Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Saturday, September 16, 2000
Willoughby It was a night when the No. 2 University of Hawaii women's volleyball team needed a spark.
gives Wahine
a spark
Surprisingly, the freshman
comes off the bench to help UH
rally past UC-Santa BarbaraRealAudio: Live 'Net broadcast Click Here
By Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinMaybe it was because the Wahine were coming off a slumberous sweep of Oregon, Creighton and Northwestern in the recent Aston's Imua Wahine Challenge.
But when their 17-game win streak, dating back to the Sept. 1 opener against Texas A&M, was snapped in a humiliating 13-0 rally by UC-Santa Barbara, Wahine head coach Dave Shoji knew it was time to do something dramatic.
Enter the bionic woman from Louisiana.
Kim Willoughby wasn't the statistical difference in the Wahine's come-from-behind 5-15, 15-11, 15-6, 15-5 win over No. 14 UC-Santa Barbara last night before 6,008 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.
But her surprise return to action was certainly the emotional difference.
After the Gauchos (6-3) rallied to win game one, the Wahine stumbled in the second game, too. Taking a 10-5 lead, they let UC-Santa Barbara run off six points in a row to take an 11-10 lead.
That's when Shoji looked to Willoughby, who was hopping around near the tunnel, and barked her name.
"I was hoping and praying to go in but when coach called me, I was so nervous," said the 6-footer from Louisiana.
It was a stunning move because no one expected to see Willoughby back in action so soon.
She had crumpled to the floor with her second left ankle sprain in five days late in the first game of Hawaii's victory over Creighton on Sept 8
The prognosis was that she'd be out three to six weeks with a grade two sprain which usually means a partially torn ligament.
But Willoughby, who contributed nine kills, 11 digs, three assists and was in on a block last night, insisted that the second sprain was a lot less serious than originally diagnosed."Ideally, we didn't want to use Kim so soon," said Shoji.
"But the doctors gave us clearance, she practiced well, she warmed up well , she wanted to play and, as it turned out, we needed her."
Willoughby, who has been Hawaii's leader in digs and No. 2 in kills, was an adrenaline rush for the Wahine.
As soon as she replaced Tanja Nikolic in the lineup, the Wahine tied it at 11-11, and moments later she slammed the kill which put Hawaii ahead for good. So complete was the turnaround that between the third and fourth games, UH had a run of 18 straight points.
Wearing a thick brace, Willoughby dove for digs and raised herself off the court for her patented power hits.
"I'll risk giving up myself if it's going to help my team," said Willoughby.
Senior Jessica Sudduth said Willoughby's entrance inspired everyone on the court.
"It's not easy to come off the bench with the full crowd screaming like that," said Sudduth. "You couldn't ask for a better performance."
Sudduth was the statistical difference in the match, making 21 kills, 11 digs and three total blocks while hitting .340. She led four players in double digit kills (Lily Kahumoku 18, Maja Gustin 15, Veronica Lima 14).
"Kim sparked us but Jessica was the reason we won the match," said Shoji. "She's been down about her hitting but she's done a lot of film work, watching herself, and Charlie's helped her by pointing out some things.
Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Guerra led four Gauchos in double-digit kills with 20 to go along with 14 digs.
Hawaii def. UC Santa Barbara, 5-15, 15-11, 15-6, 15-5
Gauchos (6-3 overall)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Lampe 4 4 2 18 .111 1 3 1 Rundle 4 1 2 7 -.143 0 1 11 Guerra 4 20 5 43 .349 0 0 14 Menzel 4 12 8 47 .085 1 4 10 Bauer 4 10 8 40 .050 0 8 12 Kuhn 4 15 6 37 .243 1 6 5 Samson 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 McFarland 4 0 0 0 -.000 0 0 6 Edmonds 2 0 0 1 -.000 0 0 0 Niles 4 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 10 Totals 4 63 31 194 .165 3 22 70
Wahine (7-0 overall)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Nikolic 2 2 2 8 .000 0 2 5 Carey 4 2 0 8 .250 0 2 11 Sudduth 4 21 5 47 .340 1 2 11 Kahumoku 4 18 8 49 .204 0 2 9 Lima 4 14 7 30 .233 2 4 11 Gustin 4 15 4 30 .367 0 5 4 Vakasausau 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Willoughby 3 9 3 15 .400 0 1 11 Gomez-Tukuafu 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Lee 4 0 0 1 .000 0 0 12 Villaroman 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Totals 4 81 29 188 .277 3 18 78 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--UCSB (6): Guerra 3, McFarland 2, Kuhn. UH (7): Kahumoku 3, Lima 2, Sudduth, Gomez-Tukuafu.
Assists--UCSB (56) Rundle 49, Guerra 2, Menzel 2, Niles 2, Kuhn. UH (75): Carey 61, Vakasausau 8, Willoughby 3, Sudduth 2, Lee.
T-2:20. Officials: Ernest Ho, Wayne Lee. Att: 6,008.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii