NCAA Tournament
first & second rounds
Tomorrow: No. 21 Colorado vs. Utah (21-9), 5 p.m. No. 3 Hawaii (27-1) vs. Prairie View A&M (18-14), 7 p.m. Friday: First-round winners, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center.
Coaches-Hawaii: Dave Shoji (25th season, 708-136-1). Prairie View A&M: Alicia Pete (1st season, 18-16). Colorado: Pi'i Aiu (3rd season, 52-28). Utah: Beth Launiere (10th season, 179-137). .
Series: This is the first meeting between Hawaii and Prairie View... Hawaii leads Colorado, 2-0. The last meeting was on Sept. 17 at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Buffaloes were the Wahine's second-round opponent in the 1996 NCAA Tournament, the last time Hawaii advanced to the final four... Hawaii leads the series with Utah, 6-0. The last meeting was last Nov. 6. The Wahine won, 3-1.
Top players -- Hawaii: Heather Bown (6-3 Sr. MB) 4.06 kpg, .371, 2.27 bpg, 27 aces; Jessica Sudduth (6-2 Jr. LS) 3.07 kpg, .214, 28 aces, 2.65 dpg; Veronica Lima (6-2 So. MB) 1.85 kpg, .256, 2.51 dpg, 1.15 bpg, 30 aces; Jennifer Carey (6-1 Fr. S) 11.70 apg, 2.44 dpg, 1.14 bpg; Lily Kahumoku (6-2 Fr. LS) 3.31 kpg, .299, 1.79 dpg. Prairie View: Chanel Henderson (5-8 Sr. OH) 2.49 kpg, .128, 2.11 dpg; LaMonika Hurst (5-8 Jr. OH) 1.93 kpg, .130, 2.01 dpg; LaToshia Tanner 5-9 Sr. OH) 1.18 kpg, .114, 1.25 dpg, 1.62 pbg; Tanesha Dillard (5-9 Jr. S) 10.62 apg; Edwina Brooks (6-0 Sr. MB) 1.46 kpg, .182, 1.39 bpg. Colorado: Sonja Nielsen (5-10 So. LS) 3.99 kpg, .164, 3.50 dpg. Kristin Engelking (5-11 Sr. MB) 3.52 kpg, .347, 1.77 dpg; Meghan Barkman (6-2 Fr. MB) 2.53 kpg, .303, 1.83 dpg, 1.31 bpg; Kelly Campbell (5-1 Sr. S) 14.12 apg, 3.07 dpg. Utah: McKelle Stilson (6-1 So. MB) 3.71 kpg, .308, 1.28 bpg; Alisa Geddes (5-11 So. OH) 2.98 kpg, .194, 3.13 dpg, 27 aces; Adrianne Bradley (6-2 So. OH) 2.73 kpg, .176, 2.79 dpg; Graciela Torres-Lopez (5-8 Sr. S) 12.29 apg, 21 aces, 2.25 dpg.
About the Wahine: Hawaii is making its 18th appearance in 19 years of the NCAA Tournament. The only time the Wahine missed postseason play was 1992 ... Hawaii clinched hosting duties through the final four with two victories last week at the Arizona Thanksgiving Invitational. The Wahine defeated No. 19 Arizona, 3-1, and Cal Poly, 3-0. Bown was named the MVP while Sudduth and Kahumoku were selected to the all-tournament team ... The Wahine have won their last 10 matches...
About the Lady Panthers: Prairie View (Texas) is making its first appearance in the NCAA, having won the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship ... The Lady Panthers have won their last four matches and nine of their last 10 ... At one point in the season, Prairie View was 2-10 and had lost eight in a row.
About the Buffaloes: Colorado is in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th consecutive year and is one of six Big 12 teams earning a berth ... Campbell, an all-American last season, ranks 11th in NCAA history in total assists, is on pace to break the career assist average mark (of 13.25, held by San Diego State's Andrea Clark) and is 10th in consecutive matches played (417)... Coach Aiu is a Kamehameha grad.
About the Utes: Utah is one of the three Mountain West teams to earn at-large berths and is making its second consecutive NCAA appearance. The Utes lost in the second round to Nebraska last year. Utah finished 10-4 in the Mountain West (third), and lost to Colorado State in the MWC semifinals last Friday ... Torres-Lopes is the school's all-time assist leader (5,058) ... Bradley was a middle blocker for the Wahine last season.
Next up: Should Hawaii win both matches, the Mountain Regional will be played at the Sheriff Center next Thursday and Friday.
On the air: KCCN (1420-AM) will broadcast all Hawaii matches live. KFVE has been awarded the TV rights to the first- and second- rounds but the telecasts may be blacked out, depending on ticket sales.
RealAudio: Click here for Web broadcasts
Tickets: Two-day packages - $6 (students), $12 (seniors), $14 (adults), $20 (lower level) .
By Cindy Luis, Star-Bulletin
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Ka Leo O Hawaii
