[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii players, including Nohea Tano (5) and Lauren Duggins (14), celebrated after the Rainbow Wahine beat Georgia Tech in the NCAA Tournament regional final last night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Hawaii advanced to the final four in Dallas.
Senior Night
again for UH
How do you say goodbye to the end of an era?
You can't, and for one more week, you won't have to.
The second-ranked Rainbow Wahine defeated an incredibly feisty Georgia Tech team 32-34, 33-31, 30-24, 30-25 at the Stan Sheriff Center last night. Hawaii's seven seniors led the way again. They were the offense, defense, the heart and the will of the team.
Kim Willoughby, Lily Kahumoku, Lauren Duggins, Nohea Tano, Melissa Villaroman, Maja Gustin and Karin Lundqvist have grown, matured and stuck together over the last three years to give the home crowd much to cheer about. The seniors will have gone to three final fours in their careers.
"To go to the final four, there's no splendor to match that," Kahumoku said. "It was a surreal moment. We didn't want to prolong the match but ... it's the last moment we can step on the court as the Rainbow Wahine."
Most of the crowd of 8,848 stayed put at the conclusion of the game as the Rainbow Wahine ran a lap around the court. Then they gave the seven seniors a standing ovation and a final "Let's Go 'Bows" chant.
"The whole setting was something we're never going to forget," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said.
There will be future stars, but the memory of these seniors will not fade anytime soon. Their star power was just too bright.
"Those are extraordinary athletes. What can you say about Kim?" Shoji asked. "She just elevates ... she's just a great player.
"Lily struggled in that match, but to come back and get 25 kills, she sucked it up. That was a big turnaround."
Georgia Tech got a first-hand taste of the Kim and Lily Show last night.
"She's (Kim Willoughby) awesome. We tried to put our 6-4 block against her," Georgia Tech coach Bond Shymansky said. "And her back-row skills are tremendous. She's a tremendous all-around player."
Willoughby, a Player of the Year candidate, owns nearly all the Hawaii records. She is the kills leader (2,576) and the service aces leader (191), and is second in digs with 1,413. She willed Hawaii to a win with 36 kills last night.
Kahumoku has been her dynamic counterpart and is the player with the most Hawaii victories. Her career record is 130-7. She warmed up and came through with a double-double (25 kills, 19 digs) for Hawaii.
"Had we stopped Lily, it might have been different," Shymansky said. "She did a good job of working the ball around our block."
Their conquest yesterday was not easy. Hawaii needed the determination of every player to advance to the final four. The seniors have a home record of 78-4 and there was not going to be heartbreak at the arena.
With the exception of Gustin, who played briefly last night as she recovered from an ankle injury suffered in the tournament's first round, all of Hawaii's seniors chipped in on offense. Middles Duggins (eight kills, 13 digs) and Lundqvist (four kills, four blocks, four digs) all contributed. Tano added 10 kills.
Composure was key and Hawaii kept it even at moments when it felt like the entire arena was holding its breath. At the end of Game 2, Willoughby fought off two Georgia Tech game points with two kills. Then she blasted two jump serves that Georgia Tech passed over the net. Kahumoku was there to crush the ball right back at the Jackets for the final two points to help Hawaii even the match.
Willoughby has been the ultimate competitor for the Wahine, doing everything that Hawaii has needed. She was clutch in Game 3 as Hawaii needed all eight of her kills. They came at tight moments in the game when the Wahine needed to stop a Georgia Tech run or when they needed to hold the Ramblin' Wreck. And it was fitting that Willoughby helped Hawaii go up 2-1 as her solo stuff of Laura Kuhn ended the game.
"She's really good. We tried to key on her," said Georgia Tech middle Alexandra Preiss. "She's an amazing player."
Offensively, the four seniors chipped in at different times. Tano put down five kills in Game 4, as many as she had in the first three games. Her emergence this season gives Hawaii a legitimate option on the right side.
The things absent from Hawaii's offense last year -- a middle attack and a right-side presence -- are hardly problems for the Rainbow Wahine this year. Hawaii has a true offense to match its spirited defense, which was on display again last night.
Villaroman scrambled for a season-high 25 digs last night. She kissed the taraflex last night at the end of the match, knowing that an era at home has ended.
"We're at home," Villaroman said. "I wasn't going to let this last game at home go."
