[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Kim Willoughby hit one past Utah State's Erin Cartwright-Davis last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii, Stanford
set up collisionTwo of the nation’s
best volleyball teams
will face off tonight
They are typical golfers as well as typical volleyball coaches. Hawaii's Dave Shoji and Stanford's John Dunning have nothing but praise for each other's programs while downplaying their own golf games.
Dunning plays to a 3 or 4 handicap on the course. Shoji, who admits he doesn't play as much as he would like, is hovering around a 7.
Last night, both might have been accused of a little sandbagging at the Stan Sheriff Center, playing around with their respective lineups.
Dunning sat out his junior All-American and kill leader Ogonna Nnamani (abdominal muscle). Shoji considered sitting his senior All-American and kill leader Kim Willoughby (right ankle sprain).
Both No. 2 Hawaii and No. 4 Stanford battled through the rough, had a combined 21 aces, and holed out wins in the inaugural Sprint Hawaii Invitational. In front of 5,082, the Rainbow Wahine wore down Utah State 30-25, 30-25, 30-24 in 85 minutes, while the Cardinal settled down to defeat Weber State 30-14, 30-32, 30-14, 30-23.
Tonight, Hawaii (8-1) will try to stop a seven-match losing streak against Stanford (6-1), a skid that dates back to 1992, in the 7 p.m. championship match. It will be a rematch of last year's national semifinal, won by the Cardinal in three.
In the 5 p.m. consolation match, the Aggies (5-2) take on the Wildcats (3-5).
"We didn't talk about Stanford before tonight and now we can," said sophomore hitter Susie Boogaard, who put down a season-high five kills. "We're taking it one game at a time. I think it will be a good, fun match. We have to keep the energy and we have to play harder."
Shoji doesn't think motivation will be a problem.
"I think we'll be fired up (for Stanford)," Shoji said. "We all remember last year, losing to them twice. That will be motivation enough. Oganna certainly hurt us last year. We know what she can do.
"Tonight, we weren't spectacular but we were steady. I give Utah State a lot of credit. They played very spirited defense. We didn't make many runs on them."
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Lily Kahumoku and Kim Willoughby celebrated a point during Game 2 against Utah State last night.
Lily Kahumoku led the Wahine with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Willoughby, sitting out Game 3, had 14. Freshman Alicia Arnott had three of Hawaii's six aces.
Utah State's Zuzana Cernianska had a match-high 16 kills. Also in double-figure kills was Erin Cartwright-Davis.
Last night was the 17th consecutive time that Hawaii has defeated Utah State. UH now leads the series 27-7. The Aggies have not defeated the Wahine since 1981, a five-setter played in Ogden, Utah.
"Hawaii's a very good team," Utah State coach Burt Fuller said. "We had good flashes but couldn't sustain it. We as a group need to clean up the out-of-system plays.
"You always want to have a chance to compete against the best players in the country and our kids were looking forward to that. I was pleased to see our digging stats. When you're outdigging Hawaii (45-43) you're doing something right."
Except for a hiccup in Game 2, the Cardinal were in control for most of the hour and 53 minutes.
Stanford had five players in double-figure kills, led by freshman Kristin Richards' 18. Jennifer Hucke, starting in place of Nnamani, had 16 kills and eight of the Cardinal's 15 aces.
When asked what happened in Game 2, Dunning was his usual candid self.
"I think they got excited and we didn't," he said. "I played a lot of people and it's hard to keep continuity when that happens. We didn't play very well and they did."
Particularly effective for WSU was Kris Hollingsworth, who had a team-high 16 kills.
Stanford had a chance to win Game 2, holding game point at 29-28, but a Cardinal net violation tied it up. Knotted at 30-30, Hollingsworth put down the last two points to give the Wildcats the game and some hope.
It didn't last long. Stanford jumped out to a 7-0 lead in Game 3 and was rarely threatened after that. WSU got as close as 26-21 in Game 4.
"We're trying to play better defense," said Dunning, whose team outdug the Wildcats 62-37. "Leahi Hall has been one of our keys."
Hall, a King Kekaulike graduate, had 11 digs. The junior's one-arm scramble in Game 4 set up Sara McGee's 10th kill and gave Stanford a 28-22 lead.
"We love coming here," said Dunning, the former coach at Pacific. "It's one of the settings that comes closest to duplicating the postseason. Whether you're ready or not, if your intent is to go there (to the postseason) you have to experience this.
"Are we good enough to play with Hawaii? We shouldn't be. They have so much back (from last year) and we're missing a lot. We're not ready, but we're going to try really hard. Not being ready doesn't mean that we can't beat them. They're better than we are right now, but that's why you play the game."
Hawaii def. Utah State
30-25, 30-25, 30-24
AGGIES (5-3) g k e att pct. bs ba d Roth 3 5 2 12 .250 0 1 2 Delsigne 3 4 0 7 .571 0 1 5 Ruddick 3 2 1 8 .125 1 0 0 Cernianska 3 16 8 42 .190 0 0 5 Cartwright-Davis 3 10 5 29 .172 0 1 8 Hodge 3 9 6 21 .143 0 1 9 Kordic 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 Neves 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 Graybill 1 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 0 Thoman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Totals 3 46 23 121 .190 1 4 45 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
WAHINE (8-1) g k e att pct. bs ba d Willoughby 2 14 3 24 .458 0 0 4 Tano 2 1 0 7 .143 0 2 2 Lundqvist 2 1 0 5 .200 0 5 2 Kahumoku 3 15 4 33 .333 0 1 10 Kamana'o 3 2 0 3 .667 0 0 10 Duggins 3 6 0 12 .500 0 1 3 Boogaard 2 5 1 11 .364 0 2 1 Arnott 3 3 5 15 -.133 0 3 2 Eckmier 1 2 0 3 .667 0 2 0 Watanabe 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Gustin 2 3 0 5 .600 0 0 1 Thurlby 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Totals 3 52 13 118 .331 0 16 43 Aces -- Aggies (4): Cartwright-Davis 2, Roth, Hodge. Hawaii (6): Arnott 3, Kamana'o 2, Willoughby. Assists -- Bears (42): Delsigne 37, Thoman 2, Ruddick, Hodge, Neves. Hawaii (50): Kamana'o 36, Thurlby 4, Willoughby 3, Tano 2, Arnott 2, Lundqvist, Kahumoku, Duggins.
T -- 1:31. Officials -- Ernest Ho, Wayne Lee. A -- 5,082.
