Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Saturday, November 11, 2000
TULSA, Okla. -- Lily Kahumoku may be far from 100 percent physically, but last night in Oklahoma she turned in a performance that belied a nagging wrist injury. Kahumoku, Wahine
zap Golden HurricaneStar-Bulletin staff
Kahumoku put down 20 kills and hit .447 (20 of 38) to lead the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team to a 15-5, 15-13, 15-8 sweep of the University of Tulsa at the Donald Reynolds Center.
Hawaii moved to 23-0 overall and 13-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.
It's the longest in-season win streak the Wahine have had since 1996, when they went on to lose in the national finals.
The Golden Hurricane fell to 17-11 and 3-11.
"She (Kahumoku) still can't play the back row but she hit very, very well and had a complete command of her offensive game," said Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji.
"I think she's feeling better but she still has a lot of pain. She can't serve and she can't play much defense."
Kahumoku had led Hawaii in kills in 14 of the team's first 18 matches before suffering bruised cartilage in her right wrist during a road trip to Texas late last month.
She missed matches at Texas Christian University on Oct. 27 and at Southern Methodist University on Oct. 28.
Kahumoku returned to action at home against San Jose State on Nov. 2 but hit only .143 with seven kills. On Nov. 4, she had six kills and hit .167 against visiting Fresno State.
"She had a lot of swings this time while in the other two matches, she just didn't get many attempts," said Shoji.
Kahumoku was averaging 4.55 kills a game and hitting .332 coming into the weekend.
Veronica Lima backed Kahumoku's performance with a .379 percentage while making 14 kills, seven digs, five blocks and four aces.
Hawaii had a season-high nine aces in the match.
Maja Gustin had 12 kills (her fourth double-digit match in a row).
Jessica Sudduth had her fifth double-double of the season (11 kills, 11 digs) but hit a season-low .086.
Tanja Nikolic was the defensive leader for the Wahine with 13 digs.
Hawaii hit .271 to Tulsa's .235.
The Wahine will remain home for the remainder of the WAC schedule with matches Thursday against Nevada, Nov. 21 against Rice, and Nov. 22 against Texas-El Paso.
Hawaii eased through the first game, 15-5, while hitting .413.
After taking a 2-0 lead, the Wahine let Tulsa tie it, 3-3.
But UH ran off nine straight points to take a commanding 12-3 lead and never looked back.
The second game was a much tighter contest with Hawaii's hitting dropping to .159.
"We had too many unforced errors," said Shoji.
"We played almost a perfect first game with only one error but couldn't keep it up."
Game 2 was tied three times (3-3, 5-5 and 9-9). Hawaii opened some space with a 13-9 lead but the Golden Hurricane crept within one point, 13-12, with a 3-0 run.
The Wahine made it 14-12, but took a long time to score game-point. The Golden Hurricane battled with several sideouts before moving back within one, 14-13.
A ball knocked out by Tulsa gave Hawaii the win, 15-13.
The third game was tied twice, 2-2 and 4-4. But a 6-1 spurt put the Wahine, who hit. 294, in command of the match.
Shoji left three defensive specialists behind in Hawaii: seniors Aven Lee and Andrea Gomez-Tukuafu and freshman Melissa Villaroman. Freshman Rebekah Cravens, a defensive specialist who hadn't made a road trip all season, did play in Tulsa.
Hawaii def. Tulsa, 15-5, 15-13, 15-8
Wahine (23-0 overall, 13-0 WAC)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Lima 3 14 3 29 .379 0 5 7 Gustin 3 12 8 27 .148 0 2 7 Vakasausau 1 1 0 1 1.000 0 1 2 Nikolic 3 2 1 7 .143 0 1 13 Willoughby 3 8 3 22 .227 0 0 8 Carey 2 3 1 4 .500 0 3 8 Sudduth 3 11 8 35 .086 0 1 11 Cravens 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Kahumoku 3 20 3 38 .447 0 1 1 Duggins 2 1 0 3 .333 0 0 5 Totals 3 72 27 166 .271 0 14 64
Golden Hurricanes (17-11 overall, 3-10 WAC)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Van Lierop 3 13 4 33 .273 0 0 6 Carlisle 3 10 0 21 .476 2 2 11 Smith 3 1 0 5 .200 0 2 8 Frogge 3 11 4 31 .226 0 3 1 Chrisman 1 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 0 Martin 1 0 1 4 -.250 0 0 1 Vorraa 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Hidinger 3 7 3 16 .250 0 2 18 Leuer 3 6 3 24 .125 0 1 12 McLaughlin 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Totals 3 48 16 136 .235 2 10 62 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--UH (9): Lima 4, Vakasausau 2, Willoughy 2, Gustin 1. Tulsa (2): Leuer 1, Van Lierop 1.
Assists--UH (64): Carey 34, Vakasausau 20, Willoughby 9, Cravens 1. Tulsa (42): Smith 40, Leuer 2.
T-1:50.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
