WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's Victoria Prince, left, and Sarah Mason blocked a shot from a Boise State hitter during yesterday's match.
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Kamana‘o comes through in first round
The junior setter passes Martina Cincerova on the school's assist list in win over Boise State
RENO, Nev. » From floor-wiper to career leader in assists.
It's been quite a journey for Kanoe Kamana'o. Hawaii's junior setter had 49 assists last night, the 45th of which put her in a realm of her own.
WAC Tournament
At Reno, Nevada; Seedings in parentheses; All times Hawaii time
Radio: Hawaii matches live, KKEA (1420-AM)
TV: Today's Hawaii match live KFVE (Ch. 5)
Tomorrow: WAC final, live CSTV (Oceanic Dig. 247)
Yesterday's results
» Boise State (8) def. Louisiana Tech (9), 35-33, 30-18, 31-29
» New Mexico State (3) def. San Jose State (6), 30-23, 30-26, 20-30, 30-19
» Utah State (2) def. Fresno State (7), 26-30, 31-29, 30-16, 30-27
» Nevada (4) def. Idaho (5), 30-22, 36-34, 30-23
» Hawaii (1) def. Boise State (8), 30-21, 30-22, 30-26
Today's semifinals
» Utah State (2) vs. New Mexico State (3), 2 p.m.
» Hawaii (1) vs. Nevada (4), 4:30 p.m.
Tomorrow's championship
» Today's semifinal winners, 3 p.m.
Sunday's NCAA selection show
» 9:30 a.m., ESPNews, www.ncaasports.com
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When connecting with Tara Hittle to give the Rainbow Wahine a 21-16 advantage in Game 3 against Boise State last night, Kamana'o became the program's leader in assists. She will add to her record 4,642 tonight when top-seeded Hawaii (23-6) takes the Lawlor Events Center court against No. 4 seed Nevada (18-11) in the second semifinal of the Western Athletic Conference volleyball tournament.
"It's a great honor but nothing you think about doing," said Kamana'o, who helped lead the Wahine to a 30-21, 30-22, 30-26 win over eighth-seeded Boise State. "I never thought about beating somebody's record.
"It all starts with the pass. I give credit to our serve-receive (passers) and to my hitters."
Last night, her favorite connection was with sophomore hitter Hittle, who was celebrating having her braces removed after 26 months. Hittle put down 16 kills, hitting .394, and was pleased with becoming the answer to the trivia question of "Kamana'o's assist to which Wahine broke Martina Cincerova's record of 4,637?"
"Kanoe's a great player, a great athlete," Hittle said after the Wahine won their 123rd straight WAC match. "She makes it really for us to get 1-on-1s against the block. I give her a lot of credit for our success."
Kamana'o was in on six stuffs as Hawaii won the blocking battle 12-3 against Boise State. Senior middle Victoria Prince also had six blocks to go along with her 13 kills.
It was a ragged match in which the Wahine struggled in the thinner air. Hawaii had 10 service errors and "I think our players are too aware of the air," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UH's Jamie Houston hit over a pair of Boise State defenders during yesterday's match.
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Hawaii is also aware of how dangerous Nevada can be, particularly if senior Salaia Salave'a starts to play well.
Salave'a wasn't much of a factor yesterday when the Wolf Pack swept Idaho, 30-22, 36-34, 30-23, the first time Nevada has played at Lawlor instead of Virginia Street Gym. She had just five kills and hit negative .048 as she continues to recover from several injuries.
"She's a mystery," Shoji said. "She's probably the key. We expect a tough match."
Against the Broncos the Wahine got what they wanted, winning without expending a lot of energy. Shoji used different combinations, including getting junior hitter Sarah Mason back out on the floor for the first time since she re-sprained her ankle Nov. 9.
They also got the third career kill by libero Ashley Watanabe. Robyn Hewitt's shot was deflected off Watanabe's left shoulder and landed on the other side of the court for a 20-11 lead in Game 2.
Boise State, ending the year at 8-18, got 13 kills from Cameron Flunder.
