UH’s Herring hurt in practice

Freshman hitter Kanani Herring injured her left ankle during practice yesterday, a day before No. 7 Hawaii was to leave on its first road trip of the season.

Herring was on crutches with a protective boot when she left the morning practice, but Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji said it was a precautionary measure and the injury didn't appear to be serious.

Herring was named the WAC player of the week for the first time yesterday. She averaged 4.93 points, 4.57 kills, 4.57 digs and 0.57 blocks to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 2-0 record in the conference.

The injury doesn't affect Herring's status, however it may affect today's 12-player travel roster. Shoji said he would evaluate the situation and may take an extra defensive specialist instead of another middle blocker.

Hawaii was to leave this afternoon for a weeklong road trip. The Wahine face Louisiana Tech on Thursday, New Mexico State on Saturday and San Jose State on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Wahine (9-2) remained in seventh in yesterday's AVCA Coaches Division I Top 25 poll.

The only change among the top nine was Penn State (12-0) returning to a unanimous No. 1. The Nittany Lions had 60 first-place votes after receiving 59 last week.

Nebraska (10-0), which had the only other vote last week, stayed at No. 2. Following the Huskers are Texas (5-2), UCLA (10-1), USC (7-2) and Stanford (9-2).