Shoji nears milestone as PROVO, Utah.>> Today is Hawaii coach Dave Shoji's first attempt at career win No. 800.
Wahine crush Cougars
The UH volleyball coach goes for
win No. 800 today at UtahBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comHe downplays the significance of the milestone as longevity in the profession. But 800 wins is a feat only three other coaches have managed -- UCLA's Andy Banachowski, Brigham Young's Elaine Michaelis and Marilyn Nolen of St. Louis.
Seniors Jennifer Carey and Margaret Vakasausau were there for victory No. 700 on Oct. 30, 1999. If No. 2 Hawaii wins today against No. 24 Utah, Carey promises there won't be a Gatorade bath in chilly Salt Lake City.
"That's wild. I didn't know we'd get two of them," Carey said. "We got 700. I didn't know we'd be around for 800. I can't wait to toss him up in the air. I just hope we don't drop him. We like to do the toss. We did it in Fresno."
Hawaii (29-1) defeated BYU yesterday to bring Shoji's total to 799. Before 813 at Smith Fieldhouse -- the site of Hawaii's only loss in the Western Athletic Conference -- the Rainbow Wahine crushed the Cougars 30-23, 30-19, 30-17 in 90 minutes.
The last time the two teams played in 1998, it was a classic match fraught with emotion and drama and worthy of many superlatives. Yesterday, the volleyball was incomparable and there was nothing remarkable about it. This match will be one that won't be remembered in the rivalry.
The Cougars (14-18) didn't have much emotion or game left after being swept by the Utes in the final of the Mountain West Championship. In 34 seasons, BYU has never had a losing season nor a season with more than 17 losses.
BYU has been to 19 of 20 NCAA tournaments, but won't make it this year. The Cougars' only chance came and left with the Mountain West Conference tournament.
"We were a lot better last weekend," BYU coach Karen Lamb said. "I have to think we haven't recovered yet because of what they've shown this season.
"We were quiet and we were really flat. One thing about this team is that we've always competed pretty hard this season with a few exceptions. We gave everything we had and we wanted to make the NCAA. We needed to win our conference tournament and we gave everything we had for that."
As cold as it was outside of Smith Fieldhouse, the interior was no inferno either, as both teams had meager starts with 11 serving errors and 15 hitting errors between them in Game 1.
"We played a real poor first game," Shoji said. "We tried too hard sometimes. We tried to make the impossible hit and we hit out.
"But it was obvious that (the Cougars) weren't emotionally ready to play tonight. They had a chance to go to the NCAA tournament by beating Utah, but when they didn't ... it just looked like they really didn't care much about the match."
Defense, or lack thereof, told BYU's story. The Cougars average more than three blocks per game and 14 digs per game. BYU got its three blocks in Game 1, but had just three digs. Hawaii's hitting wasn't particularly amazing, as the Wahine had to adjust to the higher altitude.
"It was a big difference. I don't know if they came out flat," junior Nohea Tano said. "The balls were flying. It took a while for us to get used to that."
When they finally did adjust, the Wahine usually only needed one swing to put away the ball as the Cougars were unable to pick up balls that went off their block.
The Rainbow Wahine eventually brought their game up after some words by Shoji in between Games 1 and 2.
"We got angry because Dave kind of yelled at us in a good way," Vakasausau said. "We don't like to play poorly and when somebody points out a fault we don't like to hear it.
"The defense definitely stepped it up. Kim (Willoughby) and Lily (Kahumoku) chasing down balls down out there really elevated everyone else's play."
After four early ties in Game 2, Hawaii elevated its game to another level and left BYU behind. The Wahine used an 8-2 run to break open a close 12-10 game. Eight of Hawaii's final 10 points came from kills that BYU couldn't dig.
With the song "Taking Care of Business" blasting before Game 3, the Wahine did just that. Hawaii had a 9-4 lead after a solo block by Carey. The Wahine scored six of the next eight points and dominated the rest of the game.
Willoughby rocked BYU for five aces and 20 kills. Kahumoku chipped in 11 kills and eight digs. Middle Lauren Duggins continued her hitting efficiency (eight kills, .625).
Kimberly Wilson led BYU with nine kills. Kamehameha grad Uila Crabbe, a high school teammate of Kahumoku and Nohea Tano, scooped up five of the Cougars' 19 digs.
Notes: Hawaii plays Utah at 4 p.m. Hawaii time. Junior Maja Gustin did not play yesterday and won't play today. Gustin has a strained muscle around her right knee that was aggravated during yesterday's prematch practice. Shoji said the injury is due in part to Gustin's tendency to land only on her right foot when she hits. The middle blocker missed a good chunk of Hawaii's matches with a stress fracture in her left foot. Sophomore Melody Eckmier started for Gustin.
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs. Hawaii def. BYU
30-23, 30-19, 30-17
Wahine (29-1) g k e att pct. bs ba d Vakasausau 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Willoughby 3 20 5 31 .484 0 1 8 Tano 3 7 1 12 .500 1 0 1 Eckmier 3 3 1 4 .500 0 2 0 Kahumoku 3 11 5 25 .240 0 2 8 Duggins 3 8 0 13 .615 0 3 4 Boogaard 2 4 2 7 .286 0 0 1 Carey 3 1 0 2 .500 1 2 1 Ilustre 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 9 Totals 3 54 14 94 .426 2 10 40 Cougars (14-18) g k e att pct. bs ba d Puikkonen 3 4 1 9 .333 0 1 2 Metcalf 3 8 5 29 .103 0 1 3 Larson 3 5 3 13 .154 0 4 0 Bowers 3 4 1 10 .300 0 4 1 Wilson 3 9 3 21 .286 0 1 1 Nielsen 3 3 4 10 -.100 0 2 2 Varner 2 0 0 0 .000 0 1 4 Castillo 2 0 0 1 .000 0 0 1 Webb 1 2 2 8 .000 0 0 0 Crabbe 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 5 Mahaffey 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 3 35 19 101 .158 0 14 19
Aces -- Hawaii (8): Willoughby 5, Eckmier, Duggins. BYU (1): Mahaffey. Assists -- Hawaii (53): Vakasausau 26, Carey 24, Willoughby, Ilustre. BYU (31): Puikkonen, Crabbe, Metcalf.
T -- 1:30. Officials -- Kim Norman, Mylie Jewkes, Karen Marshal. A -- 813.
UH Athletics
