WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
UH finds no resistance in San Jose
The Rainbow Wahine dominate the Spartans, needing only 77 minutes to notch the WAC win
SAN JOSE, Calif. » Efficiency continued to be the game plan for the ninth-ranked Hawaii volleyball team. San Jose State did little to get in the way.
Led by sophomore Tara Hittle's season-high 15 kills and 12 from sophomore Juliana Sanders, the Rainbow Wahine rolled to their 14th straight victory, beating the Spartans in 77 minutes last night, 30-16, 30-18, 30-17. It was Hawaii's 28th consecutive victory over San Jose State, dating back to 1993, and was as lopsided as the series, which UH leads 54-4.
In a word, the Wahine (20-6, 14-0) dominated the Spartans (6-8, 11-15) in the Western Athletic Conference match at newly renovated Spartan Gym.
In every phase.
A pro-Hawaii crowd saw the Wahine hit .516 to San Jose's .106, with Sanders leading the way at .800 with no errors in 15 swings. The middle blocker was also in on six of the team's 12 stuffs.
Getting in on the Wahine block party was freshman Jamie Houston, who had two solo blocks to go with four block assists and eight kills. Senior Victoria Prince was in on the damage as well, with three block assists in addition to her career-best five aces and eight kills while playing in the first two games.
"We played at a pretty high level tonight even though the competition wasn't at the same level," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "That's something we want to continue to do.
"Everybody had a pretty good hitting night and we had really good energy the whole match. We played good defense, were moving around well, the players were having fun. That's when we are at our best."
The Spartans weren't. Coming off a disappointing 3-2 loss to Fresno State on Thursday, SJSU coach Craig Choate had hoped the team could rebound.
"I was feeling pretty good going into Thursday's match," Choate said before last night's contest. "I thought we'd win that one. But we played horrible.
"To beat Hawaii, it would take our best match."
Instead, the smaller Spartans were no match, with little hitting success against the taller Hawaii block, and no success in blocking the Wahine. UH had a combined six hitting errors, with no player committing more than two.
Freshman middle Nickie Thomas, inserted in the middle of Game 3, finished with a career-high four kills. She put down all four of her swings, including the match-ender.
"Nickie will just have to wait for her time," Shoji said. "We had the (height) advantage. Sanders (6-foot-2) was going up against their middles, who are both 5-10.
"Houston obviously will be a force and Victoria pretty much played her normal game. I think we're feeling pretty good coming back home."
Hawaii returns home to finish out the regular season with matches against second-place New Mexico State (19-5, 11-4) on Thursday and Louisiana Tech (15-15, 2-12) on Friday. Depending on what the NCAA selection committee does on Nov. 27, these could be the Wahine's final home matches of the year.
San Jose State was led by sophomore Jennifer Senftleben and freshman Colleen Burke, both with nine kills.
Hawaii had 38 digs, 14 by senior libero Ashley Watanabe.
WAC Standings
|
Conference |
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L |
x-Hawaii |
14 |
0 |
1.000 |
20 |
6 |
New Mexico State |
11 |
4 |
.733 |
19 |
5 |
Nevada |
10 |
5 |
.667 |
16 |
11 |
Utah State |
9 |
5 |
.643 |
17 |
10 |
Idaho |
6 |
8 |
.429 |
14 |
13 |
San Jose State |
6 |
8 |
.429 |
11 |
15 |
Fresno State |
4 |
10 |
.286 |
7 |
18 |
La. Tech |
2 |
12 |
.143 |
15 |
15 |
Boise State |
2 |
12 |
.143 |
6 |
16 |
x-clinched regular-season title
y-nonconference match
Yesterday
Hawaii def. San Jose State, 30-16, 30-18, 30-17
Nevada def. Fresno State, 30-13, 30-14, 30-26
Idaho def. Boise State, 30-24, 30-15, 23-30, 34-32
New Mexico State def. Utah State, 27-30, 30-26, 30-26, 30-26
Hawaii def. San Jose State
30-16, 30-18, 30-17
Rainbow Wahine (20-6, 14-0 WAC)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
3 |
12 |
0 |
15 |
.800 |
1 |
5 |
0
|
Boogaard |
3 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
.500 |
0 |
1 |
3
|
Hittle |
3 |
15 |
1 |
30 |
.567 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
Houston |
3 |
8 |
2 |
12 |
.8500 |
2 |
4 |
3
|
Kamana'o |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
-.500 |
0 |
3 |
7
|
Prince |
2 |
8 |
2 |
13 |
.462 |
0 |
3 |
1
|
Gregory |
2 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
.750 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Arnott |
3 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
.250 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Thomas |
1 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Watanabe |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
14
|
Thurlby |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
2
|
Totals |
3 |
55 |
6 |
95 |
.516 |
3 |
18 |
38 |
Spartans (11-15 6-8 wac)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Clement |
3 |
6 |
4 |
22 |
.091 |
0 |
0 |
8
|
Collet |
3 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
Thompson |
3 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
.250 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Freeman |
3 |
4 |
1 |
13 |
.231 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Senftleben |
3 |
9 |
8 |
35 |
.029 |
0 |
0 |
6
|
Burke |
3 |
9 |
6 |
23 |
.130 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Shull |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
9
|
Conrad |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Orong |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Totals |
3 |
33 |
22 |
104 |
.106 |
0 |
0 |
31 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (7): Prince 5, Hittle, Kamana'o. San Jose St. (3): Collet, Shull, Orong. Assists -- Hawaii (51): Kamana'o 48, Boogaard, Watanabe, Thurlby. San Jose St. (31): Collet 15, Conrad 14, Clement, Shull.
T -- 1:17. Officials -- Verna Klubnikin, Ray Mink. A -- 745.