NCAA VOLLEYBALL
Wahine beat the Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. » The focus was so sharp, they could see the white plumeria trees outside the Stan Sheriff Center and perhaps a rainbow or two.
That was how much Hawaii wanted to come home to play at least one more time.
With ignorance of history, intimidation or fear, the Rainbow Wahine did what no Hawaii team had been able to do when playing Long Beach State here at the Pyramid.
Behind 24 kills by senior hitter Sarah Mason, 19 kills by sophomore hitter Jamie Houston and the calm control that senior setter Kanoe Kamana'o had for most of 2 hours, this Wahine team did just that. Hawaii exorcised many ghosts of NCAA tournaments past, eliminating the 49ers in last night's second round, 30-28, 30-25, 24-30, 30-17.
The victory propelled the 12th-seeded Wahine (28-5) into their ninth consecutive regional semifinal. Hawaii will face fifth-seeded USC (27-4), which ousted BYU on Friday night.
This Friday's first semifinal pits fourth-seeded UCLA (31-3), which swept Utah last night, against 13th seed Oklahoma (28-5), a 3-0 winner over Missouri State.
But thoughts of the Women of Troy are for another day. Last night, it was all about coming home with a victory and extending the seasons for seniors Kamana'o, Mason and reserve utility player Cayley Thurlby.
It felt so good, the Wahine even allowed coach Dave Shoji to join the postgame slam-dancing huddle to celebrate.
"We are a team," said Kamana'o, whose 58 assists last night moved her into 10th place on the NCAA career list (6,340). "We thought we could win from the beginning of the match, we knew if we focused we could win."
Focus was the word -- and key -- of the match.
It was "focused aggression," Houston said.
"We didn't get mad, we stayed focused," Mason said.
After briefly losing focus in Game 3, Hawaii took the home crowd out of it with renewed toughness. The 49ers soon followed, after seeing their former teammate -- sophomore defensive specialist Elise Duggins -- serve Hawaii to an 8-3 lead on six straight serves.
By the time Long Beach State coach Brian Gimmillaro earned his second yellow card warning, it was 14-5. The 49ers never got closer than 20-14.
When Kamana'o served her first ace to expand it to 25-15, that was when Shoji said he felt Hawaii had the win. Junior defensive specialist Raeceen Woolford served for the final four points, her back-row attack falling back over the 49ers' side for her first kill of the season, followed by her sixth ace of the year, Hawaii's 11th of the night.
Mason, who ended both Games 1 and 2 with kills, put down her final swing to finish it off. She also had a team-high 16 digs for her fourth double-double in five matches.
"I knew the ball was coming my way, Kanoe knew I wanted it," Mason said. "Give it to the senior to end it. Why not?
"This is an amazing thing, looking at our history with them."
The history was such that Shoji didn't tell his team of its long-time suffering at the hands of the 49ers. Although Hawaii won the last meeting between the two -- in the 2000 NCAA regional semifinal -- that was in Honolulu. Not only had Hawaii beaten them at the Pyramid before last night, the Beach also ended the Wahine's season five times between 1989 and 1994 in NCAA tournament matches, three times in five games.
"If we had lost in five, I would have committed suicide or something," Shoji said. "It would have been a terrible loss if it had happened, being up 2-0. I didn't mention the history to our players, didn't have the heart to tell them we had never won in this building (against the 49ers).
"We didn't play well in Games 1 or 2 and I felt if we started playing well, we'd win. It was about 25-15 (in Game 4) when I felt good about it.
"It was an honor to beat them and I feel fortunate to move on."
It was the first time in the rally-scoring era that the teams met. Hawaii has a 1-0 lead in that, a 2-0 streak going against the Beach and a 23-15-1 edge in the series.
The Wahine outblocked the 49ers 15-12.5, with both Juliana Sanders and Kamana'o in on seven each. Houston had three solo and two block assists.
Robin Miramontes came off the bench to lead the 49ers with 13 kills, with Big West player of the year Alexis Crimes held to 12. Talaya Whitfield set a school record for digs in an NCAA tournament match with 29.
"Hawaii was certainly stronger than us and outplayed us in most areas," Gimmillaro said. "Both teams played fairly poorly in Game 1. Any team could have stolen that game. Felt the same way about Game 2, and I though we could steal that one.
"We came back in the third ... and Hawaii dominated the fourth."
It was only the second time in 30 NCAA matches that the 49ers lost in the Pyramid.
"Hawaii played well, took us out of our game," Crimes said. "It was a battle even though the scores don't show it. They came out on top."
Upon further review: Kari Gregory set three UH block records with her performance Friday against the Ducks. Her 14 blocks (1 solo, 13 assists) broke Suzanne Eagye's record of 13 for a three-game match as well as in the rally-scoring era. Eagye set the mark against UCLA in 1985 while Victoria Prince had 13 blocks in a five-game win against Nevada in 2004.
Tournament time: With the exception of the subregional match today at Stanford between the host Cardinal and Missouri, the regionals are set for next week. No seeded team was upset in the first two rounds.
The AVCA incorrectly reported that No. 13 Oklahoma had lost to Oral Roberts in the first round Friday. The Sooners won in three as well as won last night to earn the trip to Honolulu.
Hawaii def. Long Beach State
30-28, 30-25, 24-30, 30-17
Rainbow Wahine (28-5)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
4 |
8 |
4 |
25 |
.160 |
0 |
7 |
3
|
Kaufman |
4 |
7 |
4 |
12 |
.250 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Gregory |
4 |
3 |
1 |
11 |
.182 |
0 |
5 |
3
|
Houston |
4 |
19 |
5 |
49 |
.286 |
3 |
2 |
9
|
Kamana'o |
4 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
.286 |
0 |
7 |
12
|
Mason |
4 |
24 |
10 |
63 |
.222 |
0 |
1 |
16
|
Thurlby |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Woolford |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
6
|
Duggins |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
Lee |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
14
|
Totals |
4 |
65 |
26 |
173 |
.225 |
3 |
24 |
71 |
49ers (26-6)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Vargas |
4 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
-.250 |
0 |
1 |
6
|
Murray |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
Lawlor |
4 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
-.571 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Verdin |
4 |
8 |
5 |
30 |
.100 |
2 |
3 |
5
|
Crimes |
4 |
12 |
6 |
38 |
.158 |
2 |
3 |
0
|
Crum |
4 |
11 |
6 |
26 |
.192 |
0 |
2 |
8
|
Buggs |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
9
|
Hetzer |
2 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
-.400 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Hudson |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Hasalikova |
4 |
12 |
1 |
25 |
.440 |
0 |
3 |
2
|
Whitfield |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
29
|
Miramontes |
3 |
13 |
2 |
31 |
.355 |
0 |
1 |
6
|
Totals |
4 |
57 |
27 |
169 |
.178 |
4 |
13 |
72 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (11): Houston 2, Mason 2, Woolford 2, Lee 2, Gregory, Kamana'o, Duggins. Long Beach State (4): Crum 2, Murray, Buggs. Assists -- Hawaii (60): Kamana'o 58, Gregory, Lee. Long Beach State (51): Vargas 49, Crum, Whitfield.
T -- 2:00. Officials -- Mike Farrish, Ami Filinaua. A -- N/A.