[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
Wahine finish
tough road trip
with sweepHawaii heads home after
a five-match marathon ends
with a win over Kentucky
LAS VEGAS >> The unofficial giveaway at the Cox Pavilion last night was a trip to Hawaii.
That's what the No. 2 Rainbow Wahine volleyball team used for motivation in playing their fifth match in eight days on the road: Win and earn a trip to the islands.
Although a loss would have meant the same result -- the Wahine are scheduled to return home this afternoon -- Hawaii wanted to be leaving Las Vegas with a victory in its final match of the regular season. It came after just 90 minutes.
Behind a pair of double-doubles from senior All-Americans Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku, the Wahine closed out their 10-day road trip with their 31st consecutive victory. Willoughby had 18 kills and 13 digs, and Kahumoku added 16 kills and 12 digs to lead Hawaii to a 30-26, 30-18, 30-27 win over Kentucky in the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament.
The Wahine (32-1) now await their postseason fate. The NCAA Tournament selection show is at 3 p.m. Hawaii time tomorrow (ESPNews).
"I am so ready to go home," said Wahine senior co-captain Melissa Villaroman, who had a match-high 16 digs. "It's been a very good trip. We won all our games. We ran into some challenges and overcame them. We found solutions when we had those challenges."
Willoughby overcame stomach problems and a sub-par performance Thursday, responding with her 12th double-double of the season. Any questions about her feeling better were answered when she put down the first kill of the match.
Whether the Wahine are ready for the postseason is another matter. They haven't seen a ranked team since Sept. 16 (at then-No. 16 Santa Clara) and haven't been pushed since Oct. 19, going five with unranked Arizona, now No. 21.
"I think we could have used a more competitive game," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. "But we didn't need to be playing a Stanford or someone like that at this point. We committed to this tournament for one reason and that was to play.
"Did we get what we wanted out of this tournament? We're healthy and that's a good thing going into next week. We didn't need to play someone where we'd get banged up. Sure it would have been better to be at home this week, but it's hard to get teams to come out over Thanksgiving. And we could very well be sent back on the road next week (for the NCAA Tournament first and second rounds)."
This long trip even got to Shoji, who turned in the wrong lineup card at the start of Game 1, accidentally switching senior middles No. 14 Lauren Duggins and No. 12 Maja Gustin. Gustin served in her normal spot, recording an ace; it was erased when the scorekeeper noticed the rotation violation, giving Kentucky the point.
"Obviously the coach got the numbers of his middles mixed up," Shoji said of his mistake. "The two of them have only been starting for four years. It's a first for me. I guess I'm learning to be dyslexic."
The lineup created a few problems, as did the energized Wildcats. Kentucky hung tough in Game 1, leading as late as 22-20.
At 25-25, Kahumoku and Willoughby took over. The two had two kills each during a 5-1 run that finished it out.
The Wahine controlled the match from there. The Wildcats made a late charge in Game 3, pulling to within 25-23 and 28-26.
At 29-26, Kentucky held off one match point, getting to 29-27 on a UH net violation. Willoughby ended it decisively with her 38th swing.
"We got everything we wanted and more from this match," said Kentucky coach Jona Braden, her team ending the season at 14-18. "We talked to our players about playing in the moment and they did a good job of it. We knew we were coming up against the No. 2 team.
"We wanted to take care of things we didn't take care of (in Thursday's five-game loss to UNLV). We knew we had to touch the ball, slow it down against Kim and Lily. We knew they were going to get their kills. We wanted to take care of our side of the court, control the things we could control. I feel good about getting that done. We fought hard."
The Wildcats, losing their sixth in a row, were led by Amy Kaplan's 11 kills.
Notes: Hawaii has reached the 30-win mark for the second straight season and 15th overall. The Wahine improved to 4-0 against Kentucky. Six players on the Wildcat roster weren't born the last time the two teams met back in 1983. ... Libero Villaroman finished the regular season hitting 1.000, going 3-for-3 in kills. Kahumoku raised her season hitting percentage to .300 after last night. Kahumoku is the sixth Wahine to reach the 1,000-kill, 1,000-dig mark. She has 1,742 kills and 1,037 digs, joining Willoughby, Teee Williams, Suzanne Eagye, Tita Ahuna and Jessica Sudduth on the list. ... Willoughby needs just seven digs to pass Ahuna as Hawaii's all-time dig leader. Willoughby, already the career kill and ace leader, has 1,372 digs.
Hawaii def. Kentucky
30-26, 30-18, 30-27
Wildcats (14-18)
Wahine (32-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Kaplan 3 11 1 22 .455 1 2 0 Marcum 3 0 0 3 .000 0 0 6 Canfield 3 8 220 .300 0 1 2 McCaslin 3 5 2 24 .125 0 0 4 Spinner 3 7 6 26 .038 1 0 7 Davis 3 4 2 13 .154 0 2 2 Popp 3 2 1 4 .250 0 1 1 Gargon 3 2 0 5 .400 0 0 8 Wallace 2 6 2 16 .250 0 1 1 Casper 3 0 0 4 .000 0 0 11 Bright 1 1 0 2 .500 0 0 0 Newhouse 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 4 Totals 3 46 16 139 .216 2 6 49
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 18 6 38 .316 0 3 13 Tano 2 4 0 6 .667 0 1 4 Kahumoku 3 16 4 40 .300 0 1 12 Kamana'o 3 0 0 2 .000 0 0 11 Gustin 3 10 2 18 .444 0 4 5 Duggins 3 6 3 14 .214 0 2 5 Boogaard 1 3 0 7 .429 0 1 0 Arnott 1 2 0 3 .667 0 0 0 Eckmier 1 0 0 2 .000 0 0 0 Watanabe 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Thurlby 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Villaroman 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 16 Totals 3 59 15 130 .338 0 12 66
Aces -- Wildcats (3): Marcum, Canfield, Spinner. Hawaii (7): Willoughby 2, Tano 2, Gustin 2, Kamana'o. Assists -- Wildcats (40): Marcum 36, Casper 3, Popp. Hawaii (56): Kamana'o 46, Thurlby 4, Willoughby 2, Tano, Kahumoku, Duggins, Boogaard.
T -- 1:30. Officials -- Sue Fedder, Yvonne Arguello. A --525.
