WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Wahine bid aloha
Hawaii comes up empty after loss to Middle Tennessee State
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. » The face of women's college volleyball began changing decades ago, starting with Texas defeating Hawaii in the 1988 NCAA title match.
Middle Tennessee St. |
Hawaii |
3 |
1 |
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Season over
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Twenty years later, that face can belong to a school with a Husker or a Cardinal as a mascot just as easily as it can one with a mascot named Lightning that looks like My Little Pony Blue Belle on steroids.
Many might ask MTS-Who?
No. 9 Hawaii knows better, seeing way too much of Middle Tennessee State last night at the Kentucky International Convention Center. The Blue Raiders baffled the Rainbow Wahine for most of the 1 hour and 58 minutes, with Hawaii never quite figuring out how to stop left-handed opposite Ashley Adams (22 kills) nor how to get a ball past tenacious libero Alicia Lemau'u (18 digs).
Only 313 saw history made for both schools: the 30-22, 30-18, 15-30, 33-31 victory sending MTSU (35-2) to a Sweet 16 appearance for the first time in any sport, and the loss sending the Wahine home after a second-round match for the first time ever. It's also the first time Hawaii (27-6) has not advanced to a regional since 1997.
"I don't think your uniform has to say 'UCLA' or 'USC' any more," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "I think there are a lot of teams out there that no one respects just because their name isn't from a big conference or they haven't been to a final four.
"There's a lot of good teams out there and you'd better be on your game or you're going to go home."
Hawaii heads back to Honolulu today, while MTSU moves on to the regional at Penn State and will play BYU on Friday.
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LOUISVILLLE, Ky. » It was like a severe weather watch, tracking the path of a hurricane, expecting it to hit at some point. The only thing that can be done is to prepare ... and hope it doesn't do major damage.
Such was Hawaii's game plan for Middle Tennessee State last night. The Rainbow Wahine knew the Blue Raiders were very athletic, very quick and difficult to beat. Still, few believed that MTSU was capable of actually pulling off one of the biggest upsets of this NCAA women's volleyball tournament.
The Blue Raiders did, leaving the tradition-rich Wahine shell-shocked after an hour and 58 minutes at the Kentucky International Convention Center. Hawaii (27-6) saw its season end the same way it began, with a surprising loss.
The 30-22, 30-18, 15-30, 33-31 victory by MTSU (35-2) had the Blue Raiders pinching themselves as well as punching their tickets for Penn State next week. They'll see another surprise team in Friday's semifinal -- BYU, which upset host Washington in five last night.
The win was gratifying on many fronts for the Blue Raiders, feeling that it legitimized both their program and their Sun Belt Conference. It went beyond that for MTSU senior libero Alicia Lemau'u, who grew up in Long Beach, Calif., and knew better than any of her teammates Hawaii's reputation.
"I am so stoked to be able to tell (people back home) that we beat Hawaii," said Lemau'u, who anchored an impressive defense with 18 of her team's 65 digs. "Hawaii's been so dominant for like years and to just come out here and prove something ... that we did beat Hawaii ... I'm so proud."
The Blue Raiders were able to do something no other team had done before ... eliminate the Wahine in the second round. Hawaii was 13-0 after winning a first-round match and had advanced to the regional semifinal the past nine years.
"We knew they had the potential and the heart to beat us, I said it (Friday)," Wahine senior middle Juliana Sanders said. "I think we didn't play our game at the start and they came out really strong. Kudos to them, they played amazing."
MTSU did it with defense and an offense that was difficult to track. The Blue Raiders continually split the Wahine block "and they had our middles on a string," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "They were late (to the outside) both ways.
"They made amazing plays, especially in Game 4. The ball just wouldn't go down for us. I don't know how we could have prepared any better, how we could have defended them any better. We knew what we needed to do to stop them and we didn't."
The Wahine didn't go down without a fight. After being blown off the court in Games 1 and 2, Hawaii came out of the break and dominated in Game 3, hitting .486 with just one error.
