[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
Tournament MVP
Kahumoku credits
Willoughby
RENO, Nev. >> That a Hawaii player was named the MVP of the Western Athletic Conference tournament was no surprise.
That senior hitter Lily Kahumoku edged out teammate Kim Willoughby was a surprise ... to Kahumoku.
"I'm sitting next to the 'MVP'," Kahumoku said during the postgame interview with Willoughby at her side. "I was very surprised. Thank you for letting me have it," she said to her fellow All-American.
Kahumoku became the fourth consecutive Hawaii player to earn the honor. Willoughby won it in 2001 and 2002, while Heather Bown was the MVP of the 1998 tournament. There was no WAC tournament in 1999 or 2000.
"I didn't look at any stats, but I think they both played well," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. "You have to pick somebody. Lily played really well and she deserves it. But it just as well could have been Kim or (Lauren) Duggins or (Kanoe) Kamana'o."
Willoughby, senior middle Duggins and freshman setter Kamana'o were named all-tournament.
Joining them were San Jose State senior hitter Kim Noble, junior hitter Carrie Nash, freshman setter Allison Dillon and freshman libero Jessie Shull. Also named were SMU sophomore setter Jessica Mihm and junior hitter Beth Karasek, Nevada sophomore middle Salaia Salave'a and junior hitter Kristen Fenton from Fresno State.
By the numbers: Noble finished as the tournament's kill leader with 73. Willoughby was second at 53 and Kahumoku third with 45.
Dillon led the tournament in assists with 166. Kamana'o was second at 136.
Hawaii did not drop a game in sweeping its three matches. It was the second time in four title runs the Wahine have accomplished that feat, also sweeping their three matches in 2001.
BYU is the only other team to not drop a game en route to the WAC title. The Cougars swept their three matches in 1997.
Kill alert: When Willoughby put down her first kill in Game 3 -- her eighth of the match -- she moved to No. 6 on the NCAA career kill list. Willoughby has 2,453 kills but will likely not catch Priscilla Pacheco of Georgia (2,675) for No. 5 by season's end.
This and that: Only Hawaii, San Jose State and Fresno State have competed in all six WAC tournaments. With their win yesterday, the Wahine improved to 16-2 overall, tying BYU (8-1) for best winning percentage at .889.
San Jose State is 8-6 and Fresno State 4-6.
Yesterday, the Spartans lost to the Wahine in the title match for the second time in three years. Hawaii also defeated San Jose State in 2001.
The Wahine are 4-2 in championship finals. Hawaii lost to Brigham Young in 1996 and '97, but have won the last four: 1998 over BYU, 2001 over San Jose State, 2002 over Nevada, and yesterday over San Jose State.
Tournament watch: How many teams will the WAC get into the NCAA Tournament? Cindy Fox can't say.
The Nevada assistant athletic director is on the volleyball selection committee but wouldn't predict how the conference would fare.
"There are so many factors involved, so many things to look at," she said. "We will look at results up until the last day."
The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday on ESPNews at 3 p.m. Hawaii time.
Snow day: The Wahine will celebrate their WAC championship today at Tahoe before going to Las Vegas tomorrow.
"We'll give the players a chance to play in the snow and have lunch on the lake," Shoji said.
It will be only the second time that Honolulu native Kamana'o has seen snow.
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[ COLLEGE BASKETBALL ]
Maui Invitational
too close to call
LAHAINA >> Wayne Duke, the longtime chairman of the EA Sports Maui Invitational, has seen and done nearly everything over his years involved in college basketball.
He was among the NCAA's first employees and ran the 1953 Final Four in Kansas City. He's served as commissioner of the Big Eight and Big Ten conferences, and is overseeing the 75th tournament of his career this week.
So he knows better than to try to pick a winner of this week's Maui Invitational.
Duke, who just turned 75, is entering his 14th year with the Maui Invitational, and said this year's field is one of the most balanced in its 20-year history.
"I wouldn't even venture to think who might win it, because it's that competitive," Duke said yesterday. "I think people will be surprised with how competitive this tournament will be."
Duke's list of accomplishments since getting involved with the tournament continues to grow. The event has hosted 77 schools representing 20 conferences over the years and has evolved into the nation's premier early-season tournament. It also has a contract with ESPN that assures that at least nine of the 12 tournament games will be televised nationally through 2011.
The tournament celebrates another first this week by having Hawaii make the half-hour flight over to participate in the event.
"This is a product of Riley (Wallace) and I just sitting down and talking about this several times over the years," Duke said. "Riley is really enthusiastic about being a part of it. He's been just great in helping us talk about the tournament."
Familiar faces: Santa Clara's trip to Hawaii came one year too late for Iolani graduates Brad and Cord Anderson. The twins completed their eligibility with the Broncos last year and stopped by the team's practice yesterday.
Cord Anderson finished his career by averaging five points and five rebounds for Santa Clara last year. Brad posted 3.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
The Andersons will be torn for tonight's game. They remain close to the Santa Clara program, but were mentors to UH freshman Bobby Nash in the Big Brothers program, when Nash was a youngster.
Short shots: The fields for the next two tournaments are set. Scheduled to join Chaminade in the 2004 tournament are Brigham Young, Iowa, Louisville, North Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee and Texas. The mainland teams in the 2005 will be Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, DePaul, Kansas, Maryland and Michigan State. ... This year's tournament is using the NCAA's experimental rules for the 3-point line and free-throw lane. The 3-point line will be pushed back to 20 feet, 6 1/4 inches. The key will start at 12 feet at the free-throw line and widen to 19 feet, 8 1/4 inches at the baseline.
