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Star-Bulletin Sports

Monday, October 29, 2001


[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]


FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
 UH's Nohea Tano hits against Boise State's Kelly
Hadd. Tano's shot hit the antenna.


Wahine make easy
work of Broncos

Hawaii boosts its WAC record to
9-0 with a painless sweep of Boise State

By Grace Wen

gwen@starbulletin.com

The threat was not there and the Hawaii volleyball team knew that.

After a tough conference match against Nevada on Saturday, UH was grateful to play a young Boise State squad last night. The Wahine swept the Broncos, 30-16, 30-22, 30-16, before a crowd of 4,580 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

UH Hawaii (17-4, 9-0 Western Athletic Conference) and Boise State (1-18, 1-8) are at opposite ends of the West Division.

"This is the perfect kind of team that we needed right now," setter Margaret Vakasausau said. "Everybody's a little tired. This is the time to pick it up with guts and complete every play. We have to get rid of ballhandling errors. We have to take care of our side and do the proper skills to get the game over and done really fast."

The game ended in 87 minutes, thanks to tough Hawaii serving.

After being outserved on Saturday, the 11th-ranked Wahine turned the serving up several notches and collected nine aces, including Kim Willoughby's at game point that dropped untouched.

"I didn't expect the team to come out really fired up," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "I just wanted us to pay attention and to play, not inspired ball ... but (have) some steady play out there.

"I know we served tough and we started serving better toward the middle of the match. They started out passing really well. I thought if they could do that the whole match, they could stay with us. Then Maja's serve got going. We got a few aces which have been missing lately."

Gustin led Hawaii with four aces. She hit .619, pounded 14 kills and also played a little defense, collecting six digs.

Serving, not blocking, helped Hawaii outhit Boise, .414 to .146. Willoughby led the team with 17 kills

Boise State setters Mindy Bennet and Chera Somers couldn't run an offense as the Broncos spent most of the time chasing down errant passes.

"We're not yet steady enough when we receive the serve," Boise State coach Fred Sturm said. "Sometimes, the problem is with the service reception. Sometimes, the problem is with setting. Sometimes, the problem is with hitting ... it's (not) just one thing."

Boise State's record was just one indication of its youth. The Broncos' four freshmen and two sophomores were rattled early by the Hawaii band as Boise's first two servers hit balls into the net.

The Broncos, however, bounced back and stayed with the Wahine until the halfway mark in each of the first two games. At that point, Gustin served UH's final eight points in the first game, while Melissa Villaroman fired off the last seven in the second game.

Hawaii plays Hawaii Pacific at 7 p.m. tomorrow. The Wahine leave on Wednesday for Western Athletic Conference matches at Nevada and Boise State.

Hawaii def. Boise State

30-16, 30-22, 30-16

BRONCOS (1-18, 1-8)


 g k e att pct. bs ba d
Christensen 3 1 0 2 .500 0 0 3
Tranter 3 7 6 28 .036 0 0 5

Bennett 3 1 0 6 .167 0 1 3
Baldwin 2 2 2 12 .000 0 0 6
Hadd 3 6 3 16 .188 0 0 4
Moore 2 4 0 13 .308 0 0 0
Sommer 3 1 0 2 .500 0 0 1
Heler 2 0 1 6 -.167 0 0 8
McDonald 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0
Hastings 3 4 0 10 .400 0 1 0
Totals 3 26 12 96 .146 0 2 30

WAHINE (17-4, 9-0)

g k e att pct. bs ba d

Vakasausau 3 3 2 7 .143 0 2 9
Nikolic 2 7 0 10 .700 0 1 1
Willoughby 3 17 7 33 .303 0 1 12
Tano 2 6 2 11 .364 0 0 3
Ilustre 3 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 6
Duggins 3 8 0 17 .471 0 3 10
Carey 2 1 1 5 .000 0 0 3
Eckmier 1 4 0 6 .667 0 1 0
Gustin 3 14 1 21 .619 0 0 6
Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1
Totals 3 60 14 111 .414 0 8 51

Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.

Aces--Hawaii (9): Gustin 4, Ilustre 2, Willoughby, Duggins, Carey. Boise State (5): Tranter 2, Baldwin, Hadd, Heler.

Assists--Hawaii (55): Vakasausau 37, Carey 10, Nikolic 3, Duggins 2, Tano, Gustin, Villaroman. Boise State (25): Bennett 14, Sommer 7, Tranter, Baldwin, Hadd, Moore.

T--1:27. A--5,979.


UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii



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