Wahine Playbook
vs. SMU Mustangs
Tonight: SMU (12-8, 1-0 WAC) vs. No. 2 Hawaii (15-0, 4-0 WAC).
Coaches-Hawaii: Dave Shoji (25th season, 696-135-1); SMU: Lisa Seifert (4th, 48-68).
Series: Hawaii leads SMU, 2-0. Both matches were played in 1997 with the Wahine sweeping in Dallas and then in Honolulu on Wahine Senior Night.
Top players - Hawaii: Heather Bown (6-3 Sr. MB) 4.18 kpg, .381, 2.30 bpg, 15 aces, Jessica Sudduth (6-2 Jr. LS)3.27 kpg, .236, 2.55 dpg, 0.88 bpg, 17 aces, Veronica Lima (6-2 So. MB) 2.09 kpg, .291,1.21 bpg, 2.57 dpg, 20 aces; Jennifer Carey (6-1 Fr. S)12.16 apg, 2.89 dpg, 1.09 bpg; Lily Kahumoku (6-2 Fr. LS) 3.43 kpg, .305, 2.06 dpg. SMU: Erin Pryor (6-0 Sr. OH) 3.82 kpg, .224, 2.76 dpg; Melissa Godwin (6-0 Jr. MB) 3.51 kpg, .215, .05 bpg, 24 aces; Leslie Olson (5-5 Sr. S) 12.53 apg, 12 aces, 2.93 dpg; Janna Newsom (5-11 So. MB) 2.56 kpg, .268, 1.08 bpg. Kelly Klecka (6-0 Jr. OH) 2.97 kpg, 18 aces, 2.27 dpg..
About the Wahine: Hawaii remained unbeaten last week with road victories at Tulsa and Rice. The Wahine return to the Sheriff Center for a three-match home stand, putting their 30-match home winning streak on the line tonight against SMU. The Wahine are 96-8 since the arena opened in mid-1994 ... Hawaii has swept 10 of its 15 opponents this season and has not dropped a set since going to five against Loyola Marymount on Sept. 24, a string of five straight 3-0 wins ... Freshman setter Jennifer Carey returned to the lineup for the matches against the Golden Hurricane and Owls. She sat out the wins over TCU and Fresno State with "turf toe'' ... This is Hawaii's best start since opening the 1996 season 23-0. ... Bown continues to lead the country in blocks. Hawaii, one of three remaining undefeated teams in the country, also is No. 1 in blocks as a team (.4.04) ... Shoji is four wins away from becoming the sixth women's college volleyball coach to notch 700 career victories. The others are Andy Banachowski (UCLA), Elaine Michaelis (BYU), Mick Haley (formerly at Texas), Marilyn Nolen (St. Louis) and Cathy Cain (Towson State). If Hawaii stays unbeaten, Shoji's milestone will occur Oct. 29 at San Jose State.
About the Mustangs: SMU is coming off a 15-5, 16-14, 15-6, 15-5 win at North Texas Tuesday. Godwin led the team with 15 kills while Pryor added 14. The Mustangs need just two wins to tie last year's win total ... SMU returns all six starters from last year's 14-17 team that finished fifth in the WAC Mountain Division... Pryor is leading the Mustangs in kills for the fourth consecutive season and seventh in the WAC this year. She needs 22 kills to move into sixth place on the WAC's all-time kill list ... Olson leads the conference in assists and is seventh on the WAC career list... SMU is second in team kills in the WAC, behind Hawaii
End quote: "People here aren't giving anyone in the conference credit,'' said Shoji. "Just because a team isn't ranked doesn't mean they aren't good. That kind of thinking will get you beat. SMU has some good players who hit the ball hard. We can't think about things in the future. We've got to keep are minds on the business of beating SMU.''
On the air: Live on KFVE (Channel 5) and KCCN (1420-AM).
Tickets: $5-$9 (upper level only).
By Cindy Luis
