Friday, September 10, 1999
Wahine up to
challenge
Hawaii is shaky in Game 1 but dominant
By Cindy Luis
in Games 2 and 3, disposing of Tennessee's
Lady Vols in the 5th Wahine Challenge
Star-BulletinIt's early.
Teams are still trying to develop their personnel and personalities.
No problem for the Hawaii women's volleyball team, which has it all figured already.
The third-ranked Wahine's personality?
Definitely split.
In one of the most schizophrenic performances ever turned in by Hawaii, the Wahine struggled against Tennessee for 39 minutes then stomped on the Lady Vols for the remaining 33. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,483 (6,272 tickets) saw Hawaii (5-0) remain unbeaten on the year with a 19-17, 15-0, 15-1 win in the second match of the 5th Aston's Imua Wahine Challenge.
In the opener, No. 20 Southern California escaped with a 15-10, 10-15, 15-10, 10-15, 18-16 win over Nevada. The Women of Troy face the Wahine in tonight's second match, a contest that has major implications for Hawaii.
"We play so few ranked teams this year that we have to do well against the ones we do play," said Wahine senior Heather Bown. "It's a big game for us. We have to go out and play like we're the No. 3 team.
"Tonight, I wasn't connecting with Jen (setter Carey) at all. I was frustrated and, once that happens, I tend to shut down. We had a little powwow between Games 1 and 2 and that helped."
ASTON'S IMUA CHALLENGE
Today: Tennessee (3-3) vs. Nevada (3-1), 5 p.m.; No. 3 Hawaii (5-0) vs. No. 20 Southern Cal (2-1), 30 minutes after first match.
Sophomore Veronica Lima was the most vocal, telling her Wahine teammates that they weren't ranked No. 3 because they were prettier than other teams, that they had to prove it on the court.
The Wahine responded by scoring 30 of the next 31 points in nearly shutting out the Lady Vols the rest of the way.
Bown, hitting negative for the early part of the match, finished with a match-high 17 kills and 7 blocks. Senior Jennifer Roberts had 11 of her 13 kills in Game 1, hitting .611 and playing a major role in keeping her team from being upset in Game 1.
The Lady Vols streaked to leads of 4-0 and 9-3 after the first five minutes. Hawaii rallied to take a 14-12 lead and served three times for the game, only to have Tennessee score three straight points and serve for the win at 15-14.
The Wahine finally pulled it out on their seventh game-point when Bown slammed a ball into the face of Vol setter Erica Lear. Lear, sidelined with a bad ankle the past two matches, left early in Game 2, taking Tennessee's hopes of a comeback with her.
USC 3, NEVADA 2: The Women of Troy lost a five-set match at Long Beach State last week. They refused to let it happen again, eking out the win after 2 hours and 25 minutes.
"We were lucky to win the match," SC coach Jerritt Elliott said. "Nevada outplayed us, but in Game 5, they got a little tight and we were able to pull it out.
In the rally scoring Game 5, the Wolf Pack swung once for the match at 14-13. Southern Cal held.
It was tied at 14, 15 and 16 until Amber Oliver and Kashi Cormier teamed for a block and match-point at 17-16. Nevada's Michelle More was called for a lift to finally end it.
USC DEF. NEVADA, 15-10, 10-15, 15-10, 10-15, 18-16
USC (2-1 overall, 1-0 Imua Challenge)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Lindquist 5 3 1 10 .200 0 0 12 Mariani 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 11 Polk 5 23 11 59 .203 0 2 22 Killian 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 Henry 5 16 8 57 .140 0 0 24 Pahl 5 14 8 45 .133 0 0 19 Munneke 5 0 2 4 -.500 0 1 8 Oliver 5 9 1 26 .308 2 6 3 Cormier 4 10 2 26 .308 0 1 19 Totals 5 82 37 243 .185 2 12 120Nevada (3-1, 0-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d LaBossiere 5 22 4 49 .367 0 1 13 Dare 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 11 Chambers 5 7 5 37 .054 0 1 21 Couwenhoven 5 7 3 17 .235 0 1 16 Stemler 3 8 3 37 .135 1 0 12 Netherby 4 14 4 37 .270 0 0 11 Stonebarger 5 16 3 43 .302 0 1 21 More 5 10 7 34 .088 1 2 2 Totals 5 84 29 254 .217 2 6 107Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.Aces--USC (8): Mariani 3, Lindquist 2, Pahl 2, Munneke 1; Nevada (8): LaBossiere 2, Dare 2, Couwenhoven 2, Stemler 1, Stonebarger 1. Assists--USC (77): Munneke 46, Lindquist 25, Polk 2, Mariani 1, Killian 1, Henry 1, Pahl 1; Nevada (77): Couwenhoven 66, Dare 4, Chambers 4, Stemler 2, Stonebarger 1.
T--2:25. Officials--Denice Hanson, Dan Hironaka.
HAWAII DEF. TENNESSEE, 19-17, 15-0, 15-1
Lady Vols (3-3)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Elliott 3 1 1 12 .000 0 0 9 Lear 3 2 1 10 .100 0 0 3 Scott 3 6 1 18 .278 0 0 4 Brez 3 10 6 32 .125 1 0 0 Peterson 3 0 0 2 .000 0 0 7 Knight 3 4 4 14 .000 0 2 8 Clayton 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 5 Wilson 3 4 2 14 .143 0 2 0 Bergey 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 Hester 3 2 3 11 -.091 0 0 1 Paul 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Totals 3 29 18 115 .096 1 4 38Rainbow Wahine (5-0)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Carey 3 5 0 6 .833 0 2 13 Sudduth 2 8 1 24 .292 1 3 6 Bown 3 17 6 36 .306 1 6 4 Kahumoku 3 3 3 12 .000 0 0 15 Lima 2 3 0 6 .500 0 1 3 Roberts 3 13 2 18 .611 0 2 2 Vakasausau 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 2 Nikolic 2 3 0 4 .750 0 1 2 Lee 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Ilustre 3 5 0 7 .714 0 1 7 Totals 3 57 12 114 .395 2 16 55Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.Aces--Tennessee (2): Peterson 1, Knight 1; UH (5): Carey 1, Sudduth 1, Bown 1, Carey 1, Lima 1, Nikolic 1. Assists--Tennessee (25): Lear 19, Paul 4, Peterson 1, Knight 1; UH (50): Carey 41, Ilustre 4, Sudduth 2, Vakasausau 2, Kahumoku 1
A--6,272. T--1:27. Officials--Wayne Lee, Ernest Ho.
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Ka Leo O Hawaii
