[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Kim Willoughby broke the school career kills record as the Wahine swept Kansas State last night.
Willoughby sets
kill mark as Wahine
open with winNo. 2 Hawaii's reward for
its season-starting victory
is a date with No. 1 USC tonight
It's hard to believe, but tonight -- for one of the few times in the program's history -- Hawaii will not be favored at home.
The Wahine volleyball team may be ranked No. 2, but Hawaii will still be looking up in the championship match of the 9th NACWAA/State Farm Classic. Hawaii will see just how far the gap is between Nos. 1 and 2 when facing top-ranked Southern California at the Stan Sheriff Center at 7 p.m.
Last night, the Wahine dispatched No. 15 Kansas State in 94 minutes 30-26, 30-23, 30-23 to win their 25th consecutive home opener. A turnstile crowd of 6,475 saw Hawaii crown a new all-time kill leader when senior Kim Willoughby passed Teee Williams on the career chart.
Willoughby put down a match-high 28 kills to bring her total to 1,874. Williams (1987-89) had 1,873.
In last night's first match, defending national champion Southern California won its 13th straight match dating back to last season after sweeping No. 3 Florida 31-29, 30-17, 30-25 in 97 minutes.
Hawaii got 14 kills from senior All-American Lily Kahumoku in the collegiate debut of freshman setter Kanoe Kamana'o.
"Overall, Kim was outstanding, Lily was outstanding and I'm proud of our setter," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. "She did real well in her first collegiate match.
"As for SC, they've got a lot of weapons, a lot of balance and their block is awesome. We're going to have to find a way to put the ball down."
Willoughby had little problem putting it down last night, hitting .564. However, getting the record meant little.
"It's not about me, this is a team sport," said Willoughby. "It's about Kanoe setting the ball. She does everything we ask her to do. She doesn't play like a true freshman."
"It was fun and exciting to get out there," said Kamana'o. "We'll just have to give it our best effort (against USC). We just have to play our game."
Hawaii showed its depth and its versatility all night. By the time the USC players left the arena after Game 2, the Wahine had used 13 of their 17 players, including both setters (the other being redshirt freshman Cayley Thurlby.
No. 14 made it into the match to start Game 3 -- freshman hitter Alicia Arnott.
The Wildcats were outdug 59-36. K-State had three players with a team-high seven kills: Cari Jensen, Valeria Hejjas and Lisa Martin.
In today's first match, Florida takes on Kansas State at 5 p.m.
The Gators had their season ended last year by the Women of Troy in the NCAA tournament semifinal. Some eight months later, it was deja vu to open the season.
"All of us know that they are the team to beat this year," Florida coach Mary Wise said of Southern California. "They are the team that everyone will compare themselves to and try to narrow that gap."
Last December, the match could have gone either way. The Women of Troy won it in four, but it wasn't easy, having to rally after dropping Game 1.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Lily Kahumoku blocked a Kansas State kill attempt last night. The senior had 14 kills.
Last night, USC had to rally again against Florida. This time, it came early as USC pulled out Game 1 and then pulled away.
Except for a late charge in the middle of Game 3 by Florida -- when the Gators took at 17-16 advantage -- USC was in control most of the night.
The match was likely won in Game 1. Florida led by as many as four, 22-18. But the Gators couldn't hold on against the taller Women of Troy, giving up five unanswered points to trail 23-22.
Florida tied it at 23-23, the first of six ties in the final minutes. The Gators swung for the game at 29-28 but a kill by Bibiana Candelas tied it at 29-29.
USC scored the last two points of the game on blocks then opened Game 2 with five unanswered points. At one point, the Women of Troy led by as many as 10 and sealed Game 2 with an ace by Candelas, one of her four for the match.
Keao Burdine, with a number of family members watching, had 12 kills with April Ross adding 10 for USC. The Women of Troy hit .303 for the match to the Gators' .178. For Florida, Aury Cruz put down 12 kills but hit .075; Benavia Jenkins added 10.
"I thought it was pretty high-level volleyball for it to be the first game of 2003," said Wise. "Unfortunately, after losing that first game, we didn't recover."
Ross said the key at the end of Game 1 was that the team didn't panic.
"We knew what we had to win," said the senior All-American.
"It's a new season," added Burdine, whose sister Bonnee played for Hawaii Pacific. "We've put our rings on the shelf."
Hawaii def. Kansas State
WILDCATS (0-1)
30-26, 30-23, 30-23
WAHINE (1-0)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Goehring 3 5 1 22 .182 0 0 8 Stanzel 3 5 3 15 .133 0 2 2 Guerre 3 5 1 13 .308 0 1 4 Jensen K. 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Jensen C. 3 7 4 26 .115 0 1 4 Hejjas 3 7 3 23 .174 0 1 4 Martin 3 7 2 19 .263 0 4 0 Downey-Wallace 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Perkins 1 1 2 4 -.250 0 0 3 Totals 3 37 16 122 .172 0 9 38
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
g k e att pct. bs ba d Willoughby 3 28 6 39 .564 1 0 9 Tano 2 2 1 7 .143 0 1 6 Lundqvist 1 1 0 3 .333 0 1 2 Kahumoku 3 14 3 34 .324 0 3 8 Kamana'o 3 2 1 3 .333 0 2 6 Duggins 3 7 1 16 .375 1 2 6 Boogard 2 1 0 2 .500 0 0 5 Arnott 1 1 1 5 .000 0 0 3 Eckmier 2 2 0 7 .286 0 1 0 Watanabe 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Gustin 2 3 3 8 .000 0 1 2 Thurlby 2 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 1 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 11 Totals 3 61 17 125 .352 2 11 59 Aces -- Wildcats (3): Guerre 2, Stanzel. Hawaii (3): Duggins 2, Willoughby. Assists -- Wildcats (36): Guerre 31, Downey-Wallace 4, C. Jensen 1. Hawaii (59): Kamana'o 42, Thurlby 7, Tano 4, Boogard 3, Willoughby 2, Villaroman 1.
T -- 1:34. Officials -- Tana Martin, Mary Blalock. A --6974.
