WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Wahine lock up WAC
Thirteenth-ranked UH closes its regular season by struggling to a win in Idaho
MOSCOW, Idaho » In between hotel stays, the nomadic Hawaii volleyball team turned Memorial Gym into the Holiday Inn last night. Led by junior Jamie Houston's 19 kills and 17 from senior Sarah Mason, the 13th-ranked Rainbow Wahine celebrated their 11th consecutive Western Athletic Conference title with a hard-fought 30-21, 26-30, 30-20, 30-25 victory over Idaho in 2 hours and 5 minutes.
Junior Kari Gregory added a career-high 15 kills and junior Juliana Sanders managed 10 kills and eight blocks as Hawaii (23-5, 15-1) earned the top seed in next week's WAC tournament in Reno, Nev. The Wahine open the tourney Wednesday against the winner of a play-in match earlier that day between Fresno State and Louisiana Tech.
Other than No. 20 New Mexico State guaranteed the second seed, the rest of the tournament seedings will be determined tonight. Three teams are tied for third place at 9-6 -- Idaho, San Jose State and Nevada -- while Boise State (5-10) could tie Utah State (6-9) for fifth if the Broncos beat Nevada and the Aggies lose at Idaho.
The Wahine will sit out tonight's final night of drama in Spokane, Wash., where they'll stay until flying down to Reno on Monday. Because of today's "Apple Cup" rivalry game between Washington and Washington State, Hawaii was without hotel rooms here and had to drive the 85 miles to Spokane after last night's match.
"It was a little strange, having to get out of the rooms (early) today," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "But it was OK. We hung out and bonded."
The cohesiveness didn't always translate onto the court last night -- the Wahine hit .182, 89 points lower than their season average. It was the third-worst hitting night for Hawaii, behind the .096 against Florida and .110 vs. Stanford.
"The scores make it look like we won easy, but we struggled tonight," Shoji said. "I have no explanation for it. When our outsides (Houston and Mason) struggle, we have a hard time.
"But our middles (Gregory and Sanders) came through when we needed to. If we can get our middles and our outsides to play well at the same time, we'll be OK."
If not, Hawaii could have a short visit in the NCAA tournament. Shoji would like his team to play steady throughout a match, instead of the uneven performances that have led to roller-coaster outings like last night.
Hawaii passed well in Game 1, leading by as many as 10 -- as happened when the teams met in Honolulu last month. The Vandals took Game 2 off the Wahine, closing it out on a 4-0 run to even the match.
Hawaii enjoyed leads of 22-12 and 24-15 in Game 3 only to have Idaho pull to within 24-19. Kills by Houston accounted for three of the Wahine's final six points to finish it out.
Idaho led 22-21 in the seesaw Game 4 before Hawaii scored three straight points -- two kills by Gregory and one by Mason -- to take the lead for good at 24-22. Kanoe Kamana'o teamed with Sanders to block Amanda Bowman for match point at 29-24 and, one sideout later, Sanders ended it with her 10th kill.
Hayley Larsen led the Vandals with 14 kills and Erin Curtis added 11. Idaho hit .050 as a team, leaving coach Debbie Buchanan even more disappointed than Shoji.
"We just had too many errors," Buchanan said of the 40 hitting errors. "The bottom line is when you play a good team like Hawaii you have to execute. You can't hit .050 for a match and expect to win."
Libero Stacy Sode was a bright spot for the Vandals. She had 30 digs last night, giving her 516 for the season, three away from tying Meghan Brown for the UI single-season dig record. Hawaii won the dig battle 79-72, with five Wahine in double-dig figures, led by Elise Duggins' career-high 15.
Kamana'o had three of the team's six aces, moving her into a tie for ninth on the UH career list with Joyce Ka'apuni at 90.
WAC Standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L
|
Hawaii |
15 |
1 |
.937 |
23 |
5
|
New Mexico State |
13 |
2 |
.867 |
30 |
2
|
San Jose State |
9 |
6 |
.600 |
18 |
11
|
Nevada |
9 |
6 |
.600 |
15 |
13
|
Idaho |
9 |
6 |
.600 |
10 |
17
|
Utah State |
6 |
9 |
.400 |
13 |
17
|
Boise State |
5 |
10 |
.333 |
12 |
16
|
Fresno State |
2 |
13 |
.143 |
4 |
23
|
LaTech |
0 |
15 |
.000 |
6 |
26 |
Yesterday
Hawaii def. Idaho, 30-21, 26-30, 30-20, 30-25
Today
Nevada at Boise State
Fresno State at Louisiana Tech
San Jose State at New Mexico State
Utah State at Idaho
Hawaii def. Idaho
30-21, 26-30, 30-20, 30-25
Rainbow Wahine (23-5, 15-1 WAC)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
4 |
10 |
3 |
28 |
.250 |
3 |
5 |
2
|
Gregory |
4 |
15 |
2 |
26 |
.500 |
0 |
1 |
7
|
Houston |
4 |
19 |
8 |
47 |
.234 |
1 |
0 |
12
|
Kamana'o |
4 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
-.667 |
0 |
1 |
11
|
Duggins |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
15
|
Mason |
4 |
17 |
13 |
57 |
.070 |
1 |
1 |
13
|
Kaufman |
4 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
.000 |
1 |
4 |
2
|
Woolford |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Lee |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
|
Totals |
4 |
62 |
29 |
171 |
.193 |
6 |
12 |
76 |
Vandals (10-17, 9-6 wac)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Bowman |
4 |
4 |
7 |
34 |
-.088 |
0 |
1 |
12
|
Curtis |
4 |
11 |
3 |
32 |
.250 |
2 |
6 |
3
|
Pederson |
4 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
-.222 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Brown |
4 |
9 |
3 |
24 |
.250 |
0 |
0 |
12
|
Larsen |
4 |
14 |
9 |
41 |
.122 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
James |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
5
|
Yonker |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
Conwell |
3 |
4 |
6 |
18 |
-.111 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Loney |
4 |
5 |
7 |
20 |
-.100 |
1 |
5 |
0
|
McKinney |
2 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
-.250 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Sode |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
30
|
Totals |
4 |
50 |
40 |
183 |
.055 |
4 |
12 |
72 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (6): Kamana'o 3, Gregory 2, Mason. Idaho (4): Brown 2, Curtis, James. Assists -- Hawaii (57): Kamana'o 52, Lee 2, Sanders, Duggins, Mason. Idaho (45): Brown 22, James 21, Yonker, Sode.
T -- 2:05. Officials -- Daphne Nelson, Alan Hirayama. A -- 583.