Thursday, November 22, 2001
It's not often that a team gets the opportunity to go back to the beginning but the Hawaii volleyball team will get that chance tomorrow. Wahine take streak
on the roadBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comWell, sort of.
The ninth-ranked Wahine play the 13th-ranked Utes at 3 p.m. in the early match of the Bankers Classic. Utah (22-5, 11-3 Mountain West) was a last-minute replacement for USC who had to make up Pac-10 matches missed due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Pacific, the host of the tournament, plays Fairfield in the second match at 5 p.m.
It has been almost three months since Hawaii's first trip to Stockton, Calif. Back then the Wahine had no idea what to expect from a team that lost three starters, including All-American Lily Kahumoku who decided to sit out the season.
Since then, sophomore Kim Willoughby has emerged as Hawaii's go-to player and record breaker while Maja Gustin has become a force on the left side. Willoughby will break another school record this weekend. The 6-foot outside hitter is averaging a nation-leading 7.03 kills per game and needs two more to shatter Teee Williams' single-season mark of 688 set in 1988.
Hawaii has also had changes on the right side with setter Margaret Vakasausau replacing two-year starter Jen Carey who has become a right-side hitter. Carey is second on the team in hitting efficiency at .392. Her improvement was reflected in Hawaii's performance at the Western Athletic Conference tournament last week. Hawaii is 26-4 and has won 23 straight.
"We're confident," Carey said. "We've been steadily improving throughout the year, but we know these teams are going to be a notch or two above what we had been playing. It's a challenge."
With the exception of Pacific, the teams Hawaii could face in this tournament are different, but they'll serve as a good indication of how the Wahine might fair in the NCAA tournament.
"It'll be a pivotal match for them and us," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We're very close in the regional rankings. We're very evenly matched.
"Utah's a good replacement. They're a really hot team right now. They beat Colorado State twice. I'd rather play them at this point in the year than 'SC. I think we need to see that caliber of team like where we're going to be in the NCAAs."
Utah is three spots below Hawaii in the regional rankings. The Wahine are No. 2 behind Long Beach State and they can be partially grateful to the Utes for that. Utah captured the Mountain West Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament when it upset top-seeded Colorado State in the conference tournament championship. The Utes have given the Rams their only two losses of the season. Hawaii moved up to second in the West region after Colorado State's first loss.
Shoji predicts that the Wahine will face a team similar to the Utes in the first or second round of the playoffs. In fact, the last time the two teams met was in the second round of the NCAA playoffs in Honolulu last year. Hawaii swept Utah then but this match could go either way.
The two squads are close in record but the height advantage goes to Utah with two middle blockers who are 6-2, (Kim Turner and Adrianne Bradley-Drake, a transfer from Hawaii) and a trio of outside hitters (Katrena Ellett, McKelle Stilson, and Sylva Strzinkova) who are 6-1.
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