Wednesday, October 31, 2001
[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
Hawaii too much The most anticipated island matchup was over before it really began.
for HPU in sweep
The Wahine shut down the
defending NCAA Division II
national championsTita makes it ’87 again
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comA Stan Sheriff crowd of 3,756 saw the Hawaii volleyball team sweep Division II national champion Hawaii Pacific 30-14, 30-20, 30-14 in 84 minutes.
"I was pleasantly surprised that the team was really focused when we came out," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "I think the key was that we lost a game to them earlier in the year. That got our girls' attention."
Hawaii, dressed in all black, cast an enormous shadow on HPU (16-4, 10-3 Pacific West Conference) but it wasn't the talent or the height that was missing for the Sea Warriors.
"We have to do a lot of soul searching" HPU coach Tita Ahuna said. "We need to figure out what we're missing. It's not so much a search for the skills, but a search for the heart.
"You can really tell the difference between the two divisions. This year more so because my team is not as big, not as quick, not as talented."
It was 16 years to the day that Hawaii last played Hawaii Pacific. Ahuna was a sophomore playing for Hawaii coach Dave Shoji at the time. The Sea Warriors were eagerly anticipating last night's battle since winning a game against the Wahine in a September scrimmage, but the same team didn't come to play.
Hawaii established itself early in the match with tenacious defense and almost unstoppable outside hitters.
Kim Willoughby led the Wahine with 23 kills. Maja Gustin brought so much heat with her 17 kills that she disintegrated the Sea Warriors' defense, which barely touched any of her hits.
Hawaii outdug HPU 60-34 and blocked seven balls to two for the Sea Warriors.
The Wahine opened the match with a quick 10-4 lead behind strong hitting from Willoughby and Tanja Nikolic. The Wahine block went to work after that, thwarting two Sea Warrior attacks for an 18-9 lead.
Nikolic fired two aces for an insurmountable 27-13 lead. Two kills by Gustin and another by Willoughby ended the game.
Gustin made the Sea Warrior defense look invisible.
In game two, Hawaii took a double-digit lead at 24-14 with a tip by Jennifer Carey that dropped untouched. Andrea Wean helped HPU fend off two game points before a kill by Gustin finished off the Sea Warriors.
The Wahine neutralized Wean, the Pacific West Conference leader in hitting percentage who had only seven kills. They were equally effective against the rest of the Sea Warriors' attackers.
Despite the Hawaii Pacific entourage of cheerleaders (14 men, 12 women) and band members (40) that tried to rally HPU in game three, Hawaii made the gap between Division I and Division II look enormous with leads of 19-9 and 27-14.
Setter Nia Tuitele's soft hands couldn't help the Sea Warriors, as UH outhit HPU .411 to .134.
"We've got to show more heart," Tuitele said. "It was everything. We can't do anything about Willoughby. We didn't execute any facet of the game. They kept coming at us."
The Wahine leave tonight for two conference matches against Nevada on Friday and Boise State on Saturday.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii