[ UH VOLLEYBALL ]
DALLAS >> Behind a suffocating defense, second-ranked Hawaii eased past Southern Methodist 30-24, 30-6, 30-17 yesterday morning at Moody Coliseum. Wahine use D
to sweep Mustangs
Irish give UH break from WAC
From staff and wire reports
The Rainbow Wahine faced their last Western Athletic Conference opponent from the east to conclude their first road trip of the season.
Unbeaten Hawaii (15-0, 5-0) left town in a hurry to catch an afternoon flight back to Honolulu. They returned late last night and will practice today before playing back-to-back matches against Notre Dame tomorrow and Tuesday. UH faces WAC foes San Jose State and Fresno State on Thursday and Friday.
The Rainbow Wahine left the Mustangs (8-12, 2-4) with a lasting impression of their defense, collecting 68 digs and putting a roof on SMU's offense with 17 blocks. Hawaii held SMU to a negative hitting percentage (-.016).
Game 1 was unexpectedly close. The Wahine were feeling the effects of a late night of travel as thunder storms delayed their flight from El Paso, Texas, and traffic slowed their arrival to the hotel.
SMU knotted the score three times early in the game before senior Hedder Ilustre put Hawaii up for good. Ilustre served six straight points and caused problems again with her jump-float serve.
"When you play on the road you just can't make errors and get the crowd into it, get the other team in it," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "They got 15 points just on our errors. That's why they're in Game 1. That was kind of the emphasis in between games. Cut back on our errors and play defense.
"We played as good as we could play in Game 2. It was not like they gave us a whole bunch of points. Our defense and our block was outstanding. If we didn't block it, we dug it. They had a problem putting a ball on the floor after Game 1."
Leading the defensive effort was libero Melissa Villaroman with 18 digs. Middle blockers Karin Lundqvist (nine blocks, six kills) and Lauren Duggins (eight blocks, eight kills) touched almost everything at the net.
30-24, 30-6, 30-17 Hawaii def. SMU
Wahine (15-0, 5-0) g k e att pct. bs ba d Vakasausau 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Willoughby 3 17 4 41 .317 0 0 11 Tano 1 1 1 3 .000 0 2 1 Lundqvist 3 6 0 10 .600 2 7 0 Kahumoku 3 11 5 35 .171 0 7 16 Duggins 3 8 2 12 .500 0 8 4 Boogaard 3 3 1 12 .167 0 5 2 Carey 3 3 0 6 .500 0 1 4 Ilustre 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 4 Watanabe 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 18 Totals 3 49 13 120 .300 2 30 68
Mustangs (8-12, 2-4) g k e att pct. bs ba d Mihm 3 0 1 4 -.250 0 2 2 Zener 2 0 0 3 .000 0 0 0 Holder 3 5 5 20 .000 0 2 9 Lasiter 3 7 7 26 .000 0 5 1 Moffett 3 8 2 36 .167 0 0 8 Karasek 3 3 6 20 -.150 0 1 14 Niederstadt 2 0 2 5 -.400 0 0 2 Peterson 3 0 0 3 .000 0 0 10 Hoskins 3 2 4 12 -.167 0 0 2 Totals 3 25 27 129 -.016 0 10 48 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (2): Willoughby, Duggins. SMU (1): Holder. Assists -- Hawaii (44): Vakasausau 11, Carey 24, Ilustre 3, Willoughby 2, Kahumoku 2, Boogaard, Villaroman. SMU (23): Mihm 22, Holder.
T -- 1:20. Officials -- Joe Campbell, Michael Denardo. A -- 601.
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