii (53): Kamana'o 48, Boogaard 2, Hittle 2, Arnott.
T -- 1:38. Officials -- Bill Peer, Dan Hironaka. A -- 5,646.
WAC standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L
|
Hawaii |
9 |
0 |
1.000 |
15 |
6
|
Nevada |
7 |
3 |
.700 |
13 |
8
|
New Mexico State |
6 |
3 |
.667 |
13 |
4
|
Utah State |
5 |
3 |
.625 |
13 |
9
|
San Jose State |
4 |
4 |
.500 |
9 |
11
|
Idaho |
3 |
5 |
.375 |
11 |
10
|
Fresno State |
2 |
6 |
.250 |
4 |
14
|
La. Tech |
2 |
7 |
.222 |
15 |
10
|
Boise State |
1 |
8 |
.111 |
5 |
11 |
Thursday
Hawaii def. Utah State, 30-20, 30-28, 30-19
Boise State def. Louisiana Tech, 30-18, 23-30, 23-30, 30-27, 16-14
San Jose State def. Nevada, 28-30, 25-30, 30-16, 30-28, 15-9
New Mexico State def. Idaho, 30-21, 30-19, 30-17
Yesterday
Hawaii def. San Jose State, 30-27, 30-22, 30-24
Fresno State def. Nevada, 28-30, 32-30, 30-23, 24-30, 18-16
New Mexico State def. Boise State, 30-21, 30-26, 30-18
Idaho def. Louisiana Tech, 30-24, 30-21, 30-22