UH volleyball team
wins one for Shoji
SAN JOSE, Calif. » First they prayed. Then they played.
Prior to last night's match with San Jose State, the Hawaii women's volleyball players called their coach, who had remained in Honolulu to be with his ailing father. The Rainbow Wahine sent their prayers to Dave Shoji's father Kobe, who remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Hawaii then sent the Shojis a present via a 33-31, 30-21, 26-30, 30-20 Western Athletic Conference victory over San Jose State at Spartan Gym. The No. 3 Wahine needed 2 hours and 8 minutes and a season-high 19 blocks to subdue the Spartans and remain one of two undefeated teams in the country.
Hawaii (19-0, 9-0 WAC) ran its conference win streak to 99, 191 over unranked opponents. The Wahine take a five-match road winning skein to Boise State tomorrow, taking on the Broncos (16-7, 5-4) in an afternoon match (12:30 p.m. HST).
It's the first part of a Hawaii-BSU doubleheader. The Wahine plan to then take in the Warrior-Bronco football game.
"We know Boise will be psyched up," said Wahine middle Victoria Prince, who put down 15 kills and was in on seven blocks. "We're the team to beat and we need to stay focused.
"The difference tonight was Game 4. We're in better shape and it shows when we go longer in matches. We fight harder and we can last longer."
Hawaii dropped Game 3 and then trailed 15-12 in Game 4. The Wahine then went off on a 15-2 run, with Prince and Kanoe Kamana'o serving for five points each, including an ace apiece.
"My only thought was to keep the serve in," Prince said, who tied it at 16-16 and then served for a 21-16 lead. "My teammates kept doing their job and letting me serve.
"We knew we needed to adjust and we pulled away. Everyone did their part and contributed to the win."
At 28-20, Juliana Sanders' fourth kill gave the Wahine match point. Susie Boogaard quickly ended it with her 18th kill, making associate head coach Charlie Wade's debut as head coach a success.
"One-and-oh, baby," Wade joked. "And I will be very happy to give Dave another win (at Boise)."
Four Wahine were in double figures. Alicia Arnott led the way with 23 kills and 16 digs, Boogaard finished with 18 kills and 18 digs, and Kamana'o with 64 assists and 12 digs.
Kari Gregory led the Wahine with eight blocks, five coming in Game 1. Hawaii finished off Game 1 with two straight blocks, Prince and Boogaard stuffing Jennifer Senftleben to give UH its fourth game point, and Prince and Kamana'o blocking Carrie Nash to end it.
San Jose State hung around until midway through Game 2. Hawaii broke out of a 15-15 tie with a 8-4 run.
The Spartans got as close as 24-21 before a kill by Arnott gave the ball back to Prince. She served for five consecutive points to close it out.
The Wahine played catch-up for most of Game 3, taking their first lead at 17-16, their last at 18-17. A kill by Teisa Fotu brought Hawaii to within 26-25 only to have the Spartans capitalize on two UH hitting errors and kills by Rudd and