DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Lily Kahumoku, who was named to the all-tournament team, hit one past Washington's Kaitlin Leck last night.

Wahine win Aston

Willoughby carries the Wahine
past the pesky Huskies

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By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

On the last night of the eighth annual Aston Imua Wahine Challenge, the Hawaii volleyball team finally found a challenge. Two days of trampling opponents with ease left the Rainbow Wahine staring a little dumbfoundedly at the Huskies, who barked loudly out of the opening gate and fought continuously.

Before 6,047 at the Stan Sheriff Center, Hawaii prevailed 26-30, 30-22, 30-27, 30-28 over Washington.

"We didn't respect our opponent enough to really prepare," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "They came out and kicked our butt in the first game then all of a sudden we are in a really tough match."

Junior Kim Willoughby blasted 38 kills and topped the Western Athletic Conference record of 36 she set against Texas-El Paso last year for kills in a four-game match.

"The Rainbows have the ability to better situations," Washington coach Jim McLaughlin said. "Where there is chaos they find a way to come out of it."

The Huskies had plenty of firepower, too, with three players in double-digit kills. Paige Benjamin led Washington with 20 kills. Sanja Tomasevic chipped in 15 kills, while Kaitlin Leck added 13.

The Huskies played incredible defense in Game 1. Not many balls dropped and when they did, a Huskie player would zoom in out of nowhere to pick them up. Hawaii had problems passing Washington's deep jump serves and was aced twice. The smaller Huskies (only two players stood taller than 6 feet) surged ahead on a four-point run after being tied 22-22. Washington closed out the game on a roll shot by Paige Benjamin.

All-tournament >> Brittanie Budinger, San Francisco >> Zlatina Anguelova, San Diego State >> Kaitlin Leck, Washington >> Paige Benjamin, Washington >> Margaret Vakasausau, Hawaii >> Lily Kahumoku, Hawaii Most Outstanding: Kim Willoughby, Hawaii

Hawaii raced out to a 13-4 start in Game 2. Kim Willoughby led the assault with two aces and two kills during a seven-point serving run. But the Huskies didn't go quietly. Twice they closed to within five (the last at 26-21) behind some tenacious blocking. But when it seemed like Washington had a read on every Hawaii hitter, the Wahine got a much-needed lift from freshman Susie Boogaard.

The rookie hammered all three of her sets for timely kills and that was all Hawaii needed as Willoughby finished off the Huskies in the second game. The All-American blasted 12 kills to go with the 11 she had collected earlier.

Washington used its blocking again to frustrate Hawaii early in Game 3. The Huskies mounted an 18-14 lead with five blocks before Hawaii charged back. The game see-sawed back and forth after the score was knotted at 19. The last tie was 24-24 before Hawaii stuffed Kaitlin Leck twice for a two-point lead. Leck had burned the Wahine for nine kills in the first two games before Willoughby and Lauren Duggins figured out her hitting. Willoughby punctuated a long rally with a kill that brought the crowd to its feet. Boogaard ended the game on the next play with her sixth kill of the match.

Hawaii trailed most of Game 4 before scoring four straight on three kills by Kahumoku and one from Karin Lundqvist. Kahumoku had been quiet most of the night despite collecting 16 kills. Her last kill evened the match at 26. The Huskies still hung tough, but Hawaii closed out the match with a thunderous kill from Willoughby.

"She (Willoughby) is bigtime, she does everything well," McLaughlin said. "She's the next great USA player."

San Diego State swept San Francisco 30-20, 30-25, 30-16 for a third-place finish in the tournament. Rochelle Currier had 16 kills for the Aztecs.

Notes: Kahumoku set a tournament record in hitting percentage (.739) on Friday. The previous record of .684 was held by Jennifer Roberts in 1997. ... In other top 10 action, second-ranked Nebraska defeated 11th-ranked Arizona 23-30, 30-19, 30-15, 32-30. No. 9 Northern Iowa swept No. 7 UCLA 30-20, 30-24, 30-24.

Hawaii def. Washington

26-30, 30-22, 30-27, 30-28

Huskies (5-1, 2-1)	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
McDonald	4	7	2	23	.217	0	8	1
Benjamin	4	20	4	54	.296	0	1	10
Leck	4	13	7	38	-.158	0	7	7
Maurer	4	3	0	8	.375	0	6	10
Bjorklund	4	8	3	17	.294	0	5	2
Tomasevic	4	15	6	52	.173	0	4	21
Lawrence	4	0	0	1	.000	0	0	4
Myhre	1	1	0	3	.333	0	0	0
Ross	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	6
Lee	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	18
Totals	4	67	22	196	.230	0	31	79

Wahine (6-0, 3-0)	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Vakasausau	4	1	0	2	1.000	0	0	10
Willoughby	4	38	12	23	.321	0	3	18
Tano	2	0	1	10	-.250	0	1	0
Lundqvist	4	5	0	11	.263	0	1	5
Kahumoku	4	16	7	23	.161	0	2	17
Duggins	4	4	2	14	.111	1	6	7
Boogaard	3	6	0	15	.462	0	0	1
Carey	4	0	1	3	-.250	0	1	3
Ilustre	4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	14
Villaroman	4	0	1	0	-1.000	0	0	18
Totals	4	70	24	106	.234	1	14	93

Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.

Aces -- Washington (7): Gretchen 3, Tomasevic 2, McDonald, Paige. Hawaii (5): Willoughby 3, Lundqvist, Ilustre. Assists -- Washington (58): Maurer 51, Lawrence 2, McDonald, Bjorklund, Tomasevic, Myhre, Lee. Hawaii (67): Vakasausau 43, Carey 16, Villaroman 2, Ilustre 2, Boogaard 2, Tano, Kahumoku.

T -- 2:21. Officials -- Dan Hironaka, Wayne Lee. A -- 6,047.