WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
Mountain Regional
No. 6 Long Beach St. Vs. No. 11 Colorado St.
No. 13 Texas A&M At No. 3 Hawaii
Tomorrow: No. 6 Long Beach State (29-3) vs. No. 11 Colorado State (30-2), 5 p.m.; No. 3 Hawaii (29-1) vs. No. 13 Texas A&M, 30 minutes after end of first match, Stan Sheriff Center.
Friday: Tomorrow's winners, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center.
Coaches-Hawaii: Dave Shoji (25th season, 710-136-1), four national titles. Texas A&M: Laurie Corbelli (7th, 168-59). Long Beach State: Brian Gimmallaro (15th, 423-96), three national titles. Colorado State: Tom Hilbert (3rd, 71-17) .
Series: Hawaii leads Texas A&M, 5-0. Last meeting: In 1995, the Wahine won a pair of mid-October matches in Honolulu, 3-0 and 3-1. Last postseason meeting: The Wahine defeated the Aggies, 3-1, in the 1981 regional. Hawaii leads Long Beach State, 21-14-1. Last meeting: The Wahine defeated the 49ers Sept. 16, 3-1, in Honolulu. Last postseason meeting: The 49ers have eliminated the Wahine from the NCAA Tournament five straight times (1989, '90, '91, '93 and '94). Hawaii leads Colorado State, 6-0. Last meeting: The Wahine defeated the Rams, 3-1, in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas. The teams have never met during the NCAAs. Texas A&M is 0-3 against Long Beach State. Last meeting: The Beach swept the Aggies, 3-0, in 1989, en route to winning the national title in Honolulu. Texas A&M is 1-5 against Colorado State. Last meeting: The Rams won, 3-1, in August of 1996, to run their string to five straight. Long Beach State leads Colorado State, 6-0. Last meeting: The 49ers eliminated the Rams, 3-0, in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament.
Top players -- Hawaii: Heather Bown (6-3 Sr. MB) 4.03 kpg, .373, 2.30 bpg, 30 aces; Jessica Sudduth (6-2 Jr. LS) 3.02 kpg, .222, 29 aces, 2.60 dpg; Veronica Lima (6-2 So. MB) 1.87 kpg, .272, 2.47 dpg, 1.14 bpg, 33 aces; Jennifer Carey (6-1 Fr. S)11.54 apg, 2.38 dpg, 1.11 bpg; Lily Kahumoku (6-2 Fr. LS) 3.26 kpg, .303, 1.75 dpg. Texas A&M: Amber Woolsey (6-3, Sr. MB) 4.30 kpg, .383, 1.57 bpg; Summer Strickland (5-11 Sr. OH) 2.81 kpg, .235, 3.17 dpg. Celia Howes (5-10 OH) 2.49 kpg, 3.48 dpg; Jenna Moscovic (5-11 So.. S) 11.81 apg; Lauri Leahy (5-11 Sr. MB) 2.18 kpg, .313, 1.22 bpg. Long Beach St.: Cheryl Weaver (6-2 So. MB) 4.56 kpg, .422, 1.29 bpg; Tayyiba Haneef (6-6 So. MB) 3.37 kpg, 1.20 bpg. Keri Nishimoto (5-7 So. S) 14.39 apg; Veronica Walls (5-10 Sr. OH) 2.77 kpg, .325. Colorado State: Catie Vagneur (5-9 Sr. OH) 4.09 kpg, .222, 34 aces, 2.74 dpg; Summer Jennings (6-0 Jr OH) 2.76 kpg, .300, 1.45 bpg; Angela Knopf (6-1 SO MB) 3.50 kpg, .361, 2.56 dpg, 1.20 bpg; Allison Peckham (5-10 So. S) 12.98 apg.
About the Wahine: Hawaii won its 12th in a row with a sweep of Utah in last week's second round ... This is the Wahine's 18th NCAA Tournament appearance, having missed the playoffs just once (1992). They are hosting the regional for the sixth time, and the third in the last five years ... Bown continues to lead the country in blocks and Hawaii is No. 1 in team blocking (3.98 bpg). Bown is on the verge of becoming the 11th Wahine to reach the 1,000-kill mark. The transfer from UC Santa Barbara has 973 kills in two seasons at Hawaii ... The Wahine are outhitting opponents, .284-106.
About the Aggies: Texas A&M is making its third Sweet 16 appearance in five years. The Aggies swept both Stephen F. Austin and No. 23 North Carolina last week. This is the seventh straight NCAA appearance for A&M, which finished second in the Big 12 ... The Aggies have won their last eight, and 13 of 14, with victories over Top 25 teams (Texas, K-State, Baylor and Colorado). They finished 16-0 at home to extend their streak at G. Rollie White Coliseum to 20 in a row ... A&M is outhtting opponents, .254-.151, on the season ... Assistant coach John Corbelli is a Punahou graduate ...
About the 49ers: The Beach advanced to its fourth straight NCAA Regional with 3-0 sweeps of Florida A&M and Arkansas. The defending national champs, who went 36-0 last year, are making their 13th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance ... This is the 13th straight season The Beach has won 20-plus matches. The 49ers are averaging a school-best 18.26 kpg ... Coach Gimmillaro won his 400th career match this season on Sept. 10 over CSU Northridge.
About the Rams: CSU, the Mountain West champion, is having its best season ever, opening the year 17-0. This is the Rams' fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and the first time they've made it to a regional. CSU advanced with a second-round victory over No. 17 Kansas State, 3-1, its 17th straight home win in Moby Arena. Jennings, a University Lab product, had a career high 16 blocks against K-State, setting a single-match record with 15 block assists ... The Rams have won five straight, including an upset of BYU for the MWC title. Their losses have been to UNLV and to BYU.
Next up: The NCAA Tournament is down to its final four, Dec. 16-18, at the sold-out Stan Sheriff Center.
On the air: Hawaii matches live on KCCN (1420-AM). KFVE (Channel 5) will broadcast both matches tomorrow live and, if Hawaii advances, Friday's match live.
RealAudio: Live 'Net broadcast Click Here
By Cindy Luis, Star-Bulletin
