[WAHINE VOLLEYBALL]
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Wahine exhibit It may have been only an exhibition, but it had all the intensity of the last time John Dunning brought a volleyball team into the Stan Sheriff Center to play Hawaii.
endless energy
Stanford learns that Willoughby
and Kahumoku together
are tough to handleBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comAlthough Dunning has traded in Pacific orange for Stanford red, and rally scoring is in use, little else has changed since that match in 1998.
The knowledgeable fans cheer for good plays and long rallies, regardless of which team wins the point. The crowd knows the players without checking a program and follows the offseason plots like a soap opera.
Some 5,662 fans (6,076 tickets), more than most schools will draw in an entire season, got what they came for -- a Hawaii win. All-Americans Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku combined for 45 kills and Maja Gustin had no hitting errors in putting down 14 kills to lead the Wahine to a 20-30, 30-24, 30-21, 30-24 victory.
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The crowd welcomed back All-American Kahumoku after a year's absence. The fans treated Stanford senior Logan Tom, daughter of the Big Island's Mel Tom, as a hanai Wahine.They encouraged senior setter Jen Carey -- who lost her starting job last season -- when she began to rally the Wahine in Game 2. And they dearly loved it when Stanford, the defending national champion, began unraveling in Game 3.
What won it at the end was Hawaii's ability to dig in Game 4 and not fold when Stanford came storming back to pull to 24-22. The Wahine used two kills by Gustin, two blocks and Willoughby's decisive 22nd kill that bounced off Tom to outscore the Cardinal 6-0 down the stretch.
"I'm so happy to be back in the middle," said Gustin, who was moved to the outside during Kahumoku's absences last season. "The energy was amazing out there tonight. Stanford is an amazing team and tonight it was 'Wow!' we had a beautiful game.
"We know we have to work on our skills, especially our cross-court blocking. And I personally have to work hard on defense."
Hawaii outdug Stanford 64-52, with Willoughby completing a double-double with a match-high 19 digs. After hitting -.111 with one kill in Game 1, Willoughby warmed up; she had 10 kills in the momentum-changing Game 2 and finished hitting .273.
"I think we realized after Game 1 that we were a better team than we were showing," said Willoughby. "We began to play as a team and everyone got to contribute. And having Lily back ... she brings so much excitement."
Kahumoku finished with a match-high 23 kills. For the Cardinal, an ailing Tom had 15 and Oganna Nnamani and Sara McGee added 14.
"When the energy is there, we can be awesome," said Kahumoku. "We were sluggish in the beginning and we couldn't stop their offense. We know we need to come out more fired up.
"This is not the Stanford team that we will see later in the year. Logan was sick and they're probably jet-lagged. But, oh my gosh, It was so much fun to be out there again."
And just as it was in 1998, when Dunning last brought his team here, the Wahine came away with a win.
Notes: Watching Hawaii play for the first time since she graduated was former Wahine All-American Angelica Ljungquist. She, mother and sister are visiting for 10 days. Ljungquist is playing professionally in Italy. ... Prior to the match, the UH Letterwinner's Club's fund-raising drive raised more than $1,500 to help with medical expenses for Daphne Kawaiaea, a sixth-grader at Hana School. Kawaiaea had heart transplant surgery at the Stanford Medical Center on Feb. 20 and is doing well, according to her volleyball club coach, Angie Andrade-Morioka.
"But the family still needs help financially," said the former Wahine player. "It cost $50,000 just to fly her to California."
Andrade-Morioka was an assistant coach for Stanford's John Dunning at Fremont (Calif.) High in the early 1980s. She said that when Kawaiaea was flown to California, she called Dunning to ask if his Cardinal team would sign a get-well banner and take it to the young girl.
"He said it was no problem but a few days later, we found out that Stanford was coming here to play the Wahine," Andrade-Morioka said.
Plans were changed so that Andrade-Morioka was able to bring members of Na Opio Lelepopo Youth Volleyball Ohana from Hana to Honolulu yesterday. The Maui players were able to meet with the Wahine and Cardinal, get autographs, take pictures and have the banner for Kawaiaea signed.
20-30, 30-24, 30-21, 30-24 Hawaii def. Stanford
CARDINAL
g k e att pct. bs ba d Nnamani 4 14 4 34 .294 0 1 6 Robinson 4 1 1 7 .000 0 1 11 McGee 4 14 5 28 .321 1 1 1 Ivy 4 12 3 25 .360 0 3 6 Tom 4 15 8 51 .137 0 0 15 Harvey 4 6 3 13 .231 0 4 4 Dukes 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Hall 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Hucke 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Totals 4 62 24 158 .241 1 10 52 RAINBOW WAHINE
g k e att pct. bs ba d Vakasausau 3 0 1 3 -.333 0 0 3 Willoughby 4 22 7 55 .273 2 3 19 Tano 3 5 3 11 .182 0 2 3 Kahumoku 4 23 6 47 .362 0 2 8 Gustin 4 14 0 22 .636 0 7 5 Duggins 3 4 0 13 .308 0 2 10 Carey 3 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 4 Ilustre 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Eckmier 3 4 0 5 .800 0 2 0 Watanabe 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Villaroman 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 5 Totals 4 73 17 157 .357 2 18 64 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Stanford (7): McGee 3, Ivy 2, Tom, Hall. Hawaii (6): Willoughby 2, Gustin, Duggins, Eckmier, Watanabe. Assists -- Stanford (54): Robinson 50, Ivy, Tom, Hucke. Hawaii (72): Vakasausau 44, Carey 23, Villaroman 2, Willoughby, Tano, Eckmier.
T -- 1:53. Officials -- Wayne Lee, Dan Hironaka. A --5,662.
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