Monday, September 6, 1999

It’s on:
UH-UCLA
tonight

After winning yesterday,
the rivals will now play
for the Wahine Classic title

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

How does the Hawaii women's volleyball team spell rivalry?

U-C-L-A.

The Bruins are the only team the Wahine have faced at least once every season since 1974. Other rivalries have come and gone through the years - Utah State, Pacific, Long Beach State, BYU - but UCLA has been there from the beginning.

And the Bruins are here today, on the opposite side of the net, for the 55th time. The Wahine enjoy a 28-26 advantage in the series; win No. 29 would give the home team the outright title of the 12th Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Both teams come into the 5 p.m. finale with 2-0 tourney marks, but Hawaii may be a little more rested. The Wahine needed just 76 minutes to dispose of Pittsburgh last night, 15-6, 15-1, 15-8, while the Bruins feel lucky they escaped with a controversial 9-15, 11-15, 16-14, 15-5, 15-9 victory over Minnesota after 2 hours and 28 minutes.

"This is the match you always look forward to," said UCLA coach Andy Banachowski, who has lost more matches only to Southern Cal (35) than Hawaii. "We're probably more tired than they are, but we also will probably be more excited to play them."

Don't bet on it.

Hawaii setter Jennifer Carey said she "was born and raised to be a Bruin." Had UCLA not vacillated over her scholarship offer, Carey very well may have been wearing blue and gold tonight.

"I'm fired up for the match," said Carey, who again had an impressive outing. "UCLA is probably the next-best team in this tournament. They've got a great group of athletes and we'll have to be on our toes.

"I know there is a great rivalry, and I'm proud to be a part of it."

From how last night's match with Pitt started, the Wahine may have been looking ahead to tonight's meeting with UCLA. The Panthers (1-3) jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead before Carey and the Wahine got on a roll.

Hawaii outscored Pitt, 13-1, to finish off Game 1 then steam-rolled to a 13-0 lead in Game 2. By the time the Wahine took a 10-0 lead in Game 3, they had outscored the Panthers, 38-2.

Pitt came back against the Hawaii subs, closing to 13-8. But Tanja Nikolic and Jennifer Roberts combined for one of the Wahine's 16 blocks and freshman Lily Kahumoku put down her sixth kill to end it.

Heather Bown was again unstoppable, finishing with 18 kills, hitting .517 with 12 blocks. Jenna Birkel led Pitt with nine kills.

"We had a little trouble at the beginning," said Carey. "We came out a little shaky and Pittsburgh came out tough. We started playing our game, got into a rhythm."

Carey was also able to get Kahumoku more involved in the offense, much to the UH coaches' delight. Kahumoku had just two swings - and zero kills - in Friday's win over Minnesota; she had nine kills in 15 swings last night.

"I'm glad that Pitt came out and forced the issue," said Shoji. "I didn't want a game that was lopsided. We don't get much out of it if the other team isn't playing well. We needed to be pushed.

UCLA 3, Minnesota 2: It was the third time the Gophers had faced the Bruins, and it appeared to be the charm. Minnesota blocked UCLA's Kristee Porter at the end of Game 3, apparently giving the Gophers the straight-set victory.

But the linesman ruled - correctly - that the Gopher block hit the antenna before hitting Porter, erasing the win and giving the Bruins the ball at 11-14. UCLA needed no other reprieve, scoring the next five points of Game 3 then the first six of Game 4 in rallying for the victory.

"The difference in the match was in the last two games ... the tradition of the UCLA program," said Minnesota coach Mike Hebert. "We're on the road to that, but it's something we're searching for. UCLA stabilized mentally, came on strong at the end and maintained that mental effort.

"It was the worst possible scenario, when you're a team trying to spring the upset, to think you've won, then are told that you didn't."

What little air was left in Minnesota's upset bubble was let out by the block of the taller Bruins, with seven of UCLA's 11 blocks coming in the last two games. Stacy Millichap served for six straight points in the rally-scoring Game 5 to give the Bruins a commanding 9-3 lead.

