FRESNO, Calif. >> One-sided no more. Hawaii goes 5, before
beating Fresno on road
From staff and wire reports
On a foggy Fresno night, the picture in the Western Athletic Conference got a little bit muddy for the Hawaii volleyball team.
The No. 3 Rainbow Wahine (24-1, 12-0) went back to the WAC after a loss to top-ranked Stanford last Sunday, but it wasn't business as usual. Pushed to a fifth game for the first time this season, Hawaii prevailed over Fresno State 30-19, 30-24, 25-30, 22-30, 15-10.
"It was an exciting match, they had a good crowd," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "They were into it. They put some pressure on us, but I'm glad our team responded at the end.
"After we got up 2-0, I think maybe we lost a little respect for them. We thought maybe they'd roll over and die, but they obviously didn't."
Before a packed crowd of 1,396 at North Gym -- the third-largest in school history -- Fresno staged a huge comeback and nearly pulled off the upset. At the very least, the Bulldogs (22-5, 10-3) made a case for an NCAA tournament at-large berth. Shoji thinks the Bulldogs are a lock.
If there were any residual effects from Sunday's loss, Hawaii felt them yesterday. The Wahine seemed vulnerable and prone to letdowns as their 63-match conference win streak hung in the balance.
The Bulldogs have definitely bridged the gap between the teams. Fresno scored two points against Hawaii (pre-rally scoring) in the teams' first meeting in 1983. Yesterday, the Bulldogs were close enough to nearly steal the win.
Offensive balance was a weakness Stanford exposed and it continued against Fresno. All-American Lily Kahumoku hit through and off the block for a career-high 33 kills. Her All-American counterpart, Kim Willoughby, had 30 kills as the dynamic duo combined for 63 of the team's 87 kills.
The Bulldogs were more balanced, with four players with double-digit kills. Sophomore Kristen Fenton, the reigning WAC Player of the Week, pounded 22 kills and had plenty of help from her teammates.
Middle Carrie Hartt and outside hitter Christy Burnett each contributed 16 kills, while senior middle Java Johnson added 12 kills. Freshman La'akeaokamahealani Campbell came off the bench to give the Bulldogs six kills.
"They had pretty much their whole offense going," Shoji said. "We had to honor their middles and their lefts."
Defensively, Fresno wasn't too far behind with nine blocks to 11 1/2 for Hawaii. Junior Melissa Villaroman had an astounding 33 digs to lead the defense as Hawaii outdug Fresno 81-77.
The Wahine swept the Bulldogs earlier this season in Honolulu, but Fresno was without the services of Burnett, its best all-around player and emotional leader.
But with a team at full strength, the Bulldogs didn't bark and barely managed more than a whimper against the Wahine in Game 1. Hawaii opened with a 10-5 lead off three kills from Kahumoku and four kills by Willoughby. The Wahine stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the game and increased their lead to 22-12 after another kill by Kahumoku.
The contest became a battle, as Game 2 see-sawed back and forth. Hawaii's biggest lead was three at 15-12, but Fresno responded with three straight points to tie the match. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the match at 18-17 after a Willoughby hitting error. A solo block by Kahumoku gave the Wahine a 22-20 lead. Hawaii outscored Fresno 8-4 to pull away and win the game.
Fresno began a gritty comeback in Game 3 after it snatched an 8-4 advantage. The Wahine caught the Bulldogs at 10 before Fresno pulled away.
"That was pretty much key, we let them back in the match," Shoji said. "And they played better. They hit the ball hard. They hit for a very good percentage and they had middles and lefts going. They were very balanced."
In Game 4, Fresno blocked four straight and had an ace for an insurmountable 15-5 lead. Burnett finally made her presence felt with six kills. The senior had nine kills in the first three games. The Bulldogs' block doubled their output of the previous three games with six stuffs.
In Game 5, the Wahine broke away from an 8-8 tie with three straight points, two from kills by Kahumoku and a hitting error by Fenton. The small lead was enough as Kahumoku drilled four more kills to close out the match for Hawaii.
Notes: The Wahine clinched the regular-season WAC title and the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament. Fresno defeated Nevada 3-1 on Thursday to lock up the No. 2 seed of the WAC tournament. ... Today's game against San Jose State will be broadcast on 1420-AM starting at 4:45 p.m. ... Rice captured its second straight WAC Eastern Division title after it swept Texas-El Paso yesterday.
Hawaii def. Fresno St.
31-19, 30-24, 25-30, 22-30, 15-10
Wahine (24-1, 12-0) g k e att pct. bs ba d Willoughby 5 30 10 68 .294 0 2 11 Carey 5 2 0 4 .500 0 5 2 Ilustre 5 0 0 1 .000 0 0 11 Kahumoku 5 33 5 67 .418 1 1 9 Gustin 5 8 4 20 .200 0 5 2 Duggins 5 8 3 21 .238 0 5 3 Vakasausau 5 0 0 2 .000 0 0 6 Boogaard 4 5 1 11 .364 0 2 1 Tano 3 1 1 4 .000 0 1 2 Watanabe 2 0 0 1 .000 0 0 1 Villaroman 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 33 Totals 5 87 24 198 .318 1 21 81 Bulldogs (22-5, 10-3) g k e att pct. bs ba d Arena 5 2 1 4 .250 0 2 11 Hartt 5 16 3 37 .351 0 4 4 Farr 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 3 Fenton 5 22 7 60 .250 0 2 12 Burnett 5 16 4 39 .308 0 1 17 Johnson 5 12 2 32 .313 1 4 3 Tilque 1 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 1 Brennan 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 19 Campbell 5 6 3 13 .231 0 3 7 Totals 5 74 21 188 .282 1 16 77 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (6): Willoughby 3, Vakasausau 2, Ilustre. Fresno St. (4): Hartt 2, Fenton, Burnett, Campbell. Assists -- Hawaii (81): Vakasausau 39, Carey 30, Villaroman 3, Tano 3, Ilustre 2, Willoughby, Kahumoku, Gustin, Boogaard. Fresno St. (70): Arena 59, Campbell 4, Hartt 3, Burnett 3, Fenton.
T -- 2:40. Officials -- Michael Yoshikawa, bob McCarthy. A -- 1,396.
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