Sunday, September 30, 2001
[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
The Hawaii volleyball team endured 14 hours of travel for a match that took just a little over an hour to play. Wahine roll past Lady Techsters
Star-Bulletin staff
The official length of time on the box score read one hour and fifteen minutes, but it seemed shorter and was probably all too quick for Louisiana Tech. The Wahine demolished the Lady Techsters 30-18, 30-15, 30-20 to win their Western Athletic Conference opener. Hawaii has won 43 straight WAC matches and the conference title five times.
"We played pretty well tonight considering all the travel," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We struggled a little bit at the start of game one, but we kept focus and played well. We were in control the whole time."
AVCA player of the week Kim Willoughby made the most of her homecoming. The Napoleonville, La., native hit .379 and treated the friends and family who made the six-hour drive from Napoleonville to Ruston to a match-high 17 kill performance.
Maja Gustin added 12 kills and Nohea Tano, Tanja Nikolic and Jennifer Carey notched four kills each. Carey saw time as a hitter and as a setter, posting 16 assists.
The Wahine withstood the mental battle of facing a lower tier team and outhit Louisiana Tech .387 to .011 and outblocked them 6-4.
Cristine Sant'Anna led Tech with eight kills but was held to a negative hitting percentage (minus-.040).
The Lady Techsters outserved the Wahine four aces to one, but that was the only thing they did better.
The Wahine opened with a 7-1 lead in game two and kept cruising. After reaching 16-12, Hawaii was never challenged and allowed only three more points in the game.
Hawaii took advantage of a two games to none lead to use middle blocker Melody Eckmier in game three. Eckmier replaced Tano, who started the match, and put away five kills on 10 attempts, including the match winner. Carey, who played opposite for part of the match, set in the game and guided Hawaii to a .471 attack.
"We're still trying to give everyone a chance to contribute," Shoji said. "Jen hit a game and then set in a game. It was good to see Melody in the lineup."
The Wahine will stay in Ruston to recuperate and study before leaving for Houston tomorrow. Hawaii plays the University of Houston on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
The Wahine's next conference match is at Rice on Thursday.
With the exception of Boise State, the West Division of the WAC beat up on the East Division yesterday, as four of five teams posted wins.
San Jose State swept Tulsa 30-16, 30-12, 30-15. Fresno State defeated UTEP 30-24, 24-30, 30-27, 30-23. And Nevada remained undefeated at home, posting a 30-14, 32-34, 30-18, 30-13 win over Rice.
Boise State was still winless after falling 30-22, 30-13, 30-19 to Southern Methodist at home.
30-18, 30-15, 30-20 Hawaii def. Louisiana Tech
WAHINE (7-4, 1-0)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Nikolic 2 4 2 8 .250 0 1 4 Willoughby 3 17 6 29 .379 3 0 7 Carey 2 4 0 7 .571 0 1 4 Eckmier 1 5 0 10 .500 0 1 2 Duggins 3 3 1 5 .400 0 1 4 Vakasausau 2 2 0 2 1.000 0 1 5 Illustre 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Gustin 3 12 5 24 .292 0 0 3 Tano 3 4 1 8 .375 0 0 5 Totals 3 51 15 93 .387 3 6 39 LADY TECHSTERS (6-7, 0-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Twitty 3 1 5 12 -.333 0 1 2 Jarvis 3 3 2 14 .071 1 2 4 Sibley 3 6 3 22 .136 0 0 0 Sant'Anna 3 8 9 35 -.040 0 0 6 Sanchez 3 4 4 10 .000 0 1 0 Cross 3 1 0 7 .143 0 2 3 Sneath 3 0 0 3 .000 0 0 3 Rush 1 1 0 2 .500 0 0 0 Anderson 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Totals 3 24 23 95 .011 1 6 22 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--Hawaii (1): Carey 1. Louisiana Tech (4): Sibley 2, Sanchez 1, Cross 1,
Assists--Hawaii (44): Vakasausau 23, Carey 16, Willoughby 1, Nikolic 1, Tano 1, Ilustre 1, Duggins 1, Gustin 1.
Louisiana Tech (22): Cross 22,
T--1:15. Officials--Voorhies, Grimes.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
