RAINBOW WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Keefe injured in Wahine win
From staff and wire reports
RUSTON, La. » It was only 83 minutes, but it may have lasted a minute too long.
Hawaii sophomore right-side hitter Jessica Keefe injured her left knee on the final play of last night's 30-25, 30-20, 30-14 Western Athletic Conference volleyball victory over Louisiana Tech. Keefe, who tore the ACL in her right knee in high school, had just put down the match-ending kill when she went down at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The official word on Keefe's playing status was "doubtful" for tomorrow's critical match at No. 25 New Mexico State. The situation was serious enough that Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji was on the phone immediately after the match, arranging for reserve junior middle Caroline Blood to fly out and meet the team in El Paso as soon as possible.
WAC VOLLEYBALL
Who: No. 11 Hawaii (13-4, 7-0) at No. 25 New Mexico State (20-1, 4-1)
When: Tomorrow, 3 p.m. Hawaii time
Radio: 1420-AM
Series: Hawaii leads 18-0
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"I didn't see what happened," Shoji said. "But there wasn't anyone around her and she just came down wrong. The match lasted one swing too long.
"We've been pretty fortunate over the years not to have these kinds of injuries which are so common in our sport."
But the odds have caught up with Hawaii this year. Keefe's injury is the third serious one of this season: Junior hitter Tara Hittle (ankle) and sophomore middle Nickie Thomas (knee) are both done for the year.
Losing Keefe for at least tomorrow's match has Shoji juggling the lineup for a ninth time this year. Freshman Amber Kaufman will likely start on the right side -- she played mostly on the right yesterday, saw some action on the left, and was used at middle earlier this year.
Senior reserve setter Cayley Thurlby is another option on the right.
The concern for Keefe put a damper on last night's victory, which saw No. 11 Hawaii shake off jet lag to win its 114th straight WAC match. A LaTech volleyball record crowd of 736 also watched the Wahine earn their eighth consecutive win, all by sweeps.
Reigning national player of the week Jamie Houston put down a match-high 18 kills with three aces, and Sarah Mason added 11 kills in two games for Hawaii (13-4, 7-0). Kari Gregory was in on seven of the team's 14 blocks and Jayme Lee had a match-high 12 digs.
Ambra Hayes and Samantha Crowder both had seven kills for the Lady Techsters (6-17, 0-6), who hit .000 for the match.
After hitting negative for most of Game 1, Hawaii finished with a .029 percentage, .236 for the match. The Wahine, who flew overnight to the mainland, didn't arrive here until some 5 hours before game time.
"We started out real shaky; we knew we would be less than great," Shoji said. "But we were able to string some points together to win (Game 1) and play better as the game went on."
Today is another travel day for the team. The Wahine will fly out of Shreveport, La., to Houston, then on to El Paso, where they'll spend the night; they'll drive the 45 miles to Las Cruces tomorrow.
The Aggies (20-1, 4-1) are waiting. They took Hawaii to five twice last year.
A crowd of 7,115 attended last year's match at the Pan American Center, but the arena is being renovated, forcing the match to be played at Las Cruces High.
"Maybe we can squeeze in 3,000," NMSU coach Mike Jordan said yesterday. "We know we're going to have to turn people away and that's a shame. In our sport, you never want to turn people away.
New Mexico State won 17 straight before losing its only match, in five, at Nevada. Coming into this week, the Aggies led the WAC in hitting percentage (.301), aces (155) and had four of the top 10 players in hitting percentage.
Senior hitter Alice Borden averages 3.81 kills per game and sophomore middle Amber Simpson 3.39 kpg. Senior setter Jackie Choi (12.09 apg) is behind Wahine senior setter Kanoe Kamana'o (13.55 apg) in assists.
WAC STANDINGS
|
Conference |
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L |
Hawaii |
7 |
0 |
1.000 |
13 |
4 |
New Mexico State |
4 |
1 |
.800 |
20 |
1 |
Nevada |
4 |
1 |
.800 |
10 |
7 |
Idaho |
4 |
1 |
.800 |
5 |
12 |
Utah State |
3 |
3 |
.500 |
10 |
10 |
Boise State |
2 |
4 |
.333 |
8 |
10 |
San Jose State |
1 |
4 |
.200 |
10 |
8 |
Fresno State |
0 |
5 |
.000 |
2 |
14 |
LaTech |
0 |
6 |
.000 |
6 |
17 |
Yesterday
Hawaii def. LaTech, 30-25, 30-20, 30-14
Eastern Washington def. Idaho, 30-22, 30-22, 18-30, 30-28
Today
Utah State at Fresno State
Nevada at San Jose State
Tomorrow
Hawaii at NMSU, 3 p.m. Hawaii time
Hawaii def. Louisiana Tech 30-25, 30-20, 30-14
RAINBOW WAHINE (13-4, 7-0 WAC) |
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d |
Sanders |
3 |
5 |
1 |
8 |
.500 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
Gregory |
3 |
4 |
2 |
9 |
.222 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
Houston |
3 |
19 |
8 |
34 |
.324 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
Kamana'o |
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
-1.000 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
Woolford |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
Mason |
2 |
11 |
5 |
20 |
.300 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Kaufman |
2 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
.400 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
Keefe |
3 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
-.182 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
Thurlby |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Duggins |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Lee |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
Totals |
3 |
44 |
23 |
89 |
.236 |
1 |
26 |
47 |
LADY TECHSTERS (6-17, 0-6 Wac) |
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d |
Hayes |
3 |
7 |
7 |
27 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Clayton |
3 |
5 |
6 |
19 |
-.053 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Phillips |
3 |
4 |
6 |
24 |
-.083 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
Denton |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.500 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
Crowder |
3 |
7 |
3 |
21 |
.190 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
Fairbanks |
3 |
5 |
7 |
17 |
-.118 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
Walker |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Artim |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Armstrong |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Dunlop |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Nakamura |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Totals |
3 |
30 |
30 |
115 |
.000 |
3 |
10 |
19 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (5): Houston 3, Kamana'o, Woolford. La Tech (1): Nakamura. Assists -- Hawaii (44): Kamana'o 41, Lee 2, Houston. La Tech (25): Denton 18, Walker 3, Nakamura 3, Clayton.
T -- 1:23. Officials -- Ron Stahl, Jeannine McMahon. A -- 736.