[ WAHINE VOLLEYBALL ]
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3 perfect records set
to go down the drain
The four volleyball teams in
this week's tourney come to the
Stan Sheriff Center unbeaten
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Something's got to give. And it will be somebody's undefeated season.
Half of the field for this week's Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Challenge will finally lose tomorrow. Just who will be the victors and who will be the victims is a tossup.
All four come in with impressive victories: Southwest Missouri State surprised a good Fresno State team, new No. 17 Santa Clara smoked Pacific and No. 3 UCLA survived a trip to Texas A&M and came away with a win over the Aggies.
And Hawaii ... the Rainbow Wahine could be the biggest surprise of the bunch, with heart-pumping five-set wins over San Diego (now ranked 20th) and Arizona (which dropped two spots to 19th).
"If we play like we did in this past tournament, I think we'll be OK," said sophomore setter Kanoe Kamana'o. "It doesn't mean we're going to win all three. UCLA is much tougher than the teams we played last week.
"But we have to take each game as it comes. We're not looking past Southwest Missouri. We need to make some minor changes but we'll be ready. It's possible to go undefeated but we're going to have to work hard. Nothing's going to be easy."
The Wahine took Monday off, enjoying some beach time at Outrigger Canoe Club. It was back to work yesterday; first with film then practice.
"I think it's going to be a tougher weekend than last weekend," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji, whose team moved up to 11th in the coaches poll. "All three teams are as tough if not tougher than the ones we played.
"It's nice that we could win. But I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. We're still young, still inexperienced. We managed to win two close matches which could have gone either way. We need to keep working hard and good things will happen."
Good things have usually happened for Hawaii when taking on the other three teams in the field. The Wahine are 6-0 against Santa Clara, 9-0 vs. SMS and 32-28 in matches with UCLA.
The rivalry with the Bruins was at one time pretty one-sided, with UCLA winning the first five meetings and topping Hawaii in the national final in UH's first two seasons (1974-75).
The Wahine have won the last two matches, both times to earn the championship of the Hawaiian Airlines Classic.
"We're not really thinking about UCLA right now," Shoji said. "We need to play one team at a time. Southwest Missouri is a good team. We've got to worry about everybody.
"But UCLA ... we like playing them. They're traditionally a power. It's a friendly rivalry."
Saturday's match will pit two of the four women's volleyball coaches who have won at least 800 games in UCLA's Andy Banachowski (967-244) and Shoji (843-194-1). It also will pit two of the winningest women's volleyball programs in the country: No. 1 UCLA (967) and No. 7 Hawaii (852).
The competition between Shoji and Banachowski began several years before their squads faced each other. The two were opposing setters in college, Shoji at UC Santa Barbara and Banachowski at UCLA.
"My recollection of Andy is of a left-handed setter who could hit and set," Shoji said. "I think they beat us when he was playing but my senior year, when Andy was gone, we beat them."
Note: Helping out with Wahine practice yesterday was former Wahine All-American Heather Bown, just back from the Olympics. She will be in Honolulu for a few weeks before returning to her professional team in Italy.
No. 11 Hawaii (3-0)
The young Rainbow Wahine have been a pleasant surprise so far for fans and coach Dave Shoji. Hawaii won the 17th Hawaiian Airlines Classic last weekend with victories over Eastern Washington (3-2), San Diego (3-0) and Arizona (3-2).The team's lone returning starter -- sophomore setter Kanoe Kamana'o -- has been spreading the offense efficiently. The Wahine had four players with double kills in Sunday's marathon win over the Wildcats: junior Susie Boogaard (21), sophomore Alicia Arnott (18), junior transfer Victoria Prince (12) and freshman Tara Hittle (10).
Prince has had to move back to her natural position of middle blocker with ankle injuries to senior Melody Eckmier and freshman Juliana Sanders. Eckmier practiced yesterday and may see action this week; Sanders is out for at least another week.
Thirteen of UH's 17 roster players saw action last week with the Wahine getting strong performances from freshman middle Kari Gregory (10 kills, 10 blocks vs. San Diego) and senior hitter Teisa Fotu (four block assists vs. Arizona).
