Sunday, November 18, 2001
[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
Wahine walk all SAN JOSE, Calif. >> The 2001 Hawaii volleyball team may not be as physically imposing as past squads, but it certainly looked like a bully yesterday.
over Fresno State
Hawaii punishes the Bulldogs but
will get a tougher test todayBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com
Hawaii attackers smacked Fresno State players all over the Event Center as the Wahine swept the Bulldogs 30-18, 30-25, 30-18.
The Wahine improved to 25-4 and swept a Western Athletic Conference opponent for the 14th time this season. Hawaii plays host San Jose at 11 a.m. today for the WAC championship.
Kim Willoughby smashed 26 kills and dug 17 balls for her 20th double-double of the season. The sophomore shattered another WAC record with her 20th kill of the match. Willoughby became the single-season kill leader with 661. BYU's Tea Nieminen set the previous record in 1990 with 653 kills.
"They steadied out and pretty much played well in Game 2," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "After playing well in the first, we kind of thought it was going to be easy and we didn't play too hard. They made it a game and we managed to come through."
Willoughby and Maja Gustin bullied the Bulldogs in Game 1 with punishing blow after blow. They nailed almost every body part on outside hitter Christy Burnett. Converted hitter Jen Carey even got in on the act, when she pegged Burnett in the chest with one of her eight kills.
Hawaii's defense also frustrated Fresno State hitters who couldn't put a ball down. The Bulldogs had just 10 kills, while Hawaii posted 23.
"Hawaii is unreal," middle blocker Shauna McQuaid said. "Hawaii picks up balls that you think are going to fall 10 times out of 10. We have to expect to be dug."
Fresno State coach Lindy Vivas tried a different lineup, with McQuaid back in the middle in Game 2. The Bulldogs had small leads and were close most of the game but tripped themselves at critical times. Two Hawaii errors helped Fresno State knot the score at 22, but the Bulldogs missed their next serve and Gustin had two kills that gave the Wahine a lead they would not relinquish.
"When we were able to execute our strategy and when we're playing well, we did a good job," Vivas said. "It's just hard to keep up because Hawaii is strong in so many areas that you almost have to play a perfect match."
The Bulldogs never recovered from losing the second game and couldn't muster much in the third game. Hawaii didn't have to work too hard, with Fresno State hitters racking up the errors.
Hawaii hit .397, more than tripling Fresno State's .129 hitting percentage. The Wahine outdug the Bulldogs 58-36. Gustin finished with 16 kills and three digs.
Despite dominating offensively and defensively, the Wahine still took a lesson from the match.
"It shows us that we can't take teams lightly," Willoughby said. "We can be beat. People can make runs on us and that made us dig a little deeper. Hopefully, we come back more focused tomorrow than how we started out today."
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii