RENO, Nev.>> For a final performance, San Jose State finally resembled the dangerous team that has usually been the Western Athletic Conference's best at challenging Hawaii. Yesterday, the second-ranked Rainbow Wahine turned back a much-needed challenge by the Spartans, who managed to take its first and only jab at the Rainbow Wahine in a forget-me-not performance. Wahine face host Nevada
in WAC final
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comIn an intimate and definitely pro-Hawaii setting at Virginia Street Gym, Hawaii swept San Jose State 30-24, 30-25, 30-24 in a rematch of last year's WAC championship. The Wahine are 27-1 for the season. San Jose State finished at 14-15.
Nevada prevailed over Fresno State 18-30, 30-28, 30-24, 40-38 in the second semifinal to reach today's championship match at 11 a.m. Hawaii time.
"The good thing tonight about San Jose State was we needed to see some adversity out there and see how we react to it," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "The good thing was that we responded.
"I've been saying all along that they're a dangerous team. They served really well. Craig's teams have always done that to us, just go back and bomb. We had our poorest passing night of the year by far. The serves were tough and very accurate. We just had trouble all night."
After a brilliant and relatively easy performance against Louisiana Tech, Hawaii was jerked back to reality against San Jose State. It was clear to both sides that the Wahine did not play like a team expected to go deep into the postseason.
Spartans coach Craig Choate said San Jose made it a point to go after junior Kim Willoughby on serve receive as much as possible. The All-American was the target of an array of short and deep serves and she never managed to bring herself out of the passing rut.
"They were nowhere near in a nice smooth system as often tonight as they were last time," Choate said. "We talked about serving last time, but we didn't accomplish it. We talked about it this time and we did accomplish it."
But the Spartans could do almost nothing to stop Willoughby's hitting as she unloaded for a match-high 25 kills, 14 of which came in Game 2. Lily Kahumoku put away 12 balls and junior Maja Gustin nailed 10 kills.
The Spartans countered with an offense that was simple but well-run. San Jose hitters Stephanie Pascucci, Katherine Powers, and Liz Hudson came at the Wahine from all sides of the court. The quick-attacking offense in the middle gave outside hitters Kimberly Noble and Fran Pozzi a few opportunities to swing against one blocker.
Pascucci and Noble each finished with 11 kills.
"They mix their offense up to keep you honest on the other side," Shoji said. "We had a hard time tracking the hitters. They were running different patterns. We definitely got lost a few times and didn't block well."
Hawaii stuffed 11 balls but relied much more on its digging to stop San Jose. Kahumoku, Hedder Ilustre and libero Melissa Villaroman tallied double-digit digs as the Wahine outdug San Jose 67-51.
"San Jose played with a lot of heart and bombed serves," Kahumoku said. "They rose to the occasion and challenged us. We're fortunate to have Kim Willoughby, who soars over the competition and annihilates the ball.
"Defensively, they put themselves on the line and made defensive plays. It's nice to be challenged in that way."
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs. Hawaii def. San Jose St.
30-24, 30-25, 30-24
Spartans (14-15) g k e att pct. bs ba d Pascucci 3 11 6 34 .147 0 1 1 Powers 3 6 2 13 .308 0 2 2 Lukens 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 4 Pozzi 3 7 4 30 .100 0 0 8 Hudson 3 8 2 18 .333 1 2 13 Rule 3 0 1 6 -.167 0 0 5 Lewis 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Haldi 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 14 Noble 3 11 8 40 .075 0 1 2 Totals 3 43 23 142 .141 1 6 51 Wahine (27-1) g k e att pct. bs ba d Vakasausau 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Willoughby 3 25 7 55 .327 0 3 8 Tano 3 4 2 9 .222 0 0 4 Kahumoku 3 12 5 29 .241 1 3 15 Gustin 3 10 0 16 .625 0 3 1 Duggins 3 4 2 12 .167 0 6 4 Boogaard 1 0 2 4 -.500 0 0 1 Carey 3 1 0 4 .250 0 5 5 Ilustre 3 0 0 2 .000 0 0 13 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 11 Totals 3 56 18 131 .290 1 20 67
Aces -- San Jose St. (3): Hudson 2, Lukens. Hawaii (4): Willoughby 2, Gustin, Duggins. Assists -- San Jose St. (41): Rule 38, Pascucci, Pozzi, Hudson. Hawaii (55): Carey 25, Vakasausau 22, Willoughby 2, Ilustre 2, Kahumoku, Gustin, Duggins, Boogaard, Villaroman.
T -- 1:37. Officials -- Margie Ray, Annette Cottle. A -- NA.
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