In today's first match, two NCAA tournament hopefuls will battle it out when New Mexico State (20-11) takes on Utah State (20-11). Many expect it to go five.
"We may not be starting our match on time," Nevada coach Devin Scruggs said. "It's going to be a battle."
Nevada 3, Idaho 0: The Wolf Pack trailed 29-25 in Game 2 when Karly Sipherd and Erika Ryan teamed for four straight blocks to help Nevada hold off four game points and tie it.
The teams traded swings at ending it -- Idaho had two more shots and Nevada three -- before Idaho's Amanda Bowman hit long to give the Wolf Pack the 2-0 lead.
"I don't even know what the score was, we just knew we weren't going to lose," said Sipherd, who finished with seven block assists. "To beat Hawaii, we need to do what we did tonight. Big defense, be positive, play smart, play with confidence."
Carly Sorensen led Nevada with 11 kills and Ryan added 11 for Nevada, which outblocked Idaho 11-4. Haley Larsen led Idaho with 12 kills.
Boise State 3, Louisiana Tech 0
The Broncos got 18 kills from Cameron Flunder and 13 from Jeanette Jenkins in ending the Lady Techsters' season with a sweep in the play-in game.
Ambra Hayes led ninth-seeded LaTech (8-17) with 18 kills.
New Mexico State 3, San Jose State 1: The Aggies' balanced attack eliminated the sixth-seeded Spartans, 30-23, 30-26, 20-30, 30-19.
Kim Oguh and Tanya Allen each had 12 kills and Oguh added 10 block assists for NMSU. For San Jose State (12-17), Jennifer Senftleben had 20 kills and Niki Clement 15 kills and 16 digs.
Utah State 3, Fresno State 1
The Aggies shook off the upset-minded Bulldogs behind Carolyn Forbush's 23 kills and 17 from Zuzana Cernianska.
Seventh-seeded Fresno State (7-21) was led by Alisha McKee's 16 kills.
Hawaii def. Boise State
30-21, 30-22, 30-26
Broncos (8-18)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Eveland |
3 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
.200 |
0 |
1 |
3
|
Peterson |
3 |
3 |
3 |
17 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
11
|
Hewitt |
3 |
8 |
1 |
20 |
.350 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Flunder |
3 |
13 |
3 |
26 |
.385 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Claussen |
3 |
4 |
6 |
22 |
-.091 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Jenkins |
3 |
7 |
6 |
19 |
.053 |
1 |
0 |
4
|
Klein |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
.200 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Kelley |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Starring |
3 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
-.375 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Fenneman |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
8
|
Stroud |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
16
|
Navarrete |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
3 |
39 |
24 |
126 |
.119 |
1 |
4 |
49 |
Rainbow Wahine (23-6)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
2 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
.375 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Boogaard |
3 |
4 |
0 |
8 |
.500 |
0 |
2 |
13
|
Hittle |
3 |
16 |
3 |
33 |
.394 |
0 |
0 |
8
|
Houston |
2 |
8 |
2 |
21 |
.286 |
0 |
3 |
2
|
Kamana'o |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
.250 |
1 |
5 |
8
|
Prince |
3 |
13 |
4 |
25 |
.360 |
0 |
6 |
1
|
Gregory |
2 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
.286 |
0 |
3 |
1
|
Keefe |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
.250 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Arnott |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Thomas |
3 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
.333 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Watanabe |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
11
|
Thurlby |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Mason |
2 |
7 |
5 |
18 |
.111 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
Totals |
3 |
60 |
16 |
133 |
.331 |
1 |
22 |
50 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- BSU (2): Peterson, Kelley. Hawaii (2): Prince, Arnott. Assists -- BSU (37): Eveland 29, Klein 4, Stroud 3, Claussen. Hawaii (57): Kamana'o 49, Boogaard 3, Mason 2, Watanabe, Arnott, Hittle.
T -- 1:40. Officials -- Ray Mink, Margie Ray. A -- NA.