Hawaii drills San Jose again

The Rainbow Wahine lift their series lead to 58-4 with a sweep

They built it.

Fans continue to come.

San Jose State was Hawaii's first opponent when the Stan Sheriff Center opened in 1994. The match drew a then-capacity crowd of 10,031, the start of an impressive standard in collegiate women's volleyball attendance.

It was only fitting that when the 10th-ranked Rainbow Wahine passed the 100,000 mark in attendance for the 12th consecutive season, the Spartans would be on the other side of the net.

Back in 1994, Hawaii needed four to top San Jose State. Last night, the Wahine needed only three, sweeping the Spartans in 87 minutes, 30-25, 30-27, 30-14.

A turnstile crowd of 4,018 (6,076 tickets) watched the tag team of Jamie Houston (16 kills) and Aneli Cubi-Otineru (12 kills) pound out Hawaii's 108th straight home conference victory, 97th in a row in Western Athletic Conference home play. It was also the 32nd straight time the Wahine beat the Spartans (13-14, 7-9), running their series advantage to 58-4.

But Hawaii didn't start dominating until after the break, after playing what Wahine coach Dave Shoji felt might have been the Spartans' best two games of the year.

"They played really well, were fired up," Shoji said. "They didn't have their best player (senior hitter Jennifer Senftleben out injured) and when that type of thing happens, you need to step it up. I thought they did."

So did Rainbow Wahine middle Juliana Sanders.

"I thought they came out and played amazing, just awesome," Sanders said after putting down 11 kills. "They were digging, blocking, playing fantastic.

"We started out kind of slow and, in Game 3, got a little more motivated. We regrouped, wanted to play how we know we can play. I think we found a little more sense of urgency."

And, finally, a way to string together some points and pull away. Leading 10-5, Jessica Keefe served for eight points, including one that came off a dig by Keefe that landed on the Spartans' side of the court.

SJSU never got closer than 12 the rest of the way. Keri Anglin had nine kills and Niki Clement eight for the Spartans, who outblocked the Wahine 6-3.

"I don't know how we got out-blocked," Shoji said. "We had trouble with their slide and (Anglin) is a good player. They all do different things, are hard to track. We lost them a couple of times and they got one-on-ones.

"We know we're going to have to be sharp Sunday. Utah State is playing well, they're fighting for that third seed. We'll have to play well."

Last night, the Aggies (16-12, 10-5) surprised visiting Nevada 30-28, 26-30, 30-28, 30-25, getting a career-high 18 kills from Monarisa Ale (Kahuku '04).

Of some concern for Hawaii was the play of right-side hitter Tara Hittle, who had no kills in 11 swings with two errors. Keefe replaced her for some of the night.

"Tara had a rough night offensively," Shoji said. "Her arm swing has been erratic and tentative and we need something out of that position. On the positive side, Houston continues to put the ball on the floor and Aneli has her moments."

Both Houston and Cubi-Otineru turned in double-doubles, Houston with 13 digs and Cubi-Otineru 10. Leading the Spartans defense was sophomore libero Kristal Tsukano (Kamehameha '06), who had 12 digs.

Notes: Hawaii remains atop the West Region rankings in the Rich Kern Percentage Index, which mimics the NCAA's RPI used to seed the national tournament. The Wahine are 13th overall.

Second in the West is No. 25 UNLV, 14th overall, followed by Colorado State, Cal Poly and BYU. WAC members New Mexico State and Nevada are seventh and 11th, respectively, in the region.

Coming into the week, Hawaii continues to lead the country in attendance overall (97,424) and average (6,495). Wisconsin is second in average (5,591) and Nebraska second in overall attendance (71,790), third in average (5,522). New Mexico State is 18th, at 1,765.