Friday, December 11, 1998
Wahine wary
of Gators
Florida beat Hawaii, 3-1,
By Cindy Luis
when they met in
September
Star-Bulletin
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Think back. Think waaaaay back.
In today's match, that ended at 4:25 p.m., HST, the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine lost to a determined Florida team in five games, 15-11, 15-4, 10-15, 4-15 and 7-15 in rally scoring. LATE UPDATE:
WAHINE LOSE TO FLORIDA
Full coverage tomorrow afternoon.
Even Dave Shoji couldn't remember the last time his Hawaii women's volleyball team got to the NCAA final four via a road victory in the regional final.
It does seem like a lifetime ago. In volleyball years, it was.
It was 1983.
Shoji was a single dad of 36, trying to defend a national title with a team ladened with seven seniors, three All-Americans and the eventual Broderick Cup winner (Deitre Collins). The Wahine had to go through Austin, Texas, before heading to Lexington, Ky., to win a second consecutive NCAA championship.
Fifteen years later, the 51-year-old Shoji has remarried, added two sons to his family and one championship banner (1987). But his teams have gone 0-5 when playing away from Manoa for the region title.
The last four times, the Wahine's season was ended by Long Beach State, once in Stockton, Calif., three times times in the 49ers' Gold Mine. Today (2 p.m. HST), Shoji thought his team could end the drought against host Florida.
"I don't think their home court is going to be that much of an advantage," Shoji said after the Wahine defeated Arkansas, 15-13, 15-9 15-9, in yesterday's semifinal at the O'Connell Center. "In those past regionals, Long Beach State was just the better team. I don't feel that way about Florida."I think we've got a real shot at beating Florida. If we're concentrating and focused, we shouldn't be bothered by the crowd."
Some 700 watched Hawaii (32-2) win its 20th consecutive match. The Wahine had four players in double-kill figures to knock the Lady Razorbacks (29-6) out of the tournament after 1 hour and 50 minutes.
The crowd grew to 2,581 to watch Florida win its 26th straight in last night's semifinal against Southern California. The Gators (34-2) took 2 hours, 10 minutes to wear down the Women of Troy (24-6), 15-13, 12-15, 15-9, 15-9, and advance to their seventh regional final in eight years.
Florida defeated Hawaii, 3-1, on Sept. 6 back at the Stan Sheriff Center. Gator junior hitter Jenny Manz had 35 kills, hit .431 and was named the Wahine Classic MVP.
But even Gators coach Mary Wise agreed that the Wahine team of three months doesn't exist any more.
"I said back then that I wanted no part of them in December but the NCAA committee didn't hear me," Wise said. "We knew their two newcomers (transfer Heather Bown and freshman Veronica Lima) were only going to get better.
"No. 4 seed (Florida) against No. 5 seed (Hawaii) should be a great match. We just hope the results are different than when we were in Hawaii's position a year ago."
Last year, fifth-seeded Florida upset fourth-seeded Wisconsin to get to the final four for the second straight year. In 1996, the Wahine handed the Gators their only two losses of the season, in the season-opener at the NACWAA Tournament and in the final four semifinal in Cleveland.
"It's great to have a chance to play Florida again," Bown said. "They are our only other loss besides BYU and we beat BYU twice. We want to see them."
"I think it's going to be a great match," said Arkansas coach Chris Poole, who lost to SEC rival Florida twice this season. "Both have big, strong athletes. There won't be any intimidation on either side."
HAWAII 3, ARKANSAS 0: The Wahine never really figured out the Lady'Backs' Kim Storey (19 kills, .516) but it didn't matter. Arkansas had more problems trying to handle Hawaii's serves (5 aces) and UH's balanced attack.
Bown warmed up after a slow start to finish with 19 kills. Lima was hot the entire match (16 kills, .448) while Leah Karratti added 16 kills and Jessica Sudduth 12.
"Veronica is that kind of player, she relishes being in the spotlight," Shoji said. "Nikki (setter Hubbert) went to her at the right time and she had a heck of a match."
