DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Lily Kahumoku had 11 kills in an easy win against Boise State last night. The top-ranked Wahine take on No. 4 Stanford tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Wahine sweep Broncos Hawaii rose to the top of the AVCA poll this week, and now it has the chance to prove it merits the ranking.
out of the way
Wahine have something to prove
Game Day
against reigning champs
Hawaii dispatches Boise State to get set for Stanford
Senior setters remain friends
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comNot that the Rainbow Wahine need any additional motivation. Today's 6 p.m. showdown with fourth-ranked Stanford has been circled on their calendar since last spring.
"It will be nice to have such a great challenge," outside hitter Lily Kahumoku said. "I'm so excited for Stanford. I love playing Logan Tom.
"There's no doubt that they're very competitive, very experienced, very outstanding team. They play tough games all season long. It's not that we don't, but let's just say the Pac-10 is more competitive than the WAC."
There will be All-Americans galore on the court and enough offensive explosiveness to trigger a power outage.
Today's match features arguably the four best outside hitters in the country in Tom, sophomore Ogonna Nnamani (the 2001 freshman of the year) and the dynamic duo of Kim Willoughby and Kahumoku, both first-team All-Americans.
Individually, all four pack enough punch that they can turn the lights out on any team by themselves. The outcome of today's battle will probably hinge more on everyone else's performance.
The Cardinal boast an experienced and tree-like lineup. Middle blockers Sara McGee and Jennifer Harvey average 6-foot-4 and are part of a towering line-up of six starters who are 6-1 or taller. Senior opposite Ashley Ivy is the team's shortest player at 6-0. Even freshman libero Courtney Schultz is 6-1.
It's no wonder Stanford leads the nation in blocks with 3.73 per game. The 6-5 Harvey averages 1.53 stuffs and McGee is just a shade under at 1.42 blocks. The 6-3 McGee does her part on offense as well with the nation's highest percentage (.442).
Hawaii has faced and decimated a good blocking team --Notre Dame -- before. That was mostly a one-sided battle that no one expects today.
The Wahine have more than their unblemished record and 54-game win streak on the line. UH needs to know where it stands among the nation's elite and whether or not it has gone soft during a conference schedule that has been none too tough.
"We'll be better just by playing the match and we'll be challenged on every aspect of the game," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We need to respond and learn by playing a great team.
"It'll be about a 2 1/2-hour match. It'll go back and forth. It's constant adjustments."
Stanford's reasons for being here have more to do with its constant quest for excellence.
"The Stanford program always tried to schedule the toughest they could in an effort to prepare themselves for the postseason," Cardinal coach John Dunning said.
"We just tried to play the toughest schedule we can find. We're looking at, by the time we're done, 19 of our 31 regular season matches are against ranked teams. It fits for us. Everybody has to do things their own way. It just fits for what we try to do here."
The Cardinal have faced five ranked opponents in their last five matches. Before coming to Hawaii, Stanford swept Pac-10 rivals No. 16 Arizona and No. 23 Arizona State on consecutive nights.
The Cardinal have the rare opportunity to knock off two No. 1 teams in just over a week. They prevailed 16-14 in the fifth game against previously unbeaten and then-No. 1 USC on Nov. 2.
"That's a rarity," Dunning said. "You don't often beat (No.) 1, (and then) someone else becomes that team and then have the chance to do it again."
The Wahine haven't seen the likes of a ranked team since September, when they defeated No. 19 UCLA, which was ranked seventh at the time. Hawaii's wins against then-No. 9 Ohio State and then-No. 21 Colorado don't have quite the same meaning, since both teams have dropped out of the poll. No. 21 Washington, the last team to push Hawaii to four, is in the poll now, but wasn't before.
If Hawaii wins today, it would be the first victory in 11 years against Stanford. The Wahine lead the overall series 16-9, but haven't officially defeated the Cardinal in their last five tries. Last April, UH beat Stanford in a four-game exhibition.
Hawaii's last official win against Stanford was in 1991, when the Cardinal were No. 1 . Stanford recovered to win in five the next day.
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When: Today, 6 p.m. vs. Stanford GAMEDAY
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: KFVE, Channel 5
Radio:1420-AMNotes: Four of Hawaii's 25 previous meetings with Stanford have been in the final four. The Rainbow Wahine beat the Cardinal in the semifinals of the 1982 and 1983 championships. UH won its last NCAA title (1987) by defeating the Cardinal in four games. Stanford swept Hawaii in the 1996 final. ...Harvey is the tallest player in Stanford history. ...Maui's Leahi Hall, a 2001 graduate of King Kekaulike High is a defensive specialist for Stanford.
