Saturday, September 8, 2001
[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
USC quickly A run-and-shoot offense downed the Hawaii volleyball team last night.
dispenses of
Hawaii in 3 games
Women of Troy hand Wahine
their first loss at Imua ChallengeBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comBefore a crowd of 5,545 at the Stan Sheriff Center, the USC Women of Troy used a fully loaded arsenal of hitters and huge runs of points to sweep Hawaii 30-17, 30-19, 33-31 at the seventh annual Aston Imua Challenge.
USC broke an 18-0 win streak Hawaii had in this event.
"The pace of their attack is a lot quicker than we were used to," Shoji said. "The first and second games, we were never in it. We were in it early but once we got way behind, we just felt like we couldn't come back."
The Wahine could not handle the potent Trojan offense that included All-Americans April Ross and Jennifer Pahl, and freshmen Keao Burdine and Alicia Robinson. Burdine led the attack with 14 kills, while Ross and Pahl each chipped in 12 kills.
USC outhit Hawaii .357 to .157 and had four hitters above .375.
"We started really, really slow," Maja Gustin said. "I don't know what that was. We did our best in the third game but, it was too late. We can play with this team, but we need to start playing better. The truth is that it's never too late, but sometimes it is."
The Trojans' 6-2 offense utilized every hitter and teed off against the Wahine block, who couldn't get their hands in position. USC, meanwhile, seemed to anticipate every Hawaii attack and outblocked the Wahine 10-5.
Kim Willoughby pounded 21 kills and wowed the crowd at times with her powerful approach but it wasn't enough.
The Wahine trailed by one at 10-9 in the first game, but the Women of Troy used runs of 7-3 and 7-1 to take a 24-13 lead. Burdine served all seven points, as the Trojan block went to work. Three kills by Ross, a kill by Burdine, and a block and a kill by Pahl closed out the game.
In Game 2, Hawaii and USC battled to an 11-11 tie before a big run by the Trojans. Five hitting errors by Hawaii and a service error gave USC a 17-12 lead. USC increased its margin with an 8-6 run to 25-18 and used a 4-1 run to end the game.
After two games, the Wahine had 27 kills and 20 hitting errors. The Trojans had 36 kills and four errors.
"Those (runs) are always huge in rally score," USC coach Mick Haley said. "For every run you get, you have to be careful of the lull afterward.
"(In Game 3) Hawaii just kicked it up a little bit in the serving velocity, and they stayed pretty consistent and got the ball to their best hitters."
The Wahine put up a fight in the third game and battled back from a 17-12 deficit. Four straight kills by Maja Gustin knotted the score at 25. The Trojans posted a block, but another kill by Gustin brought the score to 26-26. A poke into the deep corner by Vakasausau brought the crowd to its feet, as Hawaii tied USC 28-28.
A kill by Willoughby and a block by Melody Eckmier and Nohea Tano gave the Wahine its first lead at 30-29. But kills by Burdine and Pahl set up the Trojans' first match point at 31-30. Three plays later, a kill by Burdine concluded the match.
"Everybody gets a little determined after getting spanked badly," Shoji said. "That's a good trait of our team. We haven't really buried our head, even when we're playing poorly."
Earlier, in a two-hour-and-six-minute battle, Utah State outlasted Cincinnati 32-30, 23-30, 30-21, 25-30, 15-11.
The Aggies' Erin Cartwright posted a match-high 25 kills and two aces. Lisa Borom added 21 kills and 14 digs.
Both teams recorded 15 blocks, but Utah State outdug Cincinnati 95-67.
Hawaii plays Cincinnati at 1 p.m. today.
30-17, 30-19, 33-31 USC def. Hawaii
TROJANS (3-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Anderson 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 2 Burdine 3 14 2 32 .375 0 4 8 Robinson 3 7 0 16 .438 0 0 3 Ross 3 12 2 34 .294 0 1 12 Pahl 3 12 1 21 .524 0 10 7 Olsovsky 3 6 1 11 .455 0 0 5 Lindquist 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 12 Mariani 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Davis 3 1 0 2 .500 0 2 8 Killian 3 6 2 23 .174 0 5 1 Totals 3 58 8 140 .357 0 20 59 WAHINE (3-4)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Vakasausau 3 3 0 4 .750 0 0 11 Nikolic 3 2 11 21 -.429 0 2 3 Willoughby 3 21 10 57 .193 0 1 18 Illustre 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Duggins 3 5 1 12 .333 1 0 12 Villaroman 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 11 Carey 3 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 1 Tano 3 0 0 2 .000 0 1 5 Eckmier 3 5 2 13 .231 0 2 1 Gustin 3 15 4 42 .262 0 2 6 Totals 3 52 28 153 .157 1 8 71 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--USC (1): Anderson.
Assists--USC (53): Anderson 27, Lindquist 24, Ross, Killian. Hawaii (50): Vakasausau 36, Carey 8, Willoughby 3, Nikolic, Villaroman, Tano, Eckmier.
T--1:20. Officials--Hanson, Hironaka.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii