Saturday, October 2, 1999

Wahine leap easily
past Horned Frogs

Margaret Vakasausau steps in
nicely at setter as No. 3 Hawaii
cruises in its WAC opener,
winning its 12th straight match

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

Margaret Vakasausau doesn't do pidgin.

Lily Kahumoku is -- reluctantly -- losing her Texas twang.

The two freshmen, however, speak the same language on the volleyball court. Last night, Vakasausau was impressive in her first start at setter and Kahumoku continued to impress, leading the No. 3 Hawaii women's volleyball team to a 15-5, 15-7, 15-13 victory over Texas Christian in the WAC opener for both teams.

"Howzit, y'all" translated into Hawaii's 29th straight win at the Stan Sheriff Center and kept the Wahine (12-0) one of five unbeaten teams in the Top 25 poll. For TCU (6-9, 0-1), getting to double digits and forcing Wahine coach Dave Shoji to call a timeout in Game 3 was a giant leap from the last time the Horned Frogs made the trip here.

"Maybe it's not that apparent to the people here, but we are hugely better than we were the last time,'' said TCU coach Sandy Troudt, referring to the 15-5, 15-0, 15-5 loss in 1997. "You have to understand where we've come from.

"Our goal is to try to get the opposing team to do things they normally have to do in a game, like call a timeout. We make goals like that because they are attainable. We don't talk about winning a lot, we talk about making the effort and executing our game plan."

Troudt started the TCU program in 1996 and will see her first group of four-year players graduate this year. The Frogs now have the maximum scholarships allowed by the NCAA (12).

Still, the improvements TCU has made weren't nearly enough to test injury-slowed Hawaii until late in the match. The Wahine's disinterest and the Frogs' negative hitting percentage collided with Hawaii ahead 12-6 in Game 3.

TCU freshman Stephanie Watson got hot, putting down four of her 10 kills, and the Frogs found encouragement at 13-10. Two rare hitting errors by Kahumoku on tough angles and a kill by Jill Pape brought TCU to 14-13. The Frogs were brought back down to earth when Watson hit wide on Hawaii's third try at aloha ball.

"Considering it was probably the first match Margaret has really played as a setter, I thought she did a good job," said Shoji. "She is a great athlete and what she needs is to get more time out there."

That chance likely will come tomorrow when Hawaii hosts Fresno State (6-7) in a 5 p.m. match. Shoji said he expects to go with Vakasausau against the Bulldogs, allowing regular setter Jennifer Carey another day to rest a nagging injury (inflamed toe).

Also likely to see limited action tomorrow is senior Heather Bown (bruised leg). The All-American, who leads the country in blocks, left after Game 2 with eight kills and seven blocks.

"I thought Margaret was on it,'' said Kahumoku, who led the Wahine with 12 kills. "She played with a lot of poise. She went out there and got the job done."

Vakasausau, a UH Lab School product, said she lost her nervousness when the crowd warmly applauded her during player introductions. She found some comfort also in holding Carey's hand during the Star Spangled Banner.

"I thought by holding Jen Carey's hand that it would help pass some of her skills to me," said Vakasausau.

"It's like our passers are here and our hitters are here, and I wanted to be the link that connects them. I wanted that link to be strong and I wanted to live up to the expectations of our program."

Troudt said she thought her team would be able to take advantage of the "little glitch" in Hawaii's lineup. There is a disparity in height and experience between Carey at 6-foot-1 and Vakasausau at 5-8.

"We felt we had a little more of an advantage with Carey out," said the TCU coach. "We felt we could get to double digits and even take a game off them. We just couldn't get our freshmen and sophomores to adjust. We're still very young."

Marci King, a sophomore, led the Frogs with 11 kills.

Jessica Sudduth added 11 kills for the Wahine, who out-blocked TCU, 10 to 5.

Hawaii def. TCU,
15-5, 15-7, 15-13

Horned Frogs (6-9. 0-1 WAC)

		g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
King		3	11	 6	27	.185	0	3	4
Hayes		3	2	1	8	.125	0	1	2
Olson		3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	3
Atamanczuk	2	3	5	13	.-154	0	0	0
Pape		3	5	3	15	.133	0	1	8
Lynch		3	5	2	14	.214	0	3	0
Rangel		3	0	1	1	-1.000	0	0	8
Sebastian	1	0	1	6	-.167	0	1	1
Kieffer		2	1	0	4	.250 	0	0	0
Cuca		1	1	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Watson		3	10	5	26	.192	0	1	5
	Totals	3	37	 24	113	.115	0	10	31

Wahine (12-0, 1-0WAC)

		g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Vakasausau	3	2	0	2	1.000	0	5	6
Sudduth		3	11	4	24	.292	0	1	7
Bown		2	8	1	12	583	1	6	4
Kahumoku	3	12	3	29	310	0	0	5
Lima		3	5	2	13	.231	0	2	6
Ilustre		3	4	1	7	.429	0	3	7
Nikolic	    	2	2	3	5	-.200	0	1	5
Makainai	1	0	0	0	000 	0	0	1
Roberts		3	3	1	9	.222	0	1	1
Lee		2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	2
	Totals	3	47	15	101	.317	1	19	44

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

Aces--TCU (3): Pape 2, Olson 1. UH (4):Vakasausau 1, Sudduth 1, Kahumoku 1, Lee 1. Assists_TCU (35): Hayes 29, Pape 3, King 1, Atamanczuk 1, Watson 1. UH (44): Vakasausau 38, Ilustre 2, Roberts 2, Bown 1, Lima 1.

T--1:30. Officials--Ken Taylor, Dan Hironaka. Att- 6,934 tickets (5,726 turnstile).