WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Wahine in first
Houston, with 29 kills, leads Hawaii past New Mexico State
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. » No. 13 Hawaii climbed a tall mountain last night.
Not only did the Rainbow Wahine move into sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference volleyball standings, they did so by turning back their biggest rival since Brigham Young left the league in 1999.
Led by junior Jamie Houston's 29 kills and a defense that vacuumed up 110 New Mexico State shots, Hawaii outlasted the 25th-ranked Aggies 30-26, 28-30, 30-27, 28-30, 23-21 in 3 hours and 3 minutes.
A season-high crowd of 4,361 at the Pan American Center saw the Wahine improve to 10-3 overall, 4-0 in the WAC; NMSU dropped to 11-3 and 3-1.
"It was a fun match to be in and our team responded every time," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said.
"I was really pleased about the way we made plays when we had to.
"I thought it was a well-played match on both sides and we were fortunate to come ahead at the end," he added.
"We've worked hard on our defense and tonight was another step in the right direction."
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. » In Mike Jordan's mind, there is very little that separates his New Mexico State volleyball team from Hawaii's.
After 3 hours at the Pan American Center last night, the difference was two points.
The 13th-ranked Rainbow Wahine held off six match points while making good on their third attempt in turning back the 25th-ranked Aggies 30-26, 28-30, 30-27, 28-30, 23-21. A season-high crowd of 4,361 saw New Mexico State (11-3, 3-1) lose for the first time at home while sliding into a second-place tie in the Western Athletic Conference standings with Utah State.
Hawaii (10-3, 4-0) heads into tomorrow's match at San Jose State as the lone undefeated WAC team. The Wahine are also feeling pretty good about a defense that came up big against the top hitting team in the conference, holding the Aggies to .187, well under their .280 average.
Hawaii had a season-high 110 digs, with four players coming up with double-figure digs, led by freshman libero Elizabeth Ka'aihue's 28. Sophomore hitter Aneli Cubi-Otineru had a career-high 23 digs to go along with 16 kills; junior hitter Tara Hittle added a career-high 22 digs and sophomore setter Stephanie Brandt had 10.
"They brought so many balls back from the dead, had so many fantastic digs," said Jordan, whose team finished with 87 digs, including 33 by junior libero Krystal Torres. "That was as good a defensive backcourt as I've seen.
"It was well played, I thought, on both sides. We had (six) match points and didn't execute. Hawaii passed well, obviously well enough to win, which boils down to us not serving tough enough. I think tonight we learned we had to be tougher and don't back down in our serves."
The Aggies also had no answer for Wahine sophomore middle Amber Kaufman, who was deadly on her step-out attempts. She put down a career-high 13 kills with just one error in 19 swings, hitting a career-best .632.
Also having a career night was senior middle Juliana Sanders, finishing with 18 kills.
Game 5 was tied 16 times. NMSU's Kim Oguh hit long to set up what would be the Wahine's last swing for the match. Hittle and senior middle Kari Gregory teamed to stuff Krista Altermatt to end the marathon after 3 hours and 3 minutes.
Altermatt led the Aggies with 20 kills; Oguh and Lindsey Yon both had 17, Amber Simpson 11 and Anna Callis 10. Oguh was in on 11 of NMSU's 17.5 blocks.
"All of our players had streaks where they weren't playing well," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "But all of them came back.
"I thought everyone contributed tonight. It was a real team win, a great win when faced with some adversity."
Shoji was also hit with a rare yellow card in Game 5, protesting a lift call on Brandt that gave the Aggies their first shot at match point at 15-14.
"I had to do it," he said. Jordan also got one in Game 2.
Tomorrow, the Wahine face the Spartans (6-6, 0-1), who were swept at Santa Clara on Friday, 30-21, 30-18, 30-22.
In the loss to the Broncos, freshman hitter Brianna Amian (Moanalua '07) had three kills and sophomore libero Kristal Tsukano (Kamehameha '06) had four digs.
WAC Standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L
|
New Mexico State |
3 |
1 |
.750 |
11 |
3
|
Hawaii |
4 |
0 |
1.000 |
10 |
3
|
Utah State |
3 |
1 |
.750 |
6 |
7
|
San Jose State |
0 |
1 |
.500 |
6 |
6
|
Fresno State |
2 |
2 |
.500 |
4 |
10
|
Idaho |
2 |
1 |
.667 |
5 |
8
|
Nevada |
2 |
2 |
.500 |
5 |
8
|
LaTech |
0 |
4 |
.000 |
5 |
12
|
Boise State |
0 |
4 |
.000 |
3 |
9 |
Yesterday
Hawaii def. New Mexico State, 30-26, 28-30, 30-27, 28-30, 23-21
Idaho def. Fresno State, 30-18, 29-31, 30-26, 30-27
Nevada def. Boise State, 28-30, 30-27, 30-22, 30-19
Utah State def. Louisiana Tech, 30-27, 30-27, 30-15
Tomorrow
Hawaii at San Jose State, 4 p.m. HST
Hawaii def. New Mexico St.
30-26, 28-30, 30-27, 28-30, 23-21
Rainbow Wahine (4-0)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
5 |
18 |
5 |
38 |
.342 |
1 |
4 |
5
|
Hittle |
5 |
9 |
3 |
40 |
.150 |
0 |
3 |
22
|
Gregory |
5 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
-.250 |
0 |
3 |
2
|
Houston |
5 |
29 |
17 |
74 |
.162 |
1 |
3 |
6
|
Brandt |
5 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
10
|
Cubi-Otineru |
5 |
16 |
13 |
45 |
.067 |
0 |
3 |
23
|
Kaufman |
5 |
13 |
1 |
19 |
.632 |
0 |
3 |
3
|
Keefe |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.500 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Kaaihue |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
28
|
Mafua |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
1 |
4
|
Lee |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
|
Totals |
5 |
88 |
42 |
230 |
.200 |
3 |
20 |
110 |
Aggies (3-1)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Callis |
5 |
10 |
4 |
33 |
.182 |
0 |
5 |
1
|
Oguh |
5 |
17 |
4 |
40 |
.325 |
0 |
11 |
2
|
Gintant |
5 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
.500 |
0 |
0 |
10
|
Yon |
5 |
17 |
8 |
63 |
.143 |
0 |
1 |
16
|
Altermatt |
5 |
20 |
10 |
64 |
.156 |
0 |
5 |
9
|
Simpson |
5 |
11 |
4 |
30 |
.233 |
1 |
4 |
1
|
Torres |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
-1.000 |
0 |
0 |
33
|
Rodgers |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
8
|
Akrie |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Bostic |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
Goodan |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.500 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Steinmetz |
4 |
3 |
3 |
14 |
.000 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
|
Totals |
5 |
81 |
34 |
251 |
.187 |
1 |
33 |
87 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (2): Kaufman, Lee. NMSU (5): Oguh 2, Altermatt, Torres, Steinmetz. Assists -- Hawaii (83): Brandt 68, Mafua 9, Kaaihue 2, Cubi-Otineru, Kaufman, Lee. NMSU(74): Gintant 39, Rodgers 29, Yon 2, Torres 2, Callis , Altermatt.
T -- 3:03. Officials -- Carlos Rodriguez, Rory Arisumi. A -- 4,361.