[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Lily Kahumoku slugged a kill past Arizona's defense in last night's match at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Wahine pulled out a hard-fought 30-24, 30-26, 22-30, 27-30, 15-13 victory over the Wildcats of the Pac-10 Conference.
Rainbow Wahine
wash out WildcatsArizona becomes the third
Pac-10 Conference team to push
Hawaii to five games
It's a common occurrence in the Arizona desert. A sudden rainstorm that results in a devastating flash flood, a gully washer, that creates a deep arroyo.
It is no surprise that the National Weather Service's flood forecast office in Arizona is located in Tucson, also home to the Wildcats. Last night, unranked Arizona nearly created an arroyo for No. 2 Hawaii that would have been cut deeper than the Grand Canyon.
A loss to the sub-.500 Wildcats would have been catastrophic to the Rainbow Wahine's national ranking and could have washed out their top-four seeding, perhaps putting them on the road for the NCAA regional. The thought flashed through Dave Shoji's mind during Game 4, but the Hawaii coach said he didn't want to think about the repercussions.
He didn't have to. For the third time this season against a Pac-10 team, the Wahine were pushed to five. For the third time, they won, pulling out a 30-24, 30-26, 22-30, 27-30, 15-13 victory at the Stan Sheriff Center after 2 hours and 40 minutes.
A crowd of 6,743 saw Hawaii (20-1) win its 19th straight, as well as drop a game for the first time since the Sept. 13 match against Stanford, a skein of 33. The Wildcats (9-11) saw their longest winning streak of the season snapped at two.
"After Game 2, we went to the locker room and basically talked about that we had nothing to lose," said Arizona sophomore hitter Kim Glass, who had a team-high 28 kills. "It was all about us coming out more confident, and that helped us in the last three games.
"In Game 5, we started slowly (trailing 8-6), dug a hole for ourselves, and it made it tough to come back. Hopefully, we'll see them again in the postseason."
Hawaii wants no part of that.
"No, send them to Long Beach, send them to Nebraska," Shoji said of two of the predetermined regional sites (Hawaii and Florida are the others). "If they get to 16-14 and into the (NCAA) tournament, they're going to be a very dangerous team."
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kim Willoughby redirected a shot around Arizona's Jolene Killough in last night's match at the Stan Sheriff Center, which Hawaii won in five games.
That was something Shoji had tried to impress upon his squad prior to the match. He reiterated it between Games 2 and 3.
"I told them we can't let them back in the game," said Shoji.
Easier said than done. After Game 2, the Wildcats started serving tough, wreaking havoc with the Wahine's passing. Hawaii's middle attack all but disappeared, limiting the setting options.
Arizona took advantage, coming up with 13 of its 20 blocks when winning Games 3 and 4. Jolene Killough, the Wildcats' 6-foot-5 middle blocker, had eight of her 12 block assists in helping her team even the match at 2-2.
At that point, the hitting percentages of both teams reflected the fatigue of playing three matches in four days: UH's at .147, including a negative .047 in Game 3, and UA's .201, with a .079 average in Game 3.
"I think in Game 5 we made fewer errors and served more aggressively," said Wahine senior Kim Willoughby, putting down a match-high 33 kills. "We served more aggressively, were better with our communication.
"I guess we didn't respect their block that much because, when looking at their stats, no one player on their side dominated in blocking."
In the end, it was Willoughby who dominated, coming up with a solo block of Kristina Baum for UH's first point and putting down her 33rd kill for UH's final point.
"I pretty much knew I was getting the ball on that last play," said Willoughby. "Kanoe (setter Kamana'o) said, 'No matter what. Right now.'"
Willoughby finished with a double-double when adding 14 digs. Senior Lily Kahumoku added 17 kills and 16 digs. Jennifer Abernathy had 20 kills and 15 digs for Arizona.
"Their seniors did what seniors do: They stepped it up when the game was on the line," said Wildcats coach Dave Rubio. "They executed at the end and we didn't. It would have been nice to pull out a win. We're struggling to get to .500. But it wasn't in the cards."
Note: Prior to last night's match, Willoughby was presented with the Joe Kearney Award, signifying her selection as the 2002-03 WAC Female Athlete of the Year.
Hawaii def. Arizona
30-24, 30-26, 22-30, 27-30, 15-13
WILDCATS (9-11)
WAHINE (20-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Abernathy 5 20 7 44 .295 2 3 15 Ladd 5 8 1 17 .412 0 4 6 Halfaker 4 0 1 1 -1.000 1 0 4 Killough 5 6 0 17 .353 0 12 4 Baum 5 6 3 11 .273 0 3 4 Glass 5 28 17 86 .128 1 7 13 Crum 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Bowman 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Butkus 5 2 2 7 .000 0 3 5 Mulvany 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 18 Cumpston 2 1 2 5 -.200 0 0 0 Totals 5 71 33 188 .202 4 32 74
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 5 33 14 71 .268 2 1 14 Tano 5 5 1 12 .333 0 1 7 Kahumoku 5 17 14 63 .048 0 2 16 Kamana'o 5 3 1 6 .333 0 3 11 Gustin 5 7 4 19 .158 0 2 8 Duggins 5 7 4 23 .130 2 6 9 Boogaard 4 0 0 2 .000 0 1 0 Arnott 4 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 1 Thurlby 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Villaroman 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 8 Totals 5 72 39 197 .168 4 16 74
Aces -- Wildcats (5): Abernathy, Ladd, Killough, Glass, Butkus. Hawaii (3): Willoughby, Tano, Gustin. Assists -- Wildcats (66): Butkus 45, Halfaker 17, Abernathy 2, Ladd, Mulvany. Hawaii (71): Kamana'o 59, Tano 5, Willoughby 2, Duggins 2, Kahumoku, Arnott, Villaroman.
T -- 2:40. Officials -- Wayne Lee, Ernest Ho. A -- 7366.
