[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Lauren Duggins hit one over Stanford's Ogonna Nnamani last night. The Wahine beat the Cardinal in five games.
Wahine beat Cardinal
in a 5-game thrillerHawaii gets its first win over
Stanford in nearly 12 years
History, it is said, is written by the victors.
What a sweet chapter the Hawaii volleyball team penned last night.
The No. 2 Rainbow Wahine exorcised nearly 12 years of frustration and ended a seven-match drought against Stanford with a 30-22, 29-31, 30-27, 25-30, 16-14 downing of the No. 4 Cardinal. A crowd of 7,584 at the Stan Sheriff Center saw Hawaii defeat Stanford for the first time since Nov. 27, 1991 to claim the title of the inaugural Sprint Hawaii Invitational. It took 2 hours and 46 minutes to do it.
"It was awesome, it was so much fun," said Rainbow Wahine co-captain Lauren Duggins, who had an all-around career night. "I think we learned a lot tonight. We had a theme and that was 'Psycho.' We wanted to go all out. I told the team before the match that this was our big chance for a payback.
"There was one point when I thought we might lose, when Kim (Willoughby) shanked it that put them up at 14-13 (in Game 5). Then I told myself, 'No negative thoughts' and I said a little prayer."
Her prayers were answered in the form of two kills by Kahumoku to end it.
"It was a lot of fun, especially since we won," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. "This is a big win for us nationally."
It was senior night come early for Hawaii's seven seniors, who avenged their only two defeats of last year, including the loss in the NCAA semifinal. It was a complete team effort.
Willoughby had another big night, earning her third consecutive tournament MVP plaque after putting down a match-high 28 kills to go with 18 digs and three aces.
Kahumoku added 25 kills -- including the final two of the match -- and 21 digs. Tano had a career-high with 13 kills with no errors And Duggins was steady with 13 kills, hitting .379, and was in on seven blocks, including a career-high four solo.
"I think Nohea having 13 kills was the difference tonight," said Willoughby. "They weren't expecting her."
Stanford coach John Dunning agreed.
"Tano is a really good player and she did a nice job against us tonight," he said. "We gave her a lot of openings and she took them."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Maja Gustin and Nohea Tano celebrated after a point last night against Stanford.
The Wahine wilted under the Cardinal heat in Game 4, falling apart early to fall behind 14-5 and 20-8. The Wahine regrouped on Susie Boogaard's serve, closing to 20-16 on an 8-0 run, and again pulling to 22-20 on three consecutive kills by Kahumoku.
But Hawaii had no answer for Stanford junior All-American Oganna Nnamani, who put down five kills as the Cardinal pulled ahead at 27-23. The Rainbow Wahine got no closer than 29-25 and Kristen Richards' 14th kill forced a fifth game.
Nnamani, who sat out Friday's match with a strained abdominal muscle, led the Cardinal with 28 kills. Richards finished with 15 and Jennifer Harvey 11.
In the deciding Game 5, the Rainbow Wahine took an 8-7 lead when switching sides at midpoint. A block by Nnamani on Maja Gustin put the Cardinal ahead at 11-10.
Gustin tied it at 11, but Willoughby hit long to put Stanford ahead 12-11. Tano came back with her 11th kill to knot it at 12, forcing Stanford to call a timeout.
Another kill by Tano and another timeout by Stanford gave UH a 13-12 advantage. Kahumoku hit long and it was tied at 13. Nnamani's serve landed ahead of Willoughby's outstretched arms for an ace and a Cardinal match point at 14-13.
Tano's kill tied it at 14 and Kahumoku's 24th kill gave Hawaii match point at 15-14. One more swing by Kahumoku and the arena erupted.
In the third-place match, Utah State defeated in-state rival Weber State, 30-20, 26-30, 30-21, 30-26. Zuzana Cernianska put down 29 kills to lead the Aggies (6-3) past the Wildcats (3-6).
All-Tournament: Willoughby (MVP), Duggins and Kahumoku from Hawaii; Nnamani and Richards from Stanford, Cernianska of Utah State and Kris Hollingsworth from Weber State.
Hawaii def. Stanford30-22, 29-31, 30-27, 25-30, 16-14
Cardinal (6-2) g k e att pct. bs ba d Nnamani 5 28 8 78 .256 3 1 15 Goldhahn 5 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 8 McGee 5 7 2 18 .278 0 4 4 Dukes 5 3 5 18 -.111 1 4 9 Richards 5 15 9 46 .130 0 1 22 Harvey 5 11 2 30 .300 1 8 3 Robinson 5 3 0 9 .333 0 6 1 Hall 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 16 Hucke 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Schultz 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Totals 5 68 26 200 .210 5 24 80 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Wahine (9-1) g k e att pct. bs ba d Willoughby 5 28 13 65 .231 0 2 18 Tano 5 13 0 20 .650 0 2 10 Lundqvist 5 0 2 7 -.286 0 0 1 Kahumoku 5 25 11 66 .212 0 2 21 Kamana'o 5 4 0 10 .400 0 1 10 Duggins 5 13 2 29 .379 4 3 6 Boogaard 2 0 1 4 -.250 0 0 0 Arnott 3 0 2 4 -.500 0 2 2 Gustin 5 7 3 18 .222 0 4 4 Villaroman 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 15 Totals 5 90 34 223 .251 4 16 87
Aces -- Cardinal (3): Nnamani, Goldhahn, McGee. Hawaii (5): Willoughby 3, Kamana'o, Gustin. Assists -- Cardinal (65): Goldhahn 35, Robinson 23, Dukes 4, Hall 2, Richards. Hawaii (84): Kamana'o 74, Tano 3, Duggins 3, Willoughby, Lundqvist, Kahumoku, Gustin.
T -- 2:46. Officials -- Dan Hironaka, Ernest Lee. A -- 7,589.
