Wahine struggle but
bounce back to win
A young Hawaii team regroups
to defeat the unranked San Diego
Toreros in five games
They're young. Talented but young.
There will be nights when the training wheels fall off. And nights when the out-of-control skidding comes to a surprising halt.
Last night was one of those for the Hawaii volleyball team.
The Rainbow Wahine struggled against a veteran but unranked San Diego team at the Stan Sheriff Center, but somehow managed to thwart the Toreros, 30-28, 24-30, 25-30, 30-28, 15-11 in front of 4,615.
It took 2 hours and 43 minutes for No. 13 Hawaii to improve to 2-0. The marathon ended when Kanoe Kamana'o and Victoria Prince teamed to block Devon Forster.
"We knew they would go to Forster, she was their go-to person," said Prince, who led UH with 18 kills. "Kanoe was all over the block and we got it done.
"This feels so good. We grew so much as a team. The fifth game is all about heart and we pulled together."
UH freshman Kari Gregory had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 blocks.
"We've worked a lot on blocking," said Gregory, a redshirt freshman middle. "There was a sense of urgency in Game 5. It was now or never. We wanted to prove to the fans we are for real."
Sophomore Alicia Arnott added 14 kills and freshman Tara Hittle 12 for the Wahine, who played most of the night without senior middle Melody Eckmier.
The team captain, who had nine kills and hit .900 in Thursday's win over Eastern Washington, sprained her right ankle midway through Game 1. She did not return until late in Game 4 and played very briefly.
Hawaii will continue play in the 17th Hawaiian Airlines Classic against No. 17 Arizona (2-0) in tomorrow's second match. In tomorrow's 4 p.m. contest, Eastern Washington (0-2) meets San Diego (0-1).
Arizona takes on San Diego at 2 p.m. today.
In yesterday's first match, Arizona defeated Eastern Washington, 31-29, 30-21, 25-30, 30-22.
Forster had 26 kills to lead a balanced Torero attack. USD, with six returning starters, also got 17 kills from Kristen Carlson, 16 from Kristen Hurst and 15 from Emily Haas.
The Toreros also had 96 digs to the Wahine's 73.
The Hawaii-USD contest started off as a chess match, with neither team able to take more than a one-point lead until the very end of Game 1. At 28-28 -- the 28th tie -- Carlson hit long to give Hawaii game point.
The Wahine needed just one swing to end it, that coming on the serve of senior Teisa Fotu. She entered for one play ... and came up with one ace.
The Toreros' start in Game 2 was quick and devastating. USD jumped out to 6-0 lead and Hawaii never recovered.
The Wahine rallied to within 11-8 only to have the Toreros go on a 7-0 run. UH came as close as five, the last at 29-24, but Christie Dawson's fifth kill evened the match at 1-1.
Hawaii appeared to regain the momentum in Game 3, taking an emotional 22-20 lead when Prince ended a spectacular rally with her 14th kill. But the Toreros went on a 4-0 spurt to take the lead for good and finish out the game with a 6-3 run.
The Wahine took control early in Game 4, jumping ahead 9-4 and never trailed. The Toreros tied it at 28 but a kill by Susie Boogaard and a hitting error by Carlson pushed it to five.
Hawaii pulled away in Game 5 behind the blocks of Fotu and Gregory. The Wahine led 8-5, 11-7 and 14-8. USD held off three match points while rallying to 14-11 only to see the effort fall short.
"It was a great match," Prince said.
Arizona 3, Eastern Washington 1: Trailing 29-25 in Game 1, the Wildcats held off three game points and scored six straight to pull it out. It set the tone for the rest of the match as Arizona remained undefeated.
"I thought we got really lucky," said Wildcats coach Dave Rubio. "I thought Eastern Washington beat themselves, gave us points when they missed serves (16). With Hawaii, we're going to have to earn the points."
Meghan Cumpston had 17 kills, Jennifer Abernathy 12 and Bre Ladd 10 for the Wildcats, who outblocked the Eagles 14-6.5. Keva Sonderen led EWU with 16 kills and Liz Mellor added 12.
Arizona opened its season Wednesday on the road with a sweep of San Diego State.
Note: Wahine freshman middle Juliana Sanders will be sidelined for the next few weeks after spraining her left ankle in Thursday's win over Eastern Washington. X-rays taken yesterday morning showed no break or other serious damage.
HAWAII DEF. USD
30-28, 24-30, 25-30, 30-28, 15-11Toreros (0-1)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Dawson 5 7 6 22 .045 0 2 1 Forster 5 26 8 55 .327 1 1 17 Hurst 5 16 4 35 .343 1 1 14 Carlson 5 17 15 57 .035 0 0 16 Haas 5 15 4 32 .344 0 3 10 Sherburne 5 6 0 11 .545 0 3 10 Abrahamson 2 1 2 3 -.333 0 0 0 Bernardin 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 27 Maspero 2 2 4 10 -.200 0 0 1 Totals 5 90 43 225 .209 2 10 96 Rainbow Wahine (2-0)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Boogaard 5 10 3 40 .175 0 1 8 Hittle 5 12 2 29 .345 0 1 10 Arnott 5 14 7 54 .130 0 3 17 Eckmier 2 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 1 Kamana'o 5 1 1 7 .000 0 7 11 Prince 5 18 4 39 .359 0 4 4 Gregory 5 10 2 20 .400 1 9 1 Watanabe 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 15 Fotu 5 0 0 1 .000 0 1 6 Thurlby 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Woolford 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 5 65 20 191 .236 1 26 73 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- USD (4): Forster, Carlson, Sherburne, Bernardin. Hawaii (3): Fotu 2, Watanabe. Assists -- USD (85): Sherburne 73, Hurst 5, Carlson 2, Haas 2, Dawson, Bernardin, Maspero. Hawaii (60): Kamana'o 53, Boogaard 2, Hittle 2, Watanabe, Fotu, Thurlby.
T -- 2:43. Officials -- Dan Hironaka, Denice Hanson. A -- 4,615.
