Lundqvist injured in RENO, Nev. >> Big win. Bigger loss.
UH sweep of Nevada
Hawaii stays unbeaten but sees its
Stats / Standings
starting middle leave with a knee strain
UH men play alumni
From staff and wire reports
No. 2 Hawaii kept its impressive winning streaks alive last night, downing Nevada 30-25, 30-21, 30-20 to run its skein of Western Athletic Conference volleyball victories to 66 matches in a row and push its school record to 45 straight games.
However, the Wahine lost junior middle Karin Lundqvist to a knee injury toward the end of Game 1 when holding onto a 23-22 lead. The preliminary diagnosis was a strain and not a torn anterior cruciate ligament; she is not expected to play in today's match at Boise State (4 p.m. Hawaii time).
Getting more time than initially planned was junior all-WAC performer Maja Gustin, who had played sparingly in the past two matches after missing 15 with a stress fracture. Gustin finished with five kills and three block assists.
"It was huge that we had Maja ready to go," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji after the Wahine improved to 20-0 overall, 8-0 in WAC. "It was ironic that we had hoped Maja could play more but we HAD to play her. We were very fortunate in that respect.
"Nevada is a solid team and we needed to win this one. Overall, our team played outstanding in a pretty hostile environment."
Reigning national player of the week Kim Willoughby put down 25 kills and hit .455 to lead the Wahine. Lily Kahumoku racked up a double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs for UH, which has not dropped a game since the 3-1 win over Washington on Sept. 7.
The Wahine have swept 18 of 20 opponents.
A school-record crowd of 2,023 saw Nevada fall to 18-4 and 7-2 in losing for the first time this season in 11 home matches. The last time the Wolf Pack lost in the Virginia Street Gym was last Nov. 2 ... to Hawaii, in front of a then-record 1,400 fans.
Shoji said he had a brief flashback to the last -- and only -- time Hawaii was beaten by Nevada. It was 1992 and the 3-2 loss helped keep the Wahine out of postseason play for the first time in the program's history.
"The flashback didn't happen during the match," said Shoji. "It was when I walked in this one door. I remembered it was the same door I walked out of when we lost."
The Wahine were only seriously threatened in Game 1. After jumping out to leads of 7-2 and 8-4, the Wolf Pack rallied to tie it at 8.
The game was tied four more times, but Nevada never took the lead. The Pack stayed close behind the hitting of freshman Salaia Salavea, pulling to 25-24.
A kill by Willoughby combined with two Nevada errors and two kills by Kahumoku gave Hawaii the win.
Game 2 was also close, with the Wahine finally taking control at 15-12. Tough serving by Kahumoku, Lauren Duggins and Margaret Vakasausau led to an 11-3 run that allowed Hawaii to pull away.
Serving runs by Kahumoku and Vakasausau again boosted the Wahine in Game 3 as Hawaii jumped out to 15-4. The Wolf Pack made a late run when trailing 23-10 with Salavea and Jill Couwenhoven leading a 7-1 charge that closed the gap to 24-17.
Nevada got no closer, postponing the celebration of Nevada coach Devin Scruggs' 100th career victory at least until tomorrow's match at San Jose State.
Salavea led Nevada with 12 kills, while All-American middle Michelle More was held to 10 kills and a .241 hitting percentage. More came into the match ranked No. 2 in the WAC in kills per game (5.61) and the leader in hitting percentage (.399).
"I thought we played very efficiently," said UH assistant Charlie Wade. "Nevada is a legitimate NCAA (tournament) team and to come on the road and beat them in three is impressive.
"One of the things we try to emphasize on the road is to limit our mistakes and take their crowd out of it. We played good, aggressive defensive. Our team defense borders between pretty good and spectacular."
Hawaii had 52 digs to Nevada's 37. Vakasausau had 11 digs to go with 20 assists. Today's game at Boise State is not expected to tax Hawaii. The Broncos are 1-19 and 0-8.
"What we need is to stay focused and come in mentally strong," said Shoji.
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Hawaii def. Nevada
30-25, 30-21, 30-20
Wahine (20-0, 8-0) g k e att pct. bs ba d Willoughby 3 25 5 46 .455 0 1 8 Carey 3 1 1 5 .000 0 0 4 Lundqvist 1 0 0 2 .000 0 1 0 Ilustre 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 7 Kahumoku 3 17 5 32 .375 1 1 11 Duggins 3 6 0 9 .667 0 2 2 Vakasausau 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 11 Boogaard 3 2 4 12 .167 0 4 1 Watanabe 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Gustin 3 5 2 11 .273 0 3 0 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Totals 3 56 17 118 .331 1 12 52
Wolf Pack (18-3, 6-2) g k e att pct. bs ba d Wooley 3 4 7 29 -.103 1 1 6 Salavea 3 12 5 33 .212 0 3 1 Couwenhoven 3 1 1 4 .000 0 1 6 Burton 2 1 3 5 -.400 0 1 1 Harms 3 0 1 6 -.167 0 0 5 More 3 10 3 29 .241 0 2 1 Baracco 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Adams 2 2 1 7 .145 0 2 0 Holda 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Randolph 2 6 2 13 .308 0 0 5 Totals 3 36 23 126 .103 1 10 37 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (4): Willoughby 2, Duggins 2. Nevada (4): Wooley, Salavea, More, Baracco. Assists -- Hawaii (47): Carey 20, Vakasausau 20, Boogaard 3, Duggins 2, Ilustre, Gustin. Nevada (32): Couwenhoven 30, Wooley, Baracco.
T -- 1:25. Officials -- Eric Asami, Kent Kitade. A -- 2,023.
WAC standings
Western Division
Overall Conference W L Pct GB W L Pct. Hawaii 8 0 1.000 -- 20 0 1.000 Nevada 7 2 .778 1 18 4 .818 Fresno St 6 2 .750 2 18 4 .818 San Jose 5 3 .625 3 11 11 .500 Boise St 0 8 .000 8 1 19 .050
Eastern Division
Overall Conference W L Pct GB W L Pct. Rice 5 4 .556 -- 15 10 .600 UTEP 4 4 .500 1/2 9 10 .473 SMU 4 5 .444 1 10 14 .416 La Tech 2 6 .250 2 1/2 16 12 .571 Tulsa 1 8 .111 4 17 11 .607 Last night
Hawaii def. Nevada, 30-25, 30-21, 30-20
SMU def. UTEP, 25-30, 30-22, 30-21, 30-25Today
Hawaii at Boise State, 4 p.m. Hawaii time
Fresno State at San Jose State
Tulsa at RiceTomorrow
Nevada at San Jose State
UTEP at Louisiana Tech
UH Athletics