Boogaard and Prince were named all-tournament with Kamana'o earning the most outstanding player award.
The Wahine finished 36-2 last season with their third NCAA Tournament final four appearance in four years.
Dave Shoji is in his 30th season (843-149-1) and is just one of four women's volleyball coaches to reach 800 victories. He will coach the Wahine for the 1,000th match on Sept. 25 against Pepperdine.
No. 3 UCLA (4-0)
The Bruins are off to their best start since 2001 when they began 5-0.UCLA has made a trip to Hawaii every season since 1980 and usually open the year in the Hawaiian Airlines Classic. Due to availability of teams and scheduling conflicts, the Bruins missed out on the HAC for the first time in the tournament's history last week.
Instead, UCLA went down to College Station, Texas, where it won the Texas A&M Invitational. The Bruins defeated the host Aggies 31-29, 30-27, 30-25 behind the setting of senior Krystal McFarland, who was named the MVP of the tournament.
Three Bruins were in double kills against the Aggies, led by senior Brynn Murphy with 14. Senior hitter Brittany Ringel added 12 and sophomore Colby Lyman 11.
UCLA fell to cross-town rival and eventual national champion USC in the NCAA regional final at Nebraska, losing to the Women of Troy in four. The Bruins return all but one starter (Cira Wright) from that 24-9 team, including All-American libero Chrissie Zartman.
UCLA opened the year with a 3-1 victory at Cal State Northridge then swept the Texas A&M Invitational field, with wins over Southern Mississippi, Samford and the Aggies.
Coach Andy Banachowski is in his 38th season (967-244). He is again using the "True Blue" offense, which features positions called hammer, flex, utility, quick and technique, and is designed to take advantage of specific talents of individual players.
No. 17 Santa Clara (3-0)
The Broncos begin a seven-match road trip with their trip to Honolulu. Santa Clara is coming off a 3-2 win against Sacramento State and two victories over Arkansas (3-2) and Pacific (3-0) to claim its own Bronco Invitational.SCU is doing it with youth, with two freshmen starters in blocker Annalisa Muratore and libero Caroline Walters. Muratore's college debut resulted in an 11-kill, 11-block performance against the Hornets.
The Broncos' freshman class was ranked No. 9 nationally by PrepVolleyball.com.
Muratore's sister Toni, a a 6-foot-2 junior middle, leads the team in kills (4.08 kpg) and had a career-high 23 against Arkansas. Sophomore hitter Kim McGiven, with a team-high 12 kills against UOP, is second at 2.82 kpg and junior hitter Cassie Perret third at 2.54.
The Broncos, who have no seniors on the roster, have been using two setters: junior Kristen Luxton, who was born in Honolulu but raised in California, and freshman Crystal Matich.
SCU is coached by former UC Santa Barbara player Jon Wallace (114-44). The Broncos finished second in the West Coast Conference last season at 11-3, 20-11 overall.
SW Missouri State (5-0)
The Bears come in undefeated and not intimidated, despite being a combined 0-14 against the rest of the field, and the only unranked team.SMS is coming off an impressive outing last week, including winning its own Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational. The Bears dropped the first two games in their opener at Southeast Missouri State last Wednesday but rallied to win in five.
Led by tournament MVP Sarah Lansing, SMS then swept Middle Tennessee State, Kentucky and Western Illinois. In the championship, the Bears overcame a 7-1 deficit in Game 4 to defeat Fresno State, 34-32, 30-27, 28-30, 30-26, getting 24 kills from sophomore hitter Erin O'Connor.
Lansing had 16 kills, hit .344 and was in on nine of SMS's 17 blocks against the Bulldogs. Joining Lansing and O'Connor on the all-tournament team was senior libero Jane Parker.
SMS coach Melissa Stokes is in her ninth season (176-83). Stokes was the setter for San Diego State four seasons and played against the Wahine in the late 1980s.
This is the first time since 1993 that SMS has opened a season 5-0.
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