Monday, September 13, 1999
Nevada gives
Wahine quite
a workout
Yesterday's tough four-game victory gave
By Cindy Luis
Hawaii the Imua Challenge title -- and a taste
of what to expect when the Wolf Pack
join the WAC next season
Star-BulletinThe breakup of the Western Athletic Conference has the Hawaii women's volleyball team lacking for tough competition.
Not for long.
Nevada joins the WAC next season and, last night, the unranked Wolf Pack provided a glimpse of what it will bring to the party. Scrappy defense and a never-quit attitude.
No. 3 Hawaii (7-0) may have won the match, 15-8, 15-6, 14-16, 15-2, and its fifth Aston's Imua Wahine Challenge title. But Nevada (4-2) earned the respect of the Wahine and the 4,827 fans (6,402 tickets) at the Stan Sheriff Center after holding off two match-points in Game 3 and rallying from a 14-6 deficit with 10 unanswered points to extend the match for another 20 minutes.
"Nevada is a solid program," said Hawaii's Heather Bown, named the MVP of her second consecutive tournament. "Dave (Coach Shoji) said this is someone we could see again in the NCAA Tournament.
"We knew they were pretty good. We can't take anyone lightly right now. Every team is going to come in here, ready to play their best match against us. We need to be ready for that."
Hawaii has a short time to prepare for defending champion and fourth-ranked Long Beach State on Thursday and No. 23 Colorado on Friday. One goal for the Wahine is to have all parts of their game in gear from the opening whistle.
Last night, it was Hawaii's imposing block that got a late start. Veronica Lima's solo stuff finished off Game 1 for the Wahine, but it was only the first block of the match for the home team.
The Wahine finished with 20 team blocks on the night, including nine in Game 2 that kept the Wolf Pack in negative hitting numbers (-.027). Bown was in on 11 blocks, turning in her second triple-double (21 kills, 10 digs, 11 blocks) in two matches.
"Once our block starts clicking, everything else seems to fall into place," said Shoji. "We blocked extremely well in the second game.
"Nevada was the perfect opponent for right now, one that will give us a ballgame and one we can handle. I don't think it hurt us to blow the third game. We came right back and established ourselves in Game 4."
Shoji had begun substituting with his team comfortably ahead at 12-6 in Game 3. Jessica Sudduth served one of her five aces and Bown and Heidi Ilustre teamed for a block that gave the Wahine match-point at 14-6.
Hawaii's chop suey lineup meant players were in unfamiliar passing and blocking positions. Nevada took advantage at 14-7, with Suzanne Stonebarger serving for nine consecutive points and the game.
"Dave was trying different lineups and we kind of caught them off guard," said Nevada coach Devin Scruggs. "We showed we can fight, we showed we can play. It was a huge comeback and that's the kind of team I like to coach. One that doesn't give up, regardless of the situation on the other side of the net.
"I challenged the players in the timeout and was happy they rose to the challenge. It might have been different if we had come in 2-0 (in the tournament). Then this match becomes the championship, then we're playing for first or second place instead of third."
Nevada finished third with a 1-2 record. The Wolf Pack nearly upset No. 20 Southern Cal on Thursday, losing Game 5 18-16 after serving for the win at 14-13.
SC took second place at 2-1 and Tennessee fourth at 0-3. Hawaii (3-0) has never dropped a match in the five-year history of the event.
Named to the all-tournament team were Bown, Sudduth and Lily Kahumoku of Hawaii. Also, Southern Cal's Kashi Cormier and Antoinette Polk, Kellie LaBossiere from Nevada and Tennessee's Erika Brez.
Scruggs is now 1-9 in matches played in Hawaii. As a player at Pacific (1987-90), she and the Tigers were 0-6 in Klum Gym; her Nevada team also lost its NCAA first-round playoff match at the Sheriff Center last December.
"Nevada's a good team," said Wahine freshman setter Jennifer Carey. "They didn't lay down for us. But we were able to get off to a good start in Game 4 (11-0 lead) and knew we had to play better against a scrappy team.
"Right now I think we need to get back to basics this week in practice, work on passing and be consistently good."
"This is where we wanted to be, 7-0," said Shoji. "I'd like it to be a little smoother but, considering we have two freshmen in there (Carey and Kahumoku), I think we're fine."
Also in double-figure kills for Hawaii were Kahumoku (12) and Sudduth (10). Shannon Stemler led Nevada with 10 kills.
Wolf Pack (4-2) Hawaii def. Nevada,
15-8, 15-6, 14-16, 15-2
g k e att pct. bs ba d LaBossiere 4 4 7 24 -.125 0 1 3 Chambers 4 7 6 24 .042 0 2 5 Harris 3 0 1 3 -.333 0 1 6 Netherby 3 3 2 12 .083 0 0 1 Stonebarger 4 9 6 35 .086 0 1 11 More 3 7 1 12 .500 0 2 1 Dare 4 0 0 1 .000 0 0 13 Baracco 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Addeo 2 0 0 2 .000 0 3 0 Couwenhoven 3 1 1 7 .000 0 2 1 Stemler 4 10 4 26 .231 0 0 8 Totals 4 41 28 146 .089 0 12 49Rainbow Wahine (7-0)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Carey 4 4 0 7 .571 0 4 8 Sudduth 4 10 2 25 .320 1 4 11 Bown 4 21 3 37 .486 2 9 10 Kahumoku 4 12 6 26 .231 0 2 5 Lima 4 8 2 12 .500 1 7 11 Roberts 4 2 2 8 .000 0 4 5 Vakasausau 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Nikolic 1 2 1 3 .333 0 0 0 Makainai 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Lee 4 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 Ilustre 4 4 4 16 .000 0 2 3 Totals 4 80 28 135 .319 4 32 59Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.Aces--Nevada (7): Chambers 3, Dare 1, LaBossiere 1, Stemler 1, Stonebarger 1. UH (8): Sudduth 5, Ilustre 1, Lima 1, Roberts 1. Assists--Nevada (40): Harris 25, Couwenhoven 14, Dare 1. UH (56): Carey 49, Ilustre 3, Roberts 2, Lee 1, Sudduth 1.
A--6,402. T--2:03. Officials--Ernest Ho, Wayne Lee.
