[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Lily Kahumoku hit one past Loyola Marymount's Dina DeBernardi last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Wahine overcome
early struggles
to tame LionsNo. 2 Hawaii sweeps
Loyola Marymount for
its ninth straight win
This was not supposed to be easy. And it wasn't ... not in the beginning.
The crowd of 4,562 witnessed that. Second-ranked Hawaii called a timeout in the first five minutes of last night's volleyball match when trailing 7-3.
It wasn't nemesis Stanford staring through the net at the Stan Sheriff Center. It was No. 25 Loyola Marymount.
But still, when the Rainbow Wahine thought about it, this match was even bigger than last Saturday's contest with the Cardinal. How would Hawaii respond after knocking a huge monkey off its collective back?
The Wahine (10-1) tamed the Lions. Eventually. And easily.
Hawaii worked through its early struggles to win its ninth straight, 30-27, 30-11, 30-22, sweeping LMU (11-2) in 101 minutes. The Wahine will finish out their first homestand against UNLV (6-4) at 7 tonight.
It was a much-anticipated matchup between former Kamehameha Schools' teammates -- Hawaii's Lily Kahumoku and Nohea Tano, and LMU's Kealani Kimball. The three helped the Warriors to consecutive state titles in 1997 and 1998 with Tano and Kimball on the three-peat team of 1999.
The Rainbow Wahine double-team won out.
Kahumoku had 19 kills, hitting .400, and Tano added four kills for Hawaii. Kim Willoughby again led Hawaii with 23 kills, hitting an amazing .553, with her only hitting errors coming in the middle of Game 1 and toward the end of Game 3. She also had three of UH's six aces and 16 of the team's 69 digs.
Kimball, who turned down a scholarship offer from UH, finished with 17 kills and 13 digs. The Lions outblocked the Wahine 9-3, but it hardly mattered.
"I told Dave (Shoji, the Hawaii coach) before that match that this is the best team he's ever had," said LMU coach Steve Stratos. "And Willougby's a one-person wrecking crew. You can't replicate in practice what she does, not unless you have a guy, a really good guy, hitting.
"I thought we executed well in Game 1. We hit .413 and still lost. We needed to serve tougher. But they have great ball control. There's a reason they're No. 2."
Hawaii was impressively efficient, hitting .406 for the match. The Rainbow Wahine hit .412 in Game 1, .514 in Game 2 -- with just one error in 35 swings and .310 in Game 3.
Hawaii took control of the match midway in Game 1. At 16-16, Willoughby sandwiched two kills around an LMU hitting error and an ace by Lauren Duggins to push UH to a 4-0 run.
The Lions pulled to within 21-19 when Willoughby crushed a kill that knocked Nicole Oehlman over. LMU didn't really threaten again until late in Game 3.
Hawaii led at 20-13 when Stratos called timeout. The Lions climbed to within 24-21 but a service run by Melody Eckmier helped the Rainbow Wahine pull ahead at 28-21.
Kahumoku's 19th kill on a service overpass ended it.
"They are a very dangerous team," Kahumoku said of LMU. "They did a great job blocking and kept it close in Game 1. I think we came out and made the decision to play better. And we did."
"They could have easily won Game 1," said Willoughby. "They were very aggressive. I don't put them in the same category as a Stanford or a USC, but they'll be the best team we'll see for the next couple of weeks. I suggest that other teams need to respect them."
Kimball enjoyed her return to Hawaii and playing in front of numerous relatives and friends.
"It was so much fun, really a dream come true," said Kimball, who is playing on the outside for the first time after three years as a middle blocker. "Overall, this was a confidence booster.
"And Kim ... what a great player. She is the best. You try to figure out what she's going to do and the ball goes past you. All you can say is, 'OK, get the next ball.'"
Hawaii outdug LMU 69-48.
"I thought we played at a high level and were patient, especially in Game 1," said Shoji. "They were giving us some problems but I think our team felt pretty confident that if we steadied out, it would go our way."
Hawaii def. Loyola Marymount
30-27, 30-11, 30-22
Lions (11-2) g k e att pct. bs ba d DeBernardi 3 6 0 20 .300 0 5 4 Nerison 3 6 2 14 .286 1 2 1 Oehlman 3 1 1 10 .000 0 0 11 Newsome 3 2 2 10 .000 0 3 0 Krone 3 7 3 20 .200 0 2 4 Kimball 3 17 3 50 .280 0 3 13 Dimson 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Leonard 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 12 Wooton 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Samson 3 0 0 1 .000 0 0 1 Houseman 2 1 0 1 1.000 0 1 0 Look 1 1 1 2 .000 0 0 1 Totals 3 41 12 128 .227 1 16 48 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Wahine (10-1) g k e att pct. bs ba d Willoughby 3 23 2 38 .553 0 1 16 Tano 3 4 2 12 .167 0 0 8 Kahumoku 3 19 3 40 .400 0 1 8 Kamana'o 3 2 0 3 .667 0 1 8 Gustin 3 7 1 12 .500 0 1 2 Duggins 3 6 1 14 .357 0 2 8 Boogaard 2 2 1 4 .250 0 0 0 Arnott 3 2 2 4 .000 0 0 2 Eckmier 1 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 1 Thurlby 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 15 Totals 3 65 13 128 .406 0 6 69
Aces -- Hawaii (6): Willoughby 3, Tano, Duggins, Thurlby. LMU (1): Kimball. Assists -- Hawaii (57): Kamana'o 41, Thurlby 6, Kahumoku 3, Tano 3, Arnott 2, Willoughby, Villaroman. LMU (30): Oehlman 25, Wooton 2, DeBernardi, Nerison, Dimson.
T -- 1:41. Officials -- Wayne Lee, Dan Hironaka. A--4,562.
