Wahine still sizzling on the road
POSTED: Sunday, October 19, 2008
Playing at altitude is always a concern for any Hawaii team.
NEXT UP
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But it was the elevation by junior Aneli Cubi-Otineru that caused the most problems for Nevada last night. Cubi-Otineru tied her season high with 13 kills and the ninth-ranked Rainbow Wahine volleyball team swept the Wolf Pack 25-19, 25-20, 25-17 in Reno, Nev.
“;Aneli elevated and hit the ball hard, like she's capable of doing,”; Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “;She had a very nice match, which is what we need, especially if Jamie (Houston) isn't on.
“;The good thing is we can still win when that happens. Other people picked up the slack.”;
Houston struggled, finishing with five kills and six errors (-.048). But Hawaii hit .276 as a team, helped by Amber Kaufman's .615 night; she had nine kills with one error in 13 attempts.
Freshman hitter Kanani Herring continued to play her way back from injury, also putting down nine kills. Senior middle Nickie Thomas added four kills with no errors and tied her career high with six block assists.
Freshman hitter Erin Garvey led Nevada (9-10, 4-5) with eight kills. Sophomore hitter Kylie Harrington (St. Francis '07) added five kills for the Pack, who had their four-match winning streak snapped.
Hawaii took control of the match early, using a 5-0 serving run by Houston to go ahead for good at 8-3. Kaufman hit 1.000, perfect on all five swings, to pace the Wahine in Set 1.
“;When Kaufman elevates and hits it high, she's very effective,”; Shoji said. “;She had a good night.”;
Cubi-Otineru didn't have a hitting error until Set 3 when hitting the antenna to give Nevada a 3-2 lead. She came back with her 12th kill to tie it, jump-starting a 7-2 run that put the Wahine ahead for good.
Kaufman's ninth kill gave Hawaii match point, with Jessica Keefe and Cat Fowler teaming to stuff Harrington to end it.
For the second match in a row, Shoji was able to use all 12 players on his travel roster.
“;It's always good to be able to do that, get everyone in,”; he said. “;Keefe is becoming our designated blocker.
“;I thought we played well in spots, had a little bit of inconsistency, which happens on the road. It was a very nice crowd tonight (846) and vocal, so we had some things going against us. There were times in each game where it didn't look good but I never thought we were in danger of losing.”;
The Wahine open a three-match homestand with San Jose State on Friday and Fresno State on Sunday. They host Nevada on Oct. 31.
WAC standings
| W | L | Pct. | GB | All |
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| Hawaii | 8 | 1 | .889 | — | 15-3 |
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| New Mexico St. | 8 | 1 | .889 | — | 13-7 |
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| Idaho | 6 | 3 | .667 | 1 | 13-7 |
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| Utah State | 4 | 4 | .500 | 3 1/2 | 6-13 |
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| Nevada | 4 | 5 | .444 | 4 | 9-10 |
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| San Jose St. | 4 | 5 | .444 | 4 | 9-11 |
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| Boise St. | 3 | 6 | .333 | 5 | 6-13 |
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| Fresno St. | 2 | 6 | .250 | 5 | 5-12 |
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| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 8 | .000 | 7 1/2 | 3-14
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Yesterday
Hawaii def. Nevada 25-19, 25-20, 25-17
New Mexico State def. Boise State 13-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-17
Idaho def. Louisiana Tech 25-20, 25-16, 19-25, 25-16
San Jose State def. Cal State Bakersfield 25-23, 24-26, 25-14, 25-22
Hawaii def. Nevada
25-19, 25-20, 25-17
| Rainbow Wahine (15-3, 8-1 WAC) |
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| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Kaufman | 3 | 9 | 1 | 13 | .615 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10.0 |
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| Herring | 3 | 9 | 4 | 20 | .250 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 10.0 |
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| Houston | 3 | 5 | 6 | 21 | -.048 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 9.5 |
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| Thomas | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 | .571 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 7.0 |
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| Mafua | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2.5 |
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| Cubi-Otineru | 3 | 13 | 3 | 26 | .385 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 11.5 |
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| Ferrell | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
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| Hittle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
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| Keefe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
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| Ka'aihue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
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| Brandt | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1.000 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
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| Fowler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | |
| Totals | 3 | 44 | 17 | 98 | .276 | 35 | 0 | 19 | 56.5
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| Wolf Pack (9-10, 4-5 WAC) |
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| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Garvey | 3 | 8 | 4 | 14 | .286 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10.0 |
| Hernandez | 3 | 4 | 3 | 16 | .062 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Sei | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Harrington | 3 | 5 | 6 | 18 | -.056 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Baldwin | 3 | 6 | 3 | 18 | .167 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6.0 |
| Aune | 3 | 7 | 1 | 15 | .400 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7.5 |
| Daum | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Link | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 9 | 0 | 0 | -1.0 |
| Santiago | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1.000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Staker | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Totals | 3 | 34 | 26 | 101 | .079 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 37.0
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Key—g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces - service errors)
Aces—Hawaii (6): Houston 2, Hittle 2, Herring, Brandt. NEV (2): Sei, Link. Assists—Hawaii (40): Mafua 31, Brandt 3, Hittle 2, Kaufman 2, Houston, Thomas. NEV (27): SEI 20, Santiago 5, Garvey, Link. T—1:27. Officials—Eric Asami, Barbara Farnsworth. A—846.
