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Wahine roll over
Golden Hurricane
Boogard comes up with 17 kills
and Hawaii needs just 86 minutes
to cruise past Tulsa
Tulsa tossed T-shirts into the stands last night during the team introductions.
Those were some of the best swings the Golden Hurricane took all night.
Tulsa's final Western Athletic Conference volleyball visit to the Stan Sheriff Center was quick and anything but painless. No. 3 Hawaii used another balanced attack to dispatch the Golden Hurricane in 86 minutes, 30-16, 30-19, 30-19.
Led by Susie Boogaard's 17 kills and a career-high six aces from Alicia Arnott, the Rainbow Wahine remained undefeated, running their overall record to 18-0, 8-0 in the WAC. A crowd of 5,665 (6,855 tickets) saw Hawaii also continue several impressive winning streaks: 190 against unranked teams, 98 straight in the WAC and 35 in a row at home.
"Hawaii's got a great home-court advantage and that's the only thing we'll miss about the WAC," said Tulsa coach Matt Sonnichsen, whose team will compete in Conference USA next year. "They're a good team and Dave (UH coach Shoji) knows how to build teams. They build on the success of their program."
Tulsa (13-8, 2-7) got 12 kills from Joyce Silva, one of three Brazilians on the roster. For most of the first two games, Silva WAS the offense, at one point putting down nine of her team's first 17 kills and keeping Tulsa out of a negative hitting percentage.
Hawaii used all 15 players, including having backup setter Cayley Thurlby play front row at the end of Game 3. Thurlby had two kills, two block assists and a setting assist in helping the Wahine close out the match.
On one play, Thurlby passed to Kanoe Kamana'o, who then set Thurlby for a kill and a 25-15 lead.
"It's called the 'setters' play," Kamana'o said. "I didn't know Dave was going to keep her in the front row, but he did.
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So why not set her?
"It was a lot of fun, we got to get a lot of people in and, when they did come in, they made great plays."
Shoji agreed.
"Everyone contributed," he said. "Usually when you sub that much, the level falls off and is disorganized. But everyone did well when they got in."
The revolving door known as middle blocker again saw all three candidates prove their case to become a starter. Each played one game: freshman Kari Gregory Game 1, senior Melody Eckmier Game 2, and freshman Juliana Sanders Game 3.
Shoji said that's likely to continue in the weeks ahead.
"Gregory and Sanders need playing time, and this prepares them for next year," Shoji said. "We say we'll try to find a lineup, but the way things are, that's not going to happen. The one thing we need to figure out is what to do against a big hitter. Our block is pretty small, and my biggest fear in the NCAAs (postseason tournament) is that a big hitter will just go over our block."
The 6-foot-2 Silva was the biggest threat for Hawaii, but the Wahine defense neutralized her for most of the match -- she hit .156. Hawaii out-dug Tulsa 52-38, 15 by Ashley Watanabe and 14 by Kamana'o.
After spotting Tulsa a 1-0 lead, Hawaii dominated Game 1. Two aces by Arnott and three kills from Gregory highlighted an 8-0 run that put the Wahine ahead for good. It was 12-2 before the Golden Hurricane recorded their first kill of the night, by Silva.
It got a little better for Tulsa in Game 2, as the Hurricane hung in early, trailing just 9-7. Kamana'o served for five points and Tulsa never got closer than five again.
Notes: Arnott's six aces ties a school record held by several players. ... Hawaii next plays San Jose State on Wednesday and Boise State on Friday, the last regular-season road trip of the year. ... Tulsa offers two Internet broadcasts for volleyball, one in English, the other in Portuguese.
WAC Standings
Western Division Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Hawaii 8 0 1.000 18 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 7 .222 13 8 UTEP 1 7 .125 8 10 LaTech 1 7 .125 5 16 Today
Boise State at UTEP
SMU at Fresno State
Louisiana Tech at Nevada
Rice at San Jose State
Hawaii def. Tulsa
30-16, 30-19, 30-19
Golden Hurricane (13-8, 2-7 wac) g k e att pct. bs ba d Eaves 3 8 3 23 .217 0 1 3 Urnau 3 7 6 25 .040 0 1 5 Marques 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Silva 3 12 7 32 .156 0 1 10 Thon 3 0 1 6 -.167 0 0 6 Rutherford 3 3 3 10 .000 0 2 1 Meyer 2 2 0 7 .286 0 0 0 Bandy 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Penaluna 2 4 0 7 .571 0 1 3 Bailey 3 0 1 6 -.167 0 0 1 Totals 3 36 21 116 .129 0 6 38 Rainbow Wahine (18-0, 8-0 WAC) g k e att pct. bs ba d Boogaard 3 17 3 32 .438 0 0 6 Hittle 2 3 3 10 .000 0 2 6 Gregory 1 4 2 6 .333 1 1 0 Arnott 3 8 2 21 .286 0 1 4 Kamana'o 3 1 1 3 .000 0 2 14 Prince 3 6 2 13 .308 0 2 0 Sanders 1 3 0 7 .429 0 2 0 Blood 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Eckmier 1 1 0 3 .333 0 2 0 Watanabe 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 15 Fotu 1 2 1 3 .333 0 0 2 Thurlby 2 2 0 2 1.000 0 2 2 Woolford 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 1 Silva 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Ong 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 3 47 14 101 .327 1 14 52 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Tulsa (0). Hawaii (8): Arnott 6, Hittle, Prince. Assists -- Tulsa (35): Thon 33, Bandy, Marques. Hawaii (46): Kamana'o 39, Fotu 2, Hittle 2, Arnott, Thurlby, Watanabe.
T -- 1:26. Officials -- Eric Asami, Dan Hironaka. A -- 5,665.
