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Hawaii proves best
of WAC unbeatens
The Rainbow Wahine hand Rice
its first conference loss in four
No need to call in a feng shui expert just yet. All's right with the Western Athletic Conference standings.
At least when it comes to Hawaii maintaining the status quo.
Rice, on the verge of breaking into the Top 25, tried to mess with the ambiance of the conference. The No. 3 Rainbow Wahine would have nothing of it, deciding the arrangement of their league living room of the last eight years was just fine.
Hawaii fended off the strongest challenge yet this season from a conference opponent in the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Wahine needed double-figure kills from four players, led by Alicia Arnott's 17 and Victoria Prince's 16, to subdue Rice 35-37, 30-24, 30-28, 30-15 in front of a crowd of 6,262 (7,453 tickets), who celebrated the 10th anniversary of the arena opening.
The Owls, getting 19 kills from Rebeca Pazo, fell to 18-3 overall, 7-1 in the WAC.
The victory kept alive a number of Hawaii's impressive streaks heading into tonight's 7 o'clock match with Tulsa (13-7, 2-6). The Wahine (17-0, 7-0) have now won 189 straight against unranked opponents, 97 consecutive vs. WAC teams and 34 in a row at home.
But it was anything but easy. Hawaii needed all 74 digs, including 22 in a solid defensive effort from libero Ashley Watanabe, who had been replaced in the starting lineup by Teisa Fotu.
"Watanabe was technically sound and she will start against Tulsa," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. "We were real fortunate to win Game 3. I think we kind of wore them down in the fourth.
"We had opportunities to win Game 1 and I think there was some frustration on our part that we didn't execute. I think they (the Owls) ran out of patience in Game 4."
Game 3 was the turning point for Hawaii, which trailed for most of the 30 minutes. The Owls led 26-22, only to see the Wahine rally with an 8-2 run to close it out.
Hawaii did it with a varied attack, getting two kills from Arnott and two assist blocks from senior Melody Eckmier. The second block by Eckmier and Teisa Fotu gave the Wahine game point, with Kanoe Kamana'o finishing it with an ace.
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It was 10-10 in Game 4 and then it was over, with the Wahine remaining one of three undefeated teams in the country via a 20-5 run. Prince served for five straight for a 15-10 lead and Watanabe served for another seven as UH pulled away at 27-14. At 29-15, Prince and Kamana'o teamed to stuff Lindsey Carter to end it, the last of the Wahine's 18 blocks.
Tara Hittle finished with 14 kills and Susie Boogaard 13. Prince was in on eight blocks and Kamana'o seven.
Tessa Kuykendall added 12 kills and 24 digs for Rice, while Rebecca Kainz added 10 kills.
"I think the bottom line was executing," said. Rice coach Genny Volpe. "We struggled with serve-receive in Games 3 and 4 and that is one of our strengths.
"They blocked better than we did (18-11) and they were more consistent."
For only the second time this season -- and for the second consecutive match -- the Wahine dropped Game 1. It was a game that the Owls tried to give away, committing three service errors, all coming after the game was tied at 30-30.
Twice, the net serves gave Hawaii game point, the second at 33-32. Boogaard appeared to give the Wahine the win on their fifth attempt to end it, but the junior hitter was called for a back-row violation, tying it at 33.
Hawaii tied it twice more, holding off two Rice game points. Kuykendall's fifth kill finally ended it.
Pazo had nine of her 19 kills in Game 1, including the one that gave the Owls the first of four game points at 29-28. It also gave the senior from Venezuela the Rice career kill record at 1,831.
Pazo continued to close in on third place on the WAC career-kill list, the spot held by Hawaii's All-American Lily Kahumoku (1,882). She now has 1,842.
"Rice is a really good team," Prince said. "We knew they would be tough. I think Rebeca (Pazo) is the best player we've faced in the WAC.
"Against Tulsa, we need to come out ready to play. I think it's fun being the team to beat every night."
Hawaii def. Rice
35-37, 30-24, 30-28, 30-15
Owls (18-3, 7-1 WAC) g k e att pct. bs ba d Kainz 4 10 4 33 .182 0 5 0 Carter 4 8 10 31 -.065 0 3 6 Hoban 4 2 2 11 .000 0 2 9 Kuykendall 4 12 6 30 .200 0 5 3 Pazo, R. 4 19 11 54 .148 0 2 24 Pazo, O. 4 9 6 25 .120 1 3 15 Dennemann 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 DuPont 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 Kirk 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 17 Wiedemann 1 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 0 Totals 4 60 40 186 .108 1 20 76 Rainbow Wahine (17-0, 7-0 WAC) g k e att pct. bs ba d Boogaard 4 13 8 48 .104 0 4 7 Hittle 4 14 6 32 .250 0 1 10 Gregory 3 6 1 16 .312 2 2 1 Arnott 4 17 6 52 .212 0 2 10 Kamana'o 4 1 0 5 .200 0 7 17 Prince 4 16 3 28 .464 1 7 2 Sanders 1 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 0 Eckmier 2 1 0 1 1.000 0 6 1 Watanabe 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 22 Fotu 3 0 0 0 .000 0 1 4 Thurlby 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Ong 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 4 68 25 183 .235 3 30 74 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Rice (6): Dennemann 2, Carter, Hoban, Pazo, R., Pazo, O.. Hawaii (8): Kamana'o 2, Boogaard, Arnott 2, Prince, Watanabe. Assists -- Rice (58): Hoban 53, Pazo, O. 3, Pazo R., Kirk. Hawaii (61): Kamana'o 53, Hittle 4, Fotu 2, Prince, Boogaard.
T -- 2:18. Officials -- Eric Asami, Ernest Ho. A --6,262 (7,453 tickets).
WAC Standings
Western Division Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Hawaii 7 0 1.000 17 0 Nevada 6 2 .750 13 6 San Jose State 5 2 .714 14 6 Boise State 4 4 .500 15 7 Fresno State 3 5 .375 10 10 Eastern Division Rice 7 1 .875 18 3 SMU 3 5 .375 9 9 Tulsa 2 6 .250 13 7 LaTech 1 7 .125 5 16 UTEP 1 7 .125 8 10 Yesterday
Hawaii def. Rice, 35-37, 30-24, 30-28, 30-15
Eastern Washington def. Boise State, 39-37, 28-30, 30-22, 30-18
Fresno State def. Louisiana Tech, 30-22, 30-28, 31-29
Nevada def. SMU, 30-28, 30-21, 30-27
UTEP def. Texas-Pan American, 30-24, 30-23, 30-16
Today
Tulsa at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
Tomorrow
Boise State at UTEP
SMU at Fresno State
Louisiana Tech at Nevada
Rice at San Jose State
