Wednesday, December 5, 2001
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Bruins up first LONG BEACH, CALIF. >> When the ninth-seeded Hawaii volleyball team defeated Eastern Washington last Saturday, it advanced to a rival-packed regional.
in rivalry regional
Hawaii plays UCLA in the NCAA
tournament tomorrow, with a
chance to face long-time nemesis
Long Beach State nextBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comHawaii plays eighth-seeded UCLA tomorrow at 3 p.m. HST in the first regional semifinal. Top-seeded and unbeaten Long Beach State faces 16th-seeded Northern Iowa at 5:30 p.m. Both matches are at the Pyramid in Long Beach.
In a season that has already reached and exceeded expectations, Hawaii coach Dave Shoji only has a few more hopes and wishes.
"I'm hoping that we'll play better," Shoji said. "Obviously they beat us pretty badly. But we're a lot different now so I'm hoping that causes some problems for them. They're still way more physical than us so we'll have to find a way to combat that. They have three great outside hitters so we'll need to block well."
When the Wahine last saw the Bruins three months ago, Hawaii was reeling from being slapped with back-to-back sweeps at the NACWAA tournament. Sophomore Kim Willoughby had flashed signs of greatness but was still inconsistent.
UCLA has a seasoned outside hitter in Kristee Porter, the 2000 Volleyball Magazine Player of the Year as a junior. Hawaii couldn't stop Porter last time as she hit .404 and racked up 25 kills with just a handful of errors. The senior missed six weeks and the bulk of the conference schedule when she was declared ineligible by UCLA for accepting extra benefits, but was reinstated on Nov. 21 and continues to lead the team in hitting, averaging 5.72 kills per game.
"We've kind of had a break," UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said. "We've had to take the team in a different direction and now we're heading back in another direction with Kristee back in the lineup. It's kind of taken us a little while getting used to going back to the way we were doing things before. It's been a little unsettling in some respects, but it's a problem I'm happy to deal with."
Without Porter, UCLA was forced to balance out its attack and develop its middles. They'll be a factor with 6-foot-2 Angela Eckmier (the sister of UH's Melody Eckmier) and 6-0 Cira Wright both hitting over .300.
"The last time we played against them, we aren't the team we are now," Maja Gustin said. "We're much more solid now. At that time, we were still trying to figure out what our game was. We were building our team at the time."
And now with the building blocks in place, there's also more to prove.
The last time these teams met in the postseason tournament was way back in 1983 when Hawaii swept UCLA for its second straight NCAA title. Since then, seeing Long Beach in the regional has happened with annoying regularity.
"We've been in Long Beach's regional it seems like every single year," Shoji said. It's just a real challenge right now. We're where we wanted to be all year. We've talked about it for so long and we're actually here so now we've got the chance to do something about it. We're not going to be satisfied with just being here. We want to win one match and then we'll look at the second match."
With Hawaii, UCLA and Long Beach State accounting for nine NCAA titles (three each), it's safe to say that this bracket has more than its fair share of winners.
"I haven't spent a lot of time comparing the brackets, but it is tough with four quality programs and good histories here," Banachowski said. "All I'm focusing on is getting ready for Hawaii."
Hawaii isn't looking past UCLA, but the Wahine wouldn't mind getting the opportunity to ruin the 49ers' perfect season. After all, Long Beach has sent Hawaii home in five of the last six regionals where the two teams met, including a streak of five straight. After being ousted in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994, the Wahine finally returned the favor last year in the regional semifinal.
Long Beach (30-0) hasn't suffered a loss yet and seems headed on the path to duplicating its 1998 championship season when it was also undefeated.
No. 9 seed Hawaii (29-5)
Coach: Dave Shoji, 27th yearRank: No. 11
Last week: Def. Washington State 3-0; def. Eastern Washington 3-1
Players: Kim Willoughby (6-0 So. OH) 7.15 kills per game, 3.68 digs per game, 27 aces; Margaret Vakasausau, (5-8 Jr. S) 12.77 assists per game, 2.68 dpg, 17 aces; Lauren Duggins (6-0 So. MB) 1.78 kpg, 2.95 dpg, 26 aces; Nohea Tano (5-11 So. MB) 1.65 kpg, 1.58 dpg, 9 aces; Maja Gustin (6-3 So. OH) 3.95 kpg, 1.00 dpg, 28 aces; Jennifer Carey ( 6-1 Jr. RS) 1.06 kpg, 1.42 dpg, 14 aces; Hedder Ilustre (5-7 Jr. DS) 2.05 dpg, 6 aces; Melissa Villaroman (5-6 So. DS) 1.66 dpg, 10 aces.
Series: Leads Long Beach State 22-15-1; leads UCLA 30-27; has never played Northern Iowa.
No. 8 UCLA (20-8)
Coach: Andy Banachowski, 35th yearRank: No. 14
Last week: Def. Penn 3-0; def. Penn State 3-0.
Players: Kristee Porter (6-0 Sr. OH) 5.72 kpg, 2.96 dpg, 26 aces; Erika Selsor (5-6 Sr. S) 13.59 apg, 2.30 dpg, 16 aces; Ashley Bowles (6-0 Sr. RS) 3.83 kpg, 3.15 dpg, 46 aces; Lauren Fendrick (6-2 Jr. OH) 4.03kpg, 2.45 dpg, 16 aces; Chrissie Zartman (5-5 Fr. DS) 2.67 dpg, 34 aces.
No. 1 Long Beach State (30-0)
Coach: Brian Gimmillaro, 17th yearRank: No. 1
Last week: Def. San Diego State 3-0; def. San Diego 3-0.
Players: Cheryl Weaver (6-2 Sr. MB) 4.58 kpg, 2.09 dpg, 25 aces; Tayyiba Haneef (6-7 Sr. MB) 4.95 kpg, 2.25 dpg, 35 aces; Keri Nishimoto (5-7 Jr. S) 13.64 apg, 2.46 dpg, 22 aces; Brittany Hochevar (6-0 Jr. OH) 2.42 kpg, 3.06 dpg, 73 aces.
No. 16 Northern Iowa (31-1)
Coach: Bobbi Petersen, 1st yearRank: No. 17
Last week: Def. Northern Illinois 3-0; def. Minnesota 3-2.
Players: Kim Kester (5-10 Jr. OH) 4.14 kpg, 2.67 dpg 27 aces; Molly O'Brien (6-0 So. MB) 3.92 kpg, 1.91 dpg 31 aces; Jill Arganbright (5-10 So. S) 12.37 apg, 2.19 dpg 47 aces; Kim McCaffrey (6-0 Sr. OH) 3.52 kpg, 3.29 dpg, 45 aces.
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