Probable starters
Stanford (23-3)
Ht. KPG Aces DPG S Anna Robinson (Jr.) 6-2 0.45 4 1.40 MB Jennifer Harvey (Jr.) 6-5 1.40 16 0.55 MB Sara McGee (Jr.) 6-3 3.06 10 0.51 OH Logan Tom (Sr.) 6-1 5.00 20 3.04 OH Ogonna Nnamani (So.) 6-1 3.79 3 1.31 Opp Ashley Ivy (Sr.) 6-0 2.42 47 2.42 L Courtney Schultz (Fr.) 6-1 NA NA 1.83 Hawaii (23-0) Ht. KPG Aces DPG S M.Vakasausau (Sr.) 5-8 0.15 3 2.12 MB Maja Gustin (Jr.) 6-2 2.47 4 0.74 MB Lauren Duggins (Jr.) 6-0 2.53 15 1.97 OH Lily Kahumoku (Jr.) 6-2 5.21 8 3.19 OH Kim Willoughby (Jr.) 6-0 6.39 49 3.42 Opp Susie Boogaard (Fr.) 6-2 1.74 3 1.04 L Melissa Villaroman (Jr.) 5-6 NA NA 2.92
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Hawaii dispatches In the span of 24 hours, top-ranked Hawaii will have seen opposite ends of the volleyball world.
Boise State quickly to
get set for Stanford
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comBoise State is a program with a first-year head coach, one win overall this season and a team effort that ended up impressing Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. Stanford has five NCAA titles and comes into today's 6 p.m. match as the defending national champion.
There is no connection between the two opponents and the Rainbow Wahine will have to completely overhaul their mindset. Hawaii didn't expend much energy in yesterday's match in sweeping Boise State 30-6, 30-23, 30-23.
And should they need a moment or two to adjust, today's sold-out match should snap them back into reality.
"It won't be hard to get up for Stanford," Shoji said. "The whole pace of the game will be much faster."
The pace will be faster, but not as quick as the Wahine's disposal of the Broncos. Game 1 took 18 minutes to play. Kim Willoughby scored more points (four aces and four kills) than all of Boise State combined.
"For anybody that's 1-22, they played hard," Shoji said. "They kept the ball in play. They weren't intimidated.
Boise State was much improved in Game 2. The Broncos led twice but killed their own momentum with four service errors. Hawaii rested Willoughby and Lauren Duggins. The Rainbow Wahine reserves were just as functional as the starters. Junior Nohea Tano had three kills in six attempts.
Freshman Susie Boogaard, a starter on the right side, moved to the left, swung nine times and got nine kills. Boise closed to 25-21 after a block by Joy Baldwin and Megan Tranter. Two kills and a block from junior Maja Gustin helped the Wahine ease past the Broncos.
"We got spanked that first game," Boise State coach Scott Sandel said. " We were scared coming out. If this was the first of the year, we would have definitely caved in. True, Hawaii played different lineups, didn't play their best lineup, but we battled."
The inevitable was slightly prolonged in Game 3. Boogaard finished the night with a match-high 12 kills, including the match winner, to lead Hawaii. Baldwin led the Broncos with seven kills.
Willoughby had only six kills, her lowest total since her freshman year. She put away just enough balls in two games to move past No. 2 Angelica Ljungquist (1,570) on the Hawaii career kill list with 1,573.
Notes: Former Wahine Ann (Goldenson) Kang was honored between Games 2 and 3. Kang is battling Lou Gehrig's disease and donations were collected during the Wahine alumnae match to help defray her medical expenses. She was helped to her feet by her husband, Alan Kang, before accepting a basket with about $6000 raised on her behalf by the alumnae, the Wahine booster club, the Rainbow Wahine Hui and the UH Letterwinner's Club. The Kangs were honorary coaches for the Rainbow Wahine alumni match. ...The Green team and White teams split two games during the alumnae match, with the green team winning the first game 15-2 and the White team prevailing 15-12. Heidi Ilustre led all hitters with 10 kills.
Hawaii def. Boise St.
30-6, 30-23, 30-23
Broncos (1-22, 0-11) g k e att pct. bs ba d Tranter 3 6 4 24 .083 0 1 6 Bennett 3 1 0 7 .143 0 0 2 Baldwin 3 7 4 15 .200 0 1 1 Moore 3 3 2 13 .077 0 0 4 Alderson 3 3 5 21 -.095 0 1 1 Hastings 3 5 3 17 .118 0 1 2 Ruff 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Sommer 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Hollingshead 2 0 1 3 -.333 0 0 5 Totals 3 25 19 100 .060 0 4 24
Wahine (23-0, 11-0) g k e att pct. bs ba d Vakasausau 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Boogaard 3 12 1 20 .550 0 2 3 Willoughby 2 6 4 14 .143 0 1 5 Kahumoku 2 11 2 19 .474 0 0 6 Gustin 2 7 1 13 .462 2 1 2 Duggins 2 4 1 8 .375 1 1 5 Carey 3 1 0 2 .500 0 2 0 Tano 2 7 1 11 .545 0 0 5 Ilustre 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Eckmier 2 4 4 9 .000 0 3 3 Watanabe 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 Totals 3 52 14 96 .396 3 10 48 Key - g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces - Boise St. (5): Bennett, Baldwin, Moore, Ruff, Hollingshead. Hawaii (6): Willoughby 4, Gustin, Duggins. Assists - Boise St. (24): Bennett 22, Moore 2. Hawaii (45): Vakasausau 21, Carey 17, Tano 3, Boogaard, Gustin, Ilustre, Villaroman.
T - 1:25. Officials - Verna Klubnikin, Wayne Lee. A - 7,686.
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