WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH's Juliana Sanders powered the ball over the net against Boise State last night
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Rainbow Wahine walk over Broncos
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. And there was nothing very pretty about last night's victory except the 'W.'
Out of sync but in the right rhythm at the right time, No. 15 Hawaii swept Boise State 30-28, 30-22, 30-24 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 4,519 (6,642 tickets) saw the Rainbow Wahine close out their season-opening homestand with a fifth straight win. It took 69 minutes for Hawaii to improve to 8-3 overall, 2-0 in Western Athletic Conference play, by beating the Broncos (3-7, 0-2) for the 14th consecutive time.
"We're ready to go on the road," junior captain Tara Hittle said after finishing with six kills and a team-high 12 digs. "I'm not saying we're done with getting better. We have the skills, we just need to lock in and focus.
"A lot of it is mental. Mentally, we need to be there all the time."
It starts with practice tomorrow as Hawaii prepares for its three-matches-in-five-days trip. The Rainbow Wahine are at Louisiana Tech on Thursday, with a huge match at New Mexico State on Saturday, followed by a meeting with San Jose State on Sept. 24.
"That first road trip will be a very difficult one," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "I told the team if we had played New Mexico State tonight it is probably a loss. We need to tighten things up, play much better if we want to win.
"Tonight was pretty ugly, but I'll take ugly if we can win. Nothing was going very smoothly. And we need to block better."
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Stephanie Brandt had 42 assists last night in a win over Boise State.
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Forced by poor passing to run a predictable offense, Hawaii was outblocked 11-5 by Boise State. Arlee Tamietti, who gave the Wahine fits for most of the night, was in on four in addition to her team-high 13 kills.
Junior Jamie Houston led the Wahine for the ninth time this season, putting down 14 kills. Aneli Cubi-Otineru added 12 kills.
The stat that doesn't show up in the scoresheet was Hawaii's ability to focus at the end when it counted.
"They're really good in the final six to eight points," Broncos coach Robin Davis said. "And their serving was very good. They'll be a top-10 team by the end."
Once again Hawaii started slowly.
"I think we have to recognize how important it is for us to have a good start," said senior defensive specialist Raeceen Woolford, making two key digs late in Game 3. "We knew that after Oregon State and UCLA (both losses), we only had upwards to go. But we need to have the walk to back up the talk. We're getting there."
But it took a while last night.
Hawaii struggled early in Game 1 with serve-receive but gradually pulled away with a diversified offense anchored by Houston. The Broncos would not go away, even after falling behind 29-24; the Wahine needed five swings at game point before finally ending it on Houston's sixth kill.
Tamietti, who had six kills in Game 1, continued her success in Game 2, putting down another six. She matched Houston kill for kill, but didn't get enough help from the rest of the Broncos to mount another challenge.
WAC Standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L
|
New Mexico State |
2 |
0 |
1.000 |
10 |
2
|
Hawaii |
2 |
0 |
1.000 |
8 |
3
|
Utah State |
2 |
0 |
1.000 |
5 |
6
|
Nevada |
1 |
1 |
.500 |
4 |
5
|
Fresno State |
1 |
1 |
.500 |
3 |
9
|
San Jose State |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
6 |
5
|
Idaho |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
3 |
8
|
LaTech |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
5 |
9
|
Boise State |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
3 |
7 |
Friday
Hawaii def. Idaho, 30-18, 30-13, 30-27
Yesterday
Hawaii def. Boise State 30-28, 30-22, 30-24
New Mexico State def. Nevada 30-25, 30-21, 30-27
Utah State def. San Jose St. 30-27, 30-25, 17-30, 30-27
Fresno State def. Louisiana Tech 30-28, 30-28, 30-25
Hawaii def. Boise St.
30-28, 30-22, 30-24
Broncos (0-2)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Klein |
3 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
.000 |
0 |
2 |
3
|
Rose |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
Hewitt |
3 |
7 |
0 |
11 |
.636 |
0 |
3 |
1
|
Ericson |
3 |
8 |
4 |
22 |
.182 |
0 |
2 |
4
|
Maughan |
3 |
4 |
3 |
12 |
.083 |
0 |
6 |
0
|
Tamietti |
3 |
13 |
6 |
34 |
.206 |
1 |
3 |
3
|
Lewis |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Starring |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Hamm |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Jenkins |
3 |
3 |
3 |
17 |
.000 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
Totals |
3 |
36 |
17 |
102 |
.186 |
2 |
18 |
33 |
Rainbow Wahine (2-0)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
2 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
.111 |
0 |
3 |
3
|
Kaufman |
2 |
6 |
2 |
12 |
.333 |
0 |
1 |
4
|
Hittle |
3 |
6 |
2 |
14 |
.286 |
0 |
1 |
12
|
Houston |
3 |
14 |
7 |
32 |
.219 |
1 |
1 |
7
|
Brandt |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
.250 |
0 |
1 |
7
|
Cubi-Otineru |
3 |
12 |
8 |
30 |
.133 |
0 |
1 |
4
|
Gregory |
1 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
.500 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Keefe |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Kaaihue |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Mafua |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Simmons |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
-.200 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Woolford |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Ferrell |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
-1.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Lee |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Totals |
3 |
49 |
28 |
116 |
.181 |
1 |
8 |
45 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- BSU (3): Starring 2, Tamietti. Hawaii (4): Kaufman, Hittle, Brandt, Cubi-Otineru. Assists -- BSU (34): Klein 33, Tamietti. Hawaii (45): Brandt 42, Cubi-Otineru, Kaaihue, Mafua.
T -- 1:38. Officials --Eric Asami, Ernest Ho. A -- 4,519.