If you thought there'd be a hurricane advisory this weekend, don't worry -- there wasn't. Tulsa in town to offer UH
a light workout
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comTulsa will probably leave little more than a light sprinkle on Hawaii as it rolls quietly through Honolulu for a Western Athletic Conference match.
The second-ranked Rainbow Wahine (12-0, 2-0 WAC) play the Golden Hurricane (16-5, 1-2) today at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. It is the third weak WAC opponent in as many weeks of conference play for the Wahine.
Hawaii coach Dave Shoji will utter the same refrain to his team as he has the last two weeks against Rice and Louisiana Tech.
"It's pretty much the same theme every week," Shoji said. "We have to get off to a good start. Don't let the other team get any confidence going where they feel like they have a chance to beat us.
"We'll take a look and see what they like to do. We'll get our defense to stop what they like to do. I don't think that they can do much. Offensively we're going to be a little different."
Shoji said the lineup won't change, but he hinted that the Wahine may use the match to try a more varied offense. But diversifying the offense doesn't necessarily include setting more hitters. Lethal outside hitters Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku may not be swinging just from the left side anymore. Shoji said both are capable of hitting quick attacks and back slides, which means both could come at Tulsa from all parts of the court.
A different offense could spell further doom for the Hurricane. Hawaii already leads the nation in kills with 18.08 per game and is second in hitting percentage.
Middle blocker Dana Weddle is Tulsa's best hitter, but her numbers (3.73 kills a game) aren't comparable to Kahumoku (5.03 kpg) or Willoughby (6.27 kpg).
In WAC play, Tulsa opened with losses to Fresno State and San Jose State before rebounding with a win over Boise State. The Golden Hurricane have improved enormously with more wins than all of last season already. But some of their victories were against volleyball no-names like Centenary, Texas Southern, Grambling State and Alcorn State.
Tulsa does most of its damage from the service line. It tops the WAC in aces with 2.54 per game. Seven players have reached double-digits in aces this season and four players have already notched 20 or more. Transfer Nathalia Araujo leads the team with 39 aces, while setter Vanessa Thon is second on the team with 36 for the season.
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