Rainbow Wahine
meeting a middle

Hawaii will need to find a way
around Nevada’s Salave‘a

They can only hope this will be the only thing that goes wrong.

When the Hawaii volleyball team tried to check into the Golden Nugget in Reno, Nev., yesterday, the hotel had a problem with the reservation. It left the Rainbow Wahine coaches and players hanging around the lobby for more than an hour.

WAC Volleyball What: No. 6 Hawaii (11-0, 1-0) at Nevada ((8-5, 2-1). When: Today, 4 p.m. HST Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM. Series: Hawaii leads 18-1. Streak: Hawaii has won the last 18 since dropping the first meeting in five at Reno on Nov. 3, 1992.

The problem was eventually solved. Now the question is how to figure out a way to beat Nevada today.

The Wolf Pack (8-5, 2-1) present a problem the sixth-ranked Wahine (11-0, 1-0) haven't seen this season. That of a dominant middle blocker.

How well Hawaii will slow down Nevada middle Salaia Salave'a today will determine how well the Wahine will fare in their match at the Virginia Street Gym. Hawaii takes a 79-match Western Athletic Conference winning streak -- 183 straight against unranked opponents -- into today's 4 p.m. Hawaii time contest.

The Wahine opened WAC play with a 3-1 victory over Fresno State on Thursday. Hawaii got a career-high 22 kills from freshman Tara Hittle, who finished hitting .625.

"Hittle had a very good night and we needed her to have one," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said in a phone interview. "She got a lot of good isolations because of our setter (Kanoe Kamana'o). She was able to put the ball down and she did it from the right side.

"She's never played on the right and she took advantage of some great opportunities. What we need to do is get a better job from our left sides."

Sophomore Alicia Arnott had 17 kills from the left side, hitting just .191. Junior Susie Boogaard had 14 kills, hitting .162 from the left.

The hitting percentages from Arnott and Boogaard concern Shoji. Boogaard came into Thursday's match hitting .245 and Arnott .202.

"It's pretty rare to win a match with both left sides hitting under .200," Shoji said. "We need to hit better from the left. We got bailed out (Thursday) by Hittle and (Victoria) Prince."

Prince, a junior middle, had 16 kills with just one error in 31 swings against the Bulldogs.

Nevada presents a different set of problems than Fresno State. Besides Salave'a -- who had 22 kills in Thursday's sweep of San Jose State -- Hawaii has to contend with one of the most offensive-minded setters in the country in sophomore Tristin Adams.

Adams had just three kills against the Spartans, but it's the threat of her dump that keeps the opponent's block honest.

"Adams is a threat and it will be a challenge to slow Salave'a down," Shoji said. "Obviously, now that we got Thursday out of the way, we think that (Fresno) was the tougher match.

"I think everyone is pretty excited about doing well on this trip."

Today's match will be played at Nevada's Virginia Street Gym, the site of the Nov. 18-21 WAC Tournament. Becoming comfortable in the arena is a plus for the Wahine newcomers.

Hawaii is without associate head coach Charlie Wade, who remained in Honolulu. He and wife Tani are expecting the couple's first child within the next few days.

"Not having Charlie is more of a comfort thing for me," Shoji said of his assistant of 10 years. "He handles all of the scouting, the presentation of the scouting report and runs the warmups. But Kari (assistant Ambrozich) knows what to do and is doing a nice job."