DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Margaret Vakasausau and Lily Kahumoku shared a laugh in last night's sweep of Notre Dame.
UH downs The conclusion of two nonconference games against Notre Dame didn't quite give Hawaii the lesson it needed. The unbeaten Rainbow Wahine (17-0) learned how to play against a strong blocking team but still yearn to win with a diverse attack.
Notre Dame
in 3 again
The Irish put up a fight, but
the Wahine wear them downBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com"We relied on the left way too much again," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We're still trying to find the right ratio. We didn't pass well enough early in the match to do anything but set the left."
Behind a combined 44 kills from Lily Kahumoku (23) and Kim Willoughby (21), second-ranked Hawaii defeated Notre Dame 34-32, 30-18, 30-25.
A crowd of approximately 4,000 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched as ball after ball went to the left side. Kahumoku and Willoughby received 84 of 126 sets in the match. With two All-Americans at the position, it's hard not to become reliant on them. But a predictable offense won't help the long-term goals of the Wahine.
"We're exhausted, I'm not going to lie," Kahumoku said. "It's our fourth match in five days. We're tired and we have midterms. ... You're tired and you have to come out to play a tough team two days in a row.
"It's not that you're not confident but because of exhaustion, mentally you let things slip."
That could explain an epic Game 1. Hawaii trailed 16-12 before running off six consecutive points behind the serving of Hedder Ilustre. The senior defensive specialist hit an ace to give the Wahine a short-lived 18-16 lead.
The game see-sawed back and forth with neither team holding more than a two-point lead until Notre Dame scored three straight to reach game point first. UH was down 29-27 when two huge swings by Willoughby evened up the game. The All-American brought Hawaii to game point following a Notre Dame timeout but misfired two plays later to give the Fighting Irish the advantage.
Leading 31-30, Notre Dame couldn't close the game as Willoughby hammered her 13th kill and freshman Susie Boogaard snuck one off the block. The Fighting Irish fought off another game point with a kill by opposite Katie Neff. Another Willoughby kill followed by Kahumoku's ninth blast of the game put the finishing touches on the game.
The Fighting Irish were never the same after dropping the first game.
"We didn't come back and play sharp in Game 2," Notre Dame coach Debbie Brown said. "That was a little bit disappointing.
The Wahine grabbed a 9-4 advantage to start Game 2. Notre Dame's vaunted block couldn't slow Hawaii as the Wahine hit .455 with 17 kills. Even libero Melissa Villaroman's swing from behind the 10-foot line dropped to the floor for a kill. Hawaii's block also played a pivotal role in holding Notre Dame to a .053 hitting percentage (12 kills, 10 errors, 38 attempts).
There was more entertainment than drama in Game 3. Willoughby blasted a kill off a triple block that ricocheted 10 rows into the crowd for a 10-7 Hawaii lead. Ilustre's second ace hit the tape and bounced off middle Lauren Kelbey who was looking behind her for the ball. Not much else went right for the Fighting Irish who didn't recover mentally from the long first game. Brown said that the Wahine defense wore down her team again.
"Hawaii is such a good defensive team," Brown said. "We have a good block but we don't have real good defense behind it. If we improve that part of our game, it's going to make us that much tougher. Our individual digging skills aren't where they need to be."
Hawaii's hiatus from Western Athletic Conference play ends tomorrow. The Rainbow Wahine face the upper tier of the WAC with matches against San Jose State and Fresno State tomorrow and Friday.
The Spartans are having an erratic season and have struggled against weaker teams. San Jose State (10-10, 4-2 WAC) has more losses than it did all of last season when it met Hawaii in the finals of the conference tournament.
San Jose lost five straight, including one to Texas-El Paso before getting back on the winning track. The Spartans put together a five-match streak before being derailed by Nevada last week in a four-game loss in Reno.
Unlike previous years when San Jose was Hawaii's primary cause for concern in the WAC, Fresno State has taken over that role.
At 17-2, the Bulldogs are off to their best start in school history. Their two losses were against No. 5 UC Santa Barbara and Nevada. Fresno State completed a sweep of the WAC East last week and could steal a game against Hawaii. Fatigue might be a factor for the Wahine who will have played six matches in eight days by the end of the week.
Notes: Kahumoku pounded the 1,000th kill of her career in Game 1. She is the 13th player in UH history to achieve that feat. ... Willoughby continued her climb on the Hawaii career kill list. With 23 kills yesterday, the junior took over the No. 4 spot with 1,484 kills, moving past Therese Crawford (1,467). The Rainbow Wahine have won 36 games in a row and tied a program record set in 2000. ... UH president Evan Dobelle watched the match last night.
34-32, 30-18, 30-25 Hawaii def. Notre Dame
Irish (15-5) g k e att pct. bs ba d Loomis 3 13 5 30 .267 0 2 1 J.Kinder 3 4 4 18 .000 0 0 6 Kelbley 3 7 3 21 .190 0 0 1 K.Kinder 3 3 0 11 .273 0 1 5 Moen 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Neff 3 9 2 31 .226 0 1 1 Burrell 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Henican 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Cooper 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Fletcher 1 1 0 3 .333 0 0 0 Coughlin 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Brewster 3 7 1 14 .429 2 3 2 Alderete 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 Totals 3 44 15 128 .227 2 7 37 Rainbow Wahine (17-0) g k e att pct. bs ba d Vakasausau 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Boogaard 3 5 2 13 .231 0 1 6 Willoughby 3 23 6 42 .405 0 1 8 Lundqvist 3 3 2 7 .143 0 1 3 Kahumoku 3 21 3 42 .429 1 0 8 Duggins 3 7 3 16 .250 0 4 4 Carey 3 3 0 3 1.000 0 3 2 Ilustre 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 Eckmier 1 1 1 2 .000 0 0 0 Watanabe 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Villaroman 3 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 13 Totals 3 64 17 126 .373 1 10 61 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Notre Dame (5): J. Kinder 3, K. Kinder 2. Hawaii (8): Ilustre 4, Willoughby 2, Kahumoku 1, Lundqvist 1.
Assists -- Notre Dame (41): K. Kinder 36, Coughlin 3, Alderete 1, J. Kinder 1. Hawaii (60): Vakasausau 44, Carey 11, Boogaard 2, Ilustre 2, Lundqvist 1.
T--2:18. Officials--Ernest Ho, Dan Hironaka. A--6,522.
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