No. 8 Hawaii Pacific still
unbeaten in PacWest play
It was the perfect present for Tita Ahuna. The Hawaii Pacific volleyball coach celebrated her 38th birthday a day early when her eighth-ranked Sea Warriors remained undefeated in Pacific West Conference play.
HPU used a balanced attack, led by Nadica Karleusa's 18 kills, to sweep Western New Mexico last night 30-28, 30-28, 30-19 at Blaisdell Arena. It was the Sea Warriors' sixth victory in a row, improving their records to 11-1 overall and 5-0 in the PacWest.
The Mustangs fell to 14-6 and 2-2. Western was led by Jennifer Snowbarger's 17 kills and 15 from former St. Francis standout Liz Narkon.
"We came out ready to play, but I think we got a little frustrated," said Narkon, who came into the week as the conference leader in kills (5.45 kpg). "We knew exactly who their hitters were and what they would hit. We needed to come in more mentally focused."
At times it resembled a Hawaii prep all-star match, with HPU putting three island products on the court (Piikea Dudoit (Kamehameha), Mahea Rawlins (Molokai) and Melissa Sekigawa (Leilehua). Western countered with three of their own in Narkon, Meghan Watson (Kalaheo), and Melanie Tang (Maryknoll).
The Sea Warriors began to pull away midway through Game 2, using a 5-0 service run by setter Vera Oliveira, reigning PacWest player of the week, to jump out to an 8-1 lead. The Mustangs never got closer than four the rest of the way.
HPU continued to use runs in dominating Game 3 and finishing the sweep. Barbara Martin served for four straight points to give the Sea Warriors match point at 29-18.
A kill by Narkon kept the Mustangs alive for one point, but Karleusa's final kill ended it after 90 minutes.
"I think our offense was good, but we need to work on our serving," said Oliveira, who finished with 46 assists. "We worked hard at the end of each set to keep our focus and keep it going."
"It's funny," said HPU assistant Damien Hardy. "We never miss our serves in practice and we have trouble in games.
"We knew Western would come out with fire. Our block was working and we kept pushing."
Ahuna liked how her team finished it off.
"I thought we did a good job, but there's room for improvement," the former Hawaii All-American said. "We made the adjustments when we needed to.
"This will give us good momentum heading into our match with Chaminade (on Tuesday). They're a good team."
Flavia Brakling added 16 kills for HPU. Martin was in on six of the Sea Warriors' nine blocks.
The Sea Warriors face the Silverswords (4-1, 9-3) in a 7:30 p.m. match Tuesday at Blaisdell Arena.
Chaminade beat Montana State Billings in four sets last night.