Junior Jamie Houston doubled her kill total to that point, with nine in Game 3, four coming in a 7-0 closing run. The Wahine also began tracking the MTSU hitters better, with three blocks to MTSU's none, and winning the dig battle 19-14.
The match appeared headed for five when Hawaii broke away for a 29-27 lead with two straight points, when MTSU setter Leslie Clark set a ball to the outside to no one and an ace by libero Elizabeth Ka'aihue. The Wahine had two shots at winning Game 4 only to have kills by Sasha McGlothin and Ashley Adams tie it at 29.
Adams and McGlothin then came up with a huge stuff of Aneli Cubi-Otineru to give the Blue Raiders their first shot at ending it. The Wahine held off two match points but not a third, with Amber Kaufman being called for a net violation on her slide attempt.
Houston finished with a match-high 25 kills, with Kaufman and Sanders adding 10 each.
Hawaii never completely got a handle on Adams, a left-handed opposite, who led MTSU with 22 kills, 10 in Game 4. Ashley Asberry, a 5-9 middle who touches 10-4, also had 10 kills in Game 4 to finish with 18.
The difference in the end was defense. MTSU had 23 digs in Game 4 to Hawaii's nine.
"Ashley Asberry ... she turned it up," Blue Raiders coach Matt Peck said. "I asked her to do that. I said, 'We need you to help us win this match' and, oh, my gosh, what a tremendous effort she had.
"All along, we were telling our team that the best team is going to win the match, not the team with the best player or the best players, but the best team. I think this weekend we were the best team."
It was MTSU's 14th consecutive win dating to Oct. 15, when it was swept by conference rival Western Kentucky in the middle of a six-matches-in-11-days road trip. The other loss came in four to Missouri State when Clark was out with a concussion and freshman Alyssa King ran the offense.
Middle Tennessee State def. Hawaii
30-22, 30-18, 15-30, 33-31
Blue Raiders (35-2)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Waugh |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
9
|
Asberry |
4 |
18 |
3 |
27 |
.556 |
0 |
3 |
2
|
Adams |
4 |
22 |
7 |
49 |
.306 |
0 |
8 |
9
|
Cozon |
4 |
4 |
3 |
22 |
.045 |
0 |
2 |
15
|
Scott |
4 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
-.500 |
0 |
4 |
3
|
Clark |
4 |
4 |
3 |
8 |
.125 |
0 |
3 |
7
|
Carter |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Lemau'u |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
18
|
McGlothin |
3 |
7 |
4 |
14 |
.214 |
0 |
5 |
0
|
Mead |
4 |
13 |
7 |
34 |
.176 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Pegg |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
4 |
69 |
30 |
162 |
.241 |
0 |
27 |
65 |
Rainbow Wahine (27-6)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
4 |
10 |
4 |
30 |
.200 |
0 |
4 |
0
|
Kaufman |
4 |
10 |
5 |
22 |
.227 |
1 |
4 |
0
|
Hittle |
4 |
6 |
3 |
17 |
.176 |
0 |
4 |
11
|
Houston |
4 |
25 |
10 |
61 |
.246 |
1 |
3 |
8
|
Brandt |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
Cubi-Otineru |
4 |
7 |
9 |
32 |
-.062 |
0 |
1 |
14
|
Gregory |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
-.250 |
1 |
1 |
0
|
Keefe |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
.333 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Ka'aihue |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
9
|
Mafua |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Lee |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Totals |
4 |
60 |
32 |
174 |
.161 |
3 |
18 |
50 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces --MTSU (2): Adams, Lemau'u. Hawaii (6): Brandt 4,Ka'aihue 2. Assists -- MTSU (64): Clark 58, Lemau'u 3, Kozon 2, Adams. Hawaii (53): Brandt 48, Kaaihue 3, Hittle, Cubi-Otineru.
T -- 1:58. Officials -- Todd Pringel, Syd Church.