Saturday, November 13, 1999

Wahine survive scare

Staff and wire reports

Big D nearly spelled Disaster last night for the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team.

The third-ranked Wahine had an inexplicable and inexcusable meltdown after easily handling Southern Methodist in Games 1 and 2. Hawaii had to rally to prevent a fifth game, finally subduing the Mustangs, 15-4, 15-2, 12-15, 15-13 at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.

Hawaii (21-1, 10-0 Western Athletic Conference) headed across town today for a match against Texas Christian (3 p.m. HST). The Horned Frogs (9-16, 3-7) snapped a two-game losing skid with a 15-2, 12-15, 15-6, 15-12 win over visiting UTEP last night.

Wahine coach Dave Shoji said nearly losing to SMU will help his team refocus for today's match and for the contest at UTEP (5-20, 3-9) on Monday.

"I hope this got our attention," said Shoji. "We quit playing after Game 2 and maybe I quit coaching. The team let down and so did the coaching staff. We let them back into the match and couldn't get the momentum back.

"It was very disappointing. We were playing at a very high level and then we stopped, thinking we could just air-mail it in."

Instead, the Mustangs tried to deliver a huge upset by Pony Express. SMU (17-11, 6-3), on a five-match roll, didn't roll over despite being held to a combined six points in the opening 30 minutes.

The Mustangs had their first lead of the match at 2-0 in Game 2. The Wahine scored the next 23 consecutive points, winning the set and jumping ahead 8-0 in Game 3.

Erin Pryor, SMU's kill leader, finally found her range as she put down six of her match-high 18 kills, including the game-winner to pull out Game 3 with a 15-4 run.

Heather Bown put down her 12th kill to tie it at 13-all. A lift on the Mustangs gave Hawaii match point and, one sideout later, Texas-raised Lily Kahumoku put down her 12th kill to end it after an hour and 45 minutes.

Jessica Sudduth led the Wahine with 15 kills while Jenny Roberts added 13. Pryor was the only Mustang in double kill figures.

"Jessica carried us at the end," said Shoji.

"She struggled early but got key sideouts and points when it counted in Game 4.

"We came in motivated and focus and then we lost interest. We thought it was over and it wasn't. We learned that we'd better be ready to play every night."

The Wahine are now 53-1 in WAC regular-season play since joining the conference in 1996. It was the just the second set Hawaii has dropped to a WAC opponent; the Wahine are 30-2 in games.

NOTES: Amy Atamanczuk led TCU with 20 kills in the victory over UTEP last night ... In Thursday's matches, San Jose State swept Rice, 15-12, 15-1, 15-7, and Fresno State defeated Tulsa, 15-3, 10-15, 15-5, 15-5 ... Fans who pre-ordered NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship tickets can pick them up at the Stan Sheriff Center box office from Nov. 17-Dec. 15. The box office is open weekdays from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

HAWAII DEF. SMU, 15-4, 15-2, 12-15, 15-13

Wahine (21-1, 10-0 WAC)

		G	K	E	ATT	PCT.	BS	BA	D
Carey		4	2	2	6	.000	0	3	10
Sudduth		4	15	4	43	.256	0	1	10
Bown		4	12	5	32	.219	0	3	0
Lima		4	6	0	16	.375	0	2	6
Roberts		4	13	1	17	.706	0	3	4
Ilustre		3	0	0	1	.000	0	0	6
Vakasausau	4	0	0	1	.000	0	0	11
Nikolic		1	1	0	1	1.000	0	0	1
Kahumoku	4	12	9	28	.107	2	0	4
Lee		4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	3
	Totals	4	61	21	145	.276	2	12	55

Mustangs (17-11, 6-3 WAC)

		G	K	E	ATT	PCT.	BS	BA	D
Olson		2	1	3	6	-.333	0	0	4
Klecka		4	7	4	31	.097	0	1	11
Ohlsen		4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	9
Godwin		4	5	4	14	.071	0	1	0
Amos		2	2	2	6	.000	0	0	0
Pryor		4	18	6	40	.300	0	1	9
Hatfield	3	4	0	10	.400	0	1	5
Warner		4	0	1	4	-.250	0	0	7
Bredewater	2	4	2	13	.154	0	0	8
Newsom		4	6	6	26	.000	0	2	1
	Totals	4	47	28	150	.127	0	6	54

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

Aces--UH (6): Roberts 2, Vakasausau 2, Sudduth 1, Kahumoku 1. SMU (2): Ohlsen 1, Warner 1. Assists--UH (60): Carey 48, Lima 4, Roberts 3, Ilustre 2, Sudduth 2, Bown 1. SMU (48): Hatfield 29, Olson 9, Bredewater 4, Ohlsen 2, Pryor 2, Klecka 1, Amos 1.

A--397. T--1:45. Officials--Eric Asami, Debbie Stanford.

WAC STANDINGS

Through Nov. 12

		W	L	Pct.	GB 	Overall
Hawaii		10	0	1.000	--	21-1
San Jose St	8	2	.750	2	22-4
SMU		6	3	.667	3-1/2	17-11
Fresno St.	7	4	.636	3-1/2	13-11
TCU		3	5	.375	6	9-16
UTEP		3	9	.250	8	5-20
Rice		2 	8	.200	8	11-19
Tulsa		2	9	.272	8-1/2	8-15

Yesterday's results

Hawaii def. SMU, 15-4, 15-2, 12-15, 15-13
TCU def. UTEP, 15-2, 12-15, 15-6, 15-12

Today's matches

Hawaii at TCU, 3 p.m. HST
UTEP at SMU
Fresno State at Rice
San Jose State at Tulsa

Monday's match

Hawaii at UTEP, 3 p.m. HST

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