The Gophers closed to 11-8, but Tamika Johnson put down three of her 11 kills for points.

"I told the team how great it was to be out of the match, actually have the match signaled over, then to come back and win," said Banachowski. "It's something we couldn't have done last season.

Wahine Classic

Today: No. 4 Hawaii (3-0) vs. No. 10 UCLA (2-0), 5 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center.
Broadcasts: Live on KFVE-TV (Channel 5) and KCCN (1420-AM).
Tickets: Some 2,000 remain, priced from $5-$9.

Hawaii def. Pittsburgh, 15-6, 15-1, 15-8

Panthers (1-3)
		g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Meinhart	3	8	5	20	.150	0	0	7
Nickels		3	7	3	22	.182	0	1	0
Renick		3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	6
Alpers		3	5	9	30	-.133	1	1	12
Boutin		3	4	5	22	-.045	0	0	8
Norris		3	3	1	7	.286	0	0	4
Birkel		3	9	1	19	.421	0	0	2
Thiesen		3	0	1	7	.143	0	0	8
Totals		3	36	25	127	.087	1	2	47
Rainbow Wahine (3-0)
		g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Carey		3	2	0	5	.400	0	6	5
Sudduth		2	4	0	14	.286	0	4	6
Bown		3	18	3	29	.517	2	10	5
Lima		2	3	0	6	.500	0	3	3
Roberts		2	2	2	9	.000	0	2	2
Ilustre		3	3	3	20	.000	0	2	8
Vakasausau	1	0	0	1	.000	0	0	2
Nikolic		2	4	1	8	.375	0	1	5
Makainai	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Kahumoku	2	6	1	15	.333	0	0	7
Lee		2	0	0	1	.000	0	0	6
Totals		3	42	10	108	.296	2	28	49

Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.

Aces--Pittsburgh: none; UH (5): Roberts 2, Bown 1, Carey 1, Kahumoku 1. Assists--Pittsburgh (32): Norris 28, Meinhart 3, Renick 1; UH (34): Carey 22, Vakasausau 8, Ilustre 2, Nikolic 1, Roberts 1.

A--6,570. T--1:16. Officials--Wayne Lee, Ernest Ho.

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UCLA def. Minnesota, 9-15, 11-15, 16-14, 15-5, 15-9

Golden Gophers (2-2)
		g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Berg		5	1	1	8	.000	0	1	11
Wichert		5	15	7	42	.190	0	2	17
Aschenbrenner	5	18	8	44	.227	2	3	10
L.Shudlick	5	6	1	22	.227	1	3	2
Hagen		5	12	4	23	.348	2	4	6
Branagh		5	21	5	56	.286	1	0	20
Fair		5	1	1	3	.000	1	1	0
Berres		2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Baxter		1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
S.Shudlick	5	0	0	0	.000	0	0	7
Totals		5	74	27	198	.237	7	14	73
Bruins (2-0)
		g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Bowles		5	23	12	52	.212	0	1	13
Porter		5	28	6	62	.355	0	0	12
Selsor		5	0	2	4	-.500	0	0	7
Johnson		5	11	3	19	.421	0	7	4
Fendrick	5	7	3	19	.211	0	8	11
Quon		5	0	0	2	.000	0	0	16
Bachman		5	8	3	25	.200	1	4	6
Millichap	5	0	0	4	.000	0	0	9
Peterson	1	5	3	15	.133	0	0	2
Totals		5	82	32	202	.248	1	20	80

Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.

Aces--Minnesota (5): Branagh 2, Wichert 2, Aschenbrenner 1; UCLA (6): Selsor 3, Millichap 1, Porter 1, Quon 1. Assists--Minnesota (66): Berg 59. Aschenbrenner 3, Branagh 2, Hagen 1, S. Shudlick 1; UCLA (74): Selsor 68, Fendrick 3, Bowles 1, Porter 1, Quon 1.

T--2:28. Officials--Denice Hanson, Dan Hironaka.

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