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Tuesday, December 12, 2000
Wahine face Size does matter. And when it comes to going against "Big Red,'' Dave Shoji likes his chances.
tall order in
Virginia
UH head coach Shoji likes
his team's chances against
No. 1 Nebraska in the
NCAA semifinalsBy Pat Bigold
Star-BulletinThe University of Hawaii head coach feels his No. 3 Wahine (31-1) will match up well physically with No. 1 Nebraska (32-0) in the NCAA women's volleyball championship semifinal Thursday (1 p.m. HST).
"I think we match up pretty well because we're about the same size as Nebraska," Shoji said before leaving for Richmond, Va., site of the final four. "They're just big, they're not bigger. They're 6-2, 6-3 across every position."
Shoji said the Cornhuskers also have talent and a tradition of recruiting it.
FINAL FOUR
Where: Richmond, Va.
"They just have some great athletes, and they've always had great athletes at Nebraska," said Shoji, whose teams have never lost a NCAA semifinal in five previous trips to the final four.
"I think their setter (sophomore Greichaly Cepero) may be very good and that may give them an added dimension of attacking the ball, too.
"But they come right at you and I don't think there's anything fancy about them. It's not deception, it's just power. We need to block and dig."
Shoji said that the Huskers do face better regular-season competition in their conference.
"I think their conference (Big 12) is a bit stronger than ours (Western Athletic), but I don't think anyone else in their conference is a Top 10 team," he said. "Kansas State was pretty good. Texas A&M was pretty good. Texas Tech was pretty good.
"But nobody in that conference really had a chance to beat them."
Shoji said he hopes the Huskers are distracted with staying unbeaten. He understands if they are feeling that pressure; his 1995 Wahine team was 31-0 before falling in the regional final to Michigan State.
"I think psychologically we have the one loss everybody thinks you need," said Shoji, whose undefeated season ended with a loss at Long Beach State Nov. 25. "Whereas they don't. Maybe they'll get in a situation where they'll think about losing. They've never really been there before.
"We've been to the wall and we've been able to play and respond to that adversity. I'd like to put them in that situation."
When asked about the colder weather conditions, Shoji said that doesn't concern him too much either.
"We've been to Tulsa where it was 36 degrees or less,'' said Shoji. "It's not a factor, I don't think."
For once, the weather might be to Hawaii's advantage in terms of travel.
The Wahine were able to leave last night, routed through Atlanta. Nebraska had its evening flight to Chicago cancelled, even though the Lincoln, Neb., airport remained opened after 8 inches of snow fell yesterday.
Since the team was grounded, players went back to campus, where they took their finals and rested.
The Cornhuskers will try again today to get to Chicago. Nebraska officials may try splitting up the team to find enough vacant seats on flights.
If that fails, the university just may charter a flight to get the team to Virginia.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
