RAINBOW WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Wahine hit the road again
UH can again play at home by winning the subregional
Hawaii stayed put at No. 12 in this week's Top 25 volleyball poll, something that can't be said about the Rainbow Wahine.
The team leaves tonight for its fifth road trip of the year -- third this month -- as the Rainbow Wahine head to the subregional at Long Beach State. A tough draw awaits Hawaii at The Pyramid, a site where the Wahine lost their last meeting with the 49ers (2000) and where UH's season ended in the first round by Loyola Marymount in 1997.
The 12th-seeded Wahine (26-5) face unranked Oregon (17-11) in Friday's first match and "I think of all the seeded teams we have the toughest first-round game," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said yesterday. "We have a lot of motivation to win and come home (for next week's regional) but we can't look ahead at this point. We've got to win that first one."
It was hard for two players at Pepperdine not to look beyond their match Friday with host Long Beach State. Senior libero Kekai Crabbe (Kamehameha) and junior middle Lecca Roberts (Seabury Hall) very much want a rematch with Hawaii, a team that beat the Waves twice in Honolulu to open the season.
If Hawaii and No. 24 Pepperdine (16-11) win Friday, they meet Saturday to determine who advances to the regional semifinal next Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"The potential is exciting," said Crabbe, last week named the defensive player of the year in the West Coast Conference. "We are very excited to be in this regional and we're excited that Hawaii is in our bracket. We lost to them twice and we're excited to see where we've come as a team if we play them again.
"There is motivation."
And some revenge.
"Long Beach State has beaten us three times in a row," Roberts said. "And we had great battles with Hawaii this year. It would be great to go back and play in front of a home crowd. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to do it."
As happy as the two were to see Hawaii in the bracket, they were happier to see that the site was Long Beach State. The Waves have about an hour's drive on Pacific Coast Highway and I-405 when leaving their Malibu campus after Wednesday afternoon classes.
"We're grateful not to be shipped out very far like other teams," Crabbe said. "That's an added factor to playing."
She doesn't have to tell the Wahine that. This is the third consecutive year that Hawaii, which has led the country in attendance 12 years running, has not been at home for a first round.
Note: To no one's surprise, Hawaii sophomore left-side hitter Jamie Houston earned her third Western Athletic Conference weekly honor yesterday. Houston earned MVP honors as the Wahine won their seventh WAC title Friday in Reno, Nev., averaging 5.70 kills and 2.30 digs per game, hitting .290 in three matches. ... Nebraska remained the No. 1 team in yesterday's poll, while Stanford and Washington swapped places.