Arkansas, which had not been swept all season, looked poised to take a game off Hawaii in Game 3. The Lady'Backs closed to 9-9 but the Wahine capitalized on two overpasses, then sandwiched an ace in between a solo block by Hubbert and Bown's match-ending kills.
"We were concerned because we couldn't slow Storey down and it made it a little uncomfortable because we haven't had that kind of frustration against one player except for (Florida's) Jenny Manz," Shoji said.
FLORIDA 3, SOUTHERN CAL 1: Manz frustrated the Trojans all night, finishing with 19 kills and 12 digs. Jenni Keene added 18 kills and Heather Wright 17 kills and 7 blocks.
The Gators trailed, 12-8, early in Game 1 but pulled it out with a 7-0 run. They dropped Game 2 but roared out to a 13-3 lead in Game 3.
SC rallied to 13-9 before Wright and Manz teamed up for two match-ending stuffs. Jasmina Marinkovic led the Trojans with 22 kills and Jennifer Kessy had 14.
UH reaches the
By Dave Reardon
regional final by topping
tall Arkansas
Special to the Star-BulletinGAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Arkansas was supposed to be the team that employed the deadly hitters.
Arkansas was supposed to be the team with the big, bad block.
Although the Lady'Backs came into yesterday's NCAA East Regional semifinal match against Hawaii as decided underdogs, they also came in with some definite strengths.
But they were negated by the Wahine, and Hawaii turned out to be the team that blocked better in key situations and spread the wealth on the attack. It helped UH beat Arkansas, 15-13, 15-9, 15-9, and advance to the regional final against host Florida.
Although the Lady'Backs outblocked the Wahine, 13-9, for the match, that included the first game where Arkansas dominated the net, 7-2, and Hawaii struggled and trailed 5-1 before coming back.
UH coach Dave Shoji said the sluggish start had nothing to do with the team's long trip across five time zones.
"We worried about jet-lag and travel," Shoji said. "But the players put that out of their minds. We were siding out, so I wasn't that concerned. That's why I didn't call a timeout."
"We finally got our block touching some balls and slowing them down," Shoji said.
"We got them running out of their offense."
Almost all of the offense for Arkansas was Kim Storey, who put down 19 kills and hit .531.
"Her approach is different than any other hitter we've blocked against," Hawaii middle Heather Bown said. "She took off on both feet."
While Storey was awkward but dominant, it didn't matter because Hawaii countered with setter Nikki Hubbert finding the right hitters at the right times. Bown had 19 kills, but Leah Karratti and Veronica Lima were right behind with 16 each and Jessica Sudduth had 12.
"Nikki did a good job of separating their blockers," Karrati said.
Hawaii def. Arkansas, 15-13, 15-9, 15-9 Box Score
At Stephen O'Connell Center
Lady'Backs (29-6 overall)
g k e at pct. bs ba d Field 3 12 3 30 .300 2 6 5 Santiago 3 6 5 18 .056 0 3 11 Zhao 3 3 0 8 .375 1 2 2 Rohme 3 10 5 36 .139 0 3 3 Storey 3 19 3 31 .516 0 3 9 Clock 3 0 0 2 .000 0 0 3 Crawford 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Rudolph 3 0 1 3 -.333 0 0 5 Martin 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 McFarland 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Taylor 3 4 0 13 .308 0 3 5 Sloniger 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 54 17 141 .262 3 20 43
g k e at pct. bs ba d Karratti 3 16 8 40 .200 0 2 9 Sudduth 3 12 5 28 .250 0 2 12 Bown 3 19 5 37 .378 0 5 4 Hubbert 3 3 0 8 .375 0 3 7 Lima 3 16 3 29 .448 0 4 9 Ilustre 3 5 0 9 .556 0 2 10 Bradley 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Miyashiro 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Roberts 3 3 3 9 .000 0 0 2 Kim 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 74 24 160 .313 0 18 59Aces--UH (5): Bown 2, Sudduth 1, Hubbert 1, Ilustre 1. AU (4): Storey 2, Zhao 1, Field 1. Assists--UH (64): Hubbert 58, Ilustre 3, Sudduth 1, Lima 1, Roberts 1. AU (51): Zhao 47, Storey 2, Rohme 1, Clock 1. A--724. T--1:50.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
