[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
Hawaii sweeps
Boise on road
BOISE, Idaho >> Consider it a big road block. Emphasis on "block."
And it was big.
The Hawaii women's volleyball team had 18 blocks, including 11 in Game 2, to stuff Boise State last night 30-17, 30-15, 30-24. The second-ranked Rainbow Wahine (16-1, 4-0) needed just 82 minutes to win their 15th straight match and run their Western Athletic Conference winning streak to 69.
A crowd of 763, the largest of the season in Bronco Gym, also saw Hawaii push its string of straight-set victories to seven; the Wahine have not dropped a game since defeating Stanford in five on Sept. 13.
The crowd missed out on seeing UH senior All-American Kim Willoughby, who remained in Honolulu with strep throat. The Wahine didn't miss a beat, inserting freshman Alicia Arnott, who finished with a career-high nine kills.
"Overall, I think I did all right," said Arnott, who was also in on three blocks. "The girls helped me out a lot by talking to me when I was on the court. It helped. I had fun."
It was no fun for the Broncos (5-14, 1-4), who were held to their lowest point-total in WAC matches this season (56). Their low of the year was 48 when being swept by UCLA last month.
Boise State, which won one match all of last season, got 12 kills from freshman Cameron Flunder. The Broncos hit minus-.009 as a team in dropping their fourth match in a row. They managed just three blocks with 28 digs, including 14 by freshman libero Jackie Stroud.
Senior All-American Lily Kahumoku led the Wahine with 13 kills, hitting .550. Maja Gustin added seven kills in two games and Duggins had seven kills and three of the team's five aces.
"We played well and it pretty much went as expected," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. "Lily had a nice match and Arnott got in some good playing time.
"As for the blocks ... we're going to watch the tapes. I couldn't believe the figures. I don't know if they're accurate. Either they're off or we blocked really well. But we should have. We're a bigger, more physical team."
Hawaii was never seriously threatened, although Boise State kept it interesting in Game 3. The Broncos came within one, the last at 22-21, before the Wahine pulled away.
Kahumoku put down consecutive kills for a 25-22 lead. After the teams traded points, the last UH reserve -- junior Melodie Eckmier -- entered the match and promptly teamed with Karin Lundqvist for the Wahine's 18th block and a 28-23 lead.
After the teams again swapped points, Arnott put down her ninth kill, giving Hawaii its 158th consecutive victory over an unranked opponent.
The Wahine are prohibitive favorites to pick up No. 159 tomorrow when facing Texas-El Paso (5-14, 0-5) at 9 a.m. Hawaii time; the Miners fell to San Jose State last night 30-27, 30-23, 30-20.
WAC standings
Western Division
Eastern Division
W L Pct. Overall Hawaii 4 0 1.000 16-1 Fresno State 3 1 .750 13-4 Nevada 2 2 .500 8-9 San Jose State 2 2 .500 4-11 Boise State 1 4 .200 5-14
Yesterday
W L Pct. Overall Southern Methodist 4 0 1.000 13-4 Rice 3 2 .600 11-7 Tulsa 2 3 .400 11-7 Louisiana Tech 1 3 .250 11-8 UTEP 0 5 .000 5-14
Hawaii def. Boise State 30-17, 30-15, 30-24
Rice def. Louisiana Tech 30-20, 30-26, 30-25
SMU def. Tulsa 30-19, 30-25, 30-21
San Jose State def. UTEP 30-27, 30-23, 30-20Tomorrow
Hawaii at UTEP, 9 a.m. Hawaii time
San Jose State at Boise State
Tulsa at Louisiana Tech
Fresno State at Nevada
Rice at SMU
Hawaii def. Boise State
30-17, 30-15, 30-24
WAHINE (16-1, 4-0 WAC)
BRONCOS (5-14, 1-4 WAC)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Tano 2 3 1 8 .250 1 3 5 Arnott 3 9 5 23 .174 1 2 3 Kahumoku 3 13 2 20 .550 0 4 9 Kamana'o 3 1 0 2 .500 0 4 2 Gustin 2 7 2 12 .417 0 4 2 Duggins 3 7 2 16 .313 0 9 5 Boogaard 2 1 0 4 .250 0 2 3 Lundqvist 1 4 0 5 .800 0 3 1 Eckmier 1 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 Thurlby 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Totals 3 45 12 90 .367 2 32 40
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 Tranter 3 5 6 20 -.050 0 0 5 Bennett 3 0 2 3 -.667 0 1 3 Fenneman 3 0 4 9 -.444 0 1 1 Flunder 3 12 1 19 .579 0 2 0 Moore 3 4 4 21 .000 0 1 1 Johnson 3 4 7 20 -.150 0 0 2 Childress 1 2 2 6 .000 0 0 0 Ramsay 3 1 2 8 -.125 0 1 0 Melvin 3 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 2 Stroud 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 14 Totals 3 28 29 108 -.009 0 6 28 Aces -- Hawaii (5): Kahumoku 3, Kamana'o, Thurlby. Broncos (4): Moore 2, Tranter, Flunder. Assists -- Hawaii (42): Kamana'o 37, Tano 2, Kahumoku 2, Arnott. Broncos (25): Bennett 15, Melvin 10.
T -- 1:22. Officials -- Tom Given, Dale Goodwin. A --763.
