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Monday, November 13, 2000
There is no doubt about which women's volleyball team is the best in the Pacific West Conference. There is still doubt, however, about which team is the best in the nation, according to the NCAA Division II seeding committee. No. 1 HPU to regional,
BYUH staying homeBy Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Undefeated Hawaii Pacific University crushed Seattle Pacific University, 15-3, 15-6, 15-3, Saturday night at Blaisdell Arena in the championship game of the PacWest tournament to repeat as conference champions. The Sea Warriors (23-0) have been the No. 1-ranked team in Division II for the entire year, a unanimous pick until the last few polls.
Despite the Sea Warriors' undefeated record and permanent residence in the top spot in the national poll this season, they are the second seed going into this week's six-team NCAA Pacific Regional.
No. 2-ranked Cal State Los Angeles (30-0) of the California Collegiate Athletic Association is the top seed and host for the regional that begins Thursday. The Golden Eagles only moved up to that spot from the third position a week ago, receiving two out of 25 total first-place votes. The Sea Warriors received the other 23.
Perhaps just as confusing, defending national champion and national No. 7 BYUH was left out of the regional, despite suffering its only losses on the year to the Sea Warriors and No. 10 Northwood (Michigan).
Coach Tita Ahuna and the Sea Warriors have taken the regional situation in stride.
"I think they did us a favor by ranking us No. 2 in the region and it's a blessing in disguise," Ahuna said. "People don't really see it, but I look at in a positive way. It makes our girls want to win even more and it doesn' t bother me at all."
Of the four other teams that did make the regional -- Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State San Bernardino, Seattle Pacific and UC San Diego -- CS Bakersfield (17) and CS San Bernardino (21).
On Friday, HPU will meet the winner of Thursday's first-round match between CS Bakersfield and UCSD. The final is Saturday.
Last Saturday, the Sea Warriors were led by setter Nia Tuitele, the conference Player of the Year and tournament MVP. She had 39 assists, five kills, a service ace, as well as 10 digs and four blocks in the victory over the Falcons (24-5).
"The wins count more than individual awards," Tuitele said. "The awards don't really mean anything until we win nationals. I accept all of them on behalf of my team because this is a team sport."
Making major contributions were hitters Flavia Gabinio, Susy Garbelotti and Debbie Sant'Anna, who all joined Tuitele on the all-tournament team. They tallied 13, 12 and nine kills, respectively.
Rounding out the all-tournament team were Seattle Pacific hitter Leilani Kamahoahoa, who had a team-high 10 kills in defeat, and Brigham-Young Hawaii hitter Vanessa Valansi. BYUH (17-6) defeated Western Washington (24-9) in the tournament consolation final.
Hawaii Pacific
BYU-Hawaii
