DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Kim Willoughby returned after missing a game due to illness and put down 24 kills.
Second-ranked Hawaii survived an early scare before overwhelming Fresno State 30-28, 30-17, 30-26 at the Stan Sheriff Center last night. Less-than-perfect Wahine
sweep past BulldogsHawaii struggles early before churning out
its 59th straight conference victoryBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comBefore a crowd of about 6,000, the unbeaten Rainbow Wahine concluded their sixth match in nine days with all their records intact. Hawaii won its 59th straight Western Athletic Conference match and 42nd consecutive game. The Bulldogs suffered just their third loss of the season and dropped to 18-3, 6-2 in the WAC.
Fresno State was without the services of outside hitter Christy Burnett. The senior sprained an ankle in the pregame practice and watched the match from the sideline. The injury happened right before the horrified eyes of Fresno State coach Lindy Vivas.
"When we lost her," Vivas said. "It wasn't just offense. We lost her in the backcourt, too."
A day after injury and illness forced Hawaii (19-0, 7-0) to throw together a lineup, the Rainbow Wahine went with their regular rotation with All-American Kim Willoughby back on the left and freshman Susie Boogaard on the right.
The Rainbow Wahine passed atrociously in Game 1 and were forced to set outside on almost every play. Normally, that's not a bad thing with All-American outside hitters, but Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku were cold and misfiring. The Rainbow Wahine trailed the entire game before taking their first lead at 27-26. It was short-lived, as a UH service error evened the match. But Hawaii escaped a tight game with kills from Willoughby and Kahumoku. Fresno State got one more kill from a red-hot Kristen Fenton (.545, six kills) before middle Karin Lundqvist put away an overpass to end a long rally.
"We played well," Vivas said. "Hawaii had to make a lot of adjustments the first game. We did everything we could on our side of the net."
Hawaii took control early in Game 2 and ran up a 15-7 lead before Fresno State could react. Bulldog freshman La'akea Campbell, a 2002 Iolani graduate, entered the game and gave Fresno a bit of a spark with her passing and defense, but it wasn't enough. The Bulldogs, the second-best hitting team in the WAC, were held to seven kills and seven errors in a very forgettable game. Campbell finished it with three kills and three digs.
In Game 3, Shoji used Thursday's lineup with mixed results. Hawaii didn't look back after scoring three straight to break away from a 9-9 tie, but the game got progressively sloppier. Willoughby launched nine kills, including one that went off the face of a Bulldog defender midway through the game. The junior was set 55 times and finished the match with 24 kills. Fatigue did become a factor for Hawaii toward the end.
"The tiredness came over us but didn't quite take us," Lauren Duggins said.
Kahumoku added 18 kills and Duggins hit .714 with 11 kills.
Fenton cooled off after Game 1 but led the Bulldogs with 11 kills.
"We were up and down the whole night," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "It was not a pretty effort. The effort was there, but it wasn't real smooth. Fatigue or just being mentally tired was a big thing tonight. But they find a way to dig down pretty deep and make the plays at the end."
Hawaii travels to Nevada next Friday to take on the second-place Wolf Pack.
Notes: For the second consecutive night, Olympian and former Wahine All-American Robyn Ah Mow watched the match. ...In other volleyball action, Nevada swept Boise State 33-31, 30-27, 30-24. ... No. 5 UC Santa Barbara defeated No. 7 Long Beach State 3-1.
30-28, 30-17, 30-26 Hawaii def. Fresno St.
Bulldogs (18-3, 6-2) g k e att pct. bs ba d Arena 3 2 2 9 .000 0 3 8 Hartt 3 5 3 21 .095 1 3 1 Fenton 3 11 1 38 .263 0 0 3 Tilque 3 6 4 20 .100 0 1 12 Brennan 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Johnson 3 9 3 28 .214 1 2 2 Farr 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 15 Taelman 2 1 1 10 .000 0 0 1 Campbell 2 3 1 7 .286 0 1 3 Totals 3 37 15 133 .265 0 10 52
Wahine (19-0, 7-0) g k e att pct. bs ba d Vakasausau 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Boogaard 2 1 0 3 .333 0 0 2 Willoughby 3 24 8 55 .291 0 0 15 Lundqvist 3 4 1 13 .231 0 4 5 Kahumoku 3 18 7 48 .229 0 2 12 Duggins 3 11 1 14 .714 2 1 8 Carey 3 1 0 7 .143 0 3 9 Ilustre 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 5 Gustin 2 1 1 2 .000 0 0 0 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 9 Totals 3 60 18 142 .296 2 10 66 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (7): Duggins 2, Carey 2, Willoughby, Lundqvist, Ilustre. Fresno St. (1): Arena. Assists -- Hawaii (57): Carey 43, Vakasausau 8, Boogaard 2, Willoughby, Lundqvist, Duggins, Ilustre. Fresno St. (35): Arena 30, Brennan 2, Farr 2, Tilque.
T -- 1:45. Officials -- Jesse Martinez, Ernest Ho. A -- 7,555.
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