StarBulletin.com

Cal thwarts Hawaii in 5 sets


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POSTED: Monday, September 07, 2009

After two exhausting Hawaiian Airlines Classic matches against teams in the Top 25 and several starters not feeling 100 percent, the last thing No. 4 Hawaii wanted yesterday was to go five with No. 10 Cal.

But after dropping the first two sets to the Golden Bears, going five was the only thing the Rainbow Wahine were hoping for.

Hawaii got its fifth set, but not the win. Cal, getting a career-high 30 kills from senior Hana Cutura, turned back the late challenge to prevail 25-21, 25-16, 20-25, 17-25, 15-11 in 2 hours, 21 minutes.

The Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,913 saw the Rainbow Wahine (4-2) lose their second straight and the Golden Bears salvage their trip in a big way.

“;What a tough, tough tournament,”; Golden Bears coach Rich Feller said. “;I'm sure Dave (Hawaii coach Shoji) will agree.”;

By set differential, Hawaii finished second. The lone Wahine to make the all-tournament team was senior hitter Aneli Cubi-Otineru, who served match ball into the net.

“;We'll go back to work next week and work hard,”; Cubi-Otineru said.

Sophomore hitter Stephanie Ferrell led Hawaii with 18 kills, while Kanani Danielson added 13 and Amber Kaufman 12.

“;We struggled again early,”; Shoji said, referring to Saturday's slow start against No. 2 Texas. “;We knew Cutura was going to be a problem. There's not much you can do when she goes up and over the block.”;

The 6-foot-4 All-American was asked to carry the load early, Feller said.

“;It was pretty much 'set Hana, set Hana, set Hana,'”; he said. “;She got a little fatigued, but she carried us at the beginning and at the end.”;

In Set 5, Cutura hit long to give Hawaii an 8-6 lead at the changeover. She didn't have an error the rest of the way, putting down three kills in Cal's 7-2 run that put the Golden Bears up 13-10.

Cutura's 30th kill gave Cal match point. Cubi-Otineru's kill held off the inevitable with her service error ending it rather anticlimactically.

Danielson and setter Dani Mafua had a bit of the flu bug Saturday “;but it was nothing that serious,”; Shoji said. “;Sometimes you just got to suck it up and play.”;

After going down 0-2, Shoji decided to go with sophomore transfer Lex Forsythe in place of freshman middle Brittany Hewitt. Forsythe had four kills in the final three sets.

“;We learned a lot from this weekend,”; Danielson said. “;We played top teams and showed that we could play right with them. We'll take that and keep on working hard.”;

In yesterday's first match, tournament most outstanding player Ashley Engle led No. 2 Texas to a 25-17, 25-18, 25-10 victory over No. 19 Saint Louis and the title of the 22nd annual tournament.

Engle capped an amazing individual tournament performance with the top award and the Longhorns (5-0) dominated the all-tournament honors just as they did the three-day event.

Engle had a combined 32 kills in 55 swings, with her lone hitting error coming when she was blocked on a dump attempt by Saint Louis' Alyssa Deno late in Set 1 yesterday.

Joining Engle on the all-tournament team were Longhorns senior hitter Destinee Hooker and junior hitter Juliann Faucette, who each had 12 kills yesterday.

Both teams missed out on the awards ceremony to catch a red-eye flight. The Billikens left with a huge win—a sweep of Cal on Saturday—and an all-tourney selection in Bridget Fonke.

Cal's Cutura and Mindi Wiley were also named to the team.

 

NO. 10 CALIFORNIA DEF. NO. 4 HAWAII
25-21, 25-16, 20-25, 17-25, 15-11

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

     

     

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

 

Golden Bears (3-3)
 skeatt pctdbsba 
Lloyd54012.333914 
Murrey512734.1471121 
Hawari11011.000000 
Wiley511120.500104 
Cutura5301372.236802 
Schmitt4000.000200 
Kathan5000.0001800 
Roe5000.000100 
Johnson52114.071042 
Brown5001.000007 
Rostratter4011-1.000600 
Totals56023155.23956322

 

       

Rainbow Wahine (4-2)
 skeatt pctdbsba 
Farrell518839.256900 
Kaufman512322.409204 
Hewitt2319.222104 
Danielson513740.1501200 
Mafua5014-.250801 
Cubi-Otineru57425.120907 
Cascioppo2000.000000 
Ka'aihue5000.0001400 
Forsythe3438.125002 
Brandt52021.000302 
Fowler3000.000000
Robins1000.000000 
Lee5000.000000 
Totals55927149.21558020

Key —g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists.
Aces—California (2): Roe, Rostratter. Hawaii (6): Kaufman 2, Brandt, Farrell, Ka'aihue, Mafua. Assists—California (55): Lloyd 48, Kathan 3, Wiley 2, Murrey, Schmitt. Hawaii (56): Mafua 45, Brandt 7, Ka'aihue 3, Kaufman.
T—2:21. Officials—Denice Hanson, Dan Hironaka. A—4,913.