[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kim Willoughby hit one past Fresno State's Robyn Keune as the Wahine swept the Bulldogs last night.
UH continues
dominanceThe Wahine beat up on
what is supposed to be
the class of the WAC
Fresno State has been touted as the second-best women's volleyball team in the Western Athletic Conference this season. Based on the Bulldogs' performance last night at the Stan Sheriff Center, the rest of the WAC is in trouble.
Big trouble.
Again.
Second-ranked Hawaii had little difficulty in extending its conference winning streaks to 67 during the regular season and 76 overall last night. In front of 4,856, the Rainbow Wahine swept the Bulldogs 30-22, 30-19, 30-24 in 95 minutes.
It was convincing. It wasn't even close.
Senior All-Americans Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku combined for 35 of the team's 59 kills. Willoughby had 19 kills, hitting an impressive .800 in Game 2 with eight kills and no errors in 10 swings; Kahumoku added 16 as she inched within one kill of tying Suzanne Eagye for No. 4 on the all-time kill list with 1,553.
Hawaii, one of two unbeaten teams in conference play, hosts Nevada (8-8, 2-1) at 7 p.m. tomorrow. The Wolf Pack were upset at San Jose State last night 24-30, 23-30, 30-19, 30-20, 15-11.
"It was definitely good to be back home," said Wahine setter Kanoe Kamana'o, who had 41 assists and three of the team's six aces. "We knew we couldn't take Fresno lightly. I thought our passing was good and we just need to play our own game, no matter who the other team is.
"What we've worked on in practice is the connection between me and Maja (senior middle Gustin). I think that showed tonight."
Gustin put down eight kills, hitting .375. She is six kills shy of becoming the 14th Wahine to have 1,000 career kills.
Having a good night for the Bulldogs was former Kahuku all-state player Tuli Peters. The freshman hitter had nine kills with just one error, hitting .364, and had a team-high 12 digs.
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Fresno State's Tuli Peters, a Kahuku product, got ready to serve last night.
Leading Fresno State was junior hitter Kristen Fenton with 11 kills. Coming up with both of the team's service aces was La'akea Campbell, an Iolani graduate and 2001 state championship teammate of Kamana'o.
"Fresno State is a good team and they will be a lot tougher at their place," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said of the rematch on Nov. 9. "I think I convinced our team that they were good. We respected them and we played well.
"We played pretty good defense and I'm sure it's demoralizing for the other team when the ball doesn't go down. We can make a pretty good team look bad."
Peters was disappointed in the outcome.
"We have played a lot better this season," said Peters, who had a personal cheering section made up of former Kahuku teammates. "We didn't gel, didn't play as a team. I've played here before so I know what it was like but the rest of the team was kind of tense.
"We needed to play our game. We played scared and didn't step it up. We're looking forward to having them at our house."
Willoughby showed she could be mortal in Game 1, with just three kills in nine attempts with two errors, hitting .111. She didn't commit another error until early in Game 3 when she hit into the net to tie it at 4-4.
The Wahine were outblocked 6-5.5, with four of the Bulldogs' blocks coming in Game 1. Hawaii had six aces to two by FSU.
"Our lack of experience showed tonight," said FSU coach Lindy Vivas, a Punahou School graduate. "We only have two kids who played much last year and it's difficult to be in a position where you have to be pretty close to perfect if you're going to get the upset.
"I don't know if we challenged Hawaii enough to know how good they are. It is hard to play against a team with so many good hitters. We never got in a rhythm. I know we are better than we showed tonight. And Tuli had a great match."
The Wahine are now 31-0 against the Bulldogs.
NOTE: All of the home teams in the WAC won last night. In addition to Hawaii and San Jose State picking up victories, Rice and Tulsa also won. The Owls swept Boise State, 30-21, 31-29, 30-20, and Tulsa held off UTEP, 25-30, 30-17, 30-20, 24-30, 15-9.
Hawaii def. Fresno State
30-22, 30-19, 30-24
BULLDOGS (12-4, 2-1 WAC)
WAHINE (14-1, 2-0 WAC)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Hartt 3 6 3 21 .143 0 1 1 Keune 3 0 0 2 .000 0 1 7 Fenton 3 11 6 39 .128 1 2 7 Bishop 3 9 4 24 .208 0 3 3 Peters 3 9 1 22 .364 1 0 12 Taelman 2 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 2 Thrower 1 1 0 3 .333 0 0 0 Pitton 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Brennan 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 6 Stockwell 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Campbell 3 0 1 6 -.167 0 1 7 Totals 3 36 16 119 .168 2 8 46
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 19 5 34 .412 0 3 10 Tano 2 5 1 9 .444 0 3 3 Kahumoku 3 16 4 36 .333 0 0 11 Kamana'o 3 1 0 2 .500 0 0 5 Gustin 3 8 2 16 .375 0 4 4 Duggins 3 5 0 13 .385 0 1 2 Boogaard 2 2 3 8 -.125 0 0 4 Lundqvist 1 1 0 2 .500 0 0 0 Arnott 2 1 0 3 .333 0 0 2 Eckmier 1 1 1 4 .000 0 0 0 Watanabe 1 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 2 Thurlby 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 14 Totals 3 59 17 128 .328 0 11 58
Aces -- Bulldogs (2): Campbell 2. Hawaii (6): Kamana'o 3, Willoughby 2, Gustin. Assists -- Bulldogs (33): Keune 29, Campbell 2, Peters, Stockwell. Hawaii (54): Kamana'o 41, Thurlby 6, Willoughby 3, Tano, Kahumoku, Gustin, Villaroman.
T -- 1:35. Officials -- Verna Klubnikin, Denice Hanson. A -- 4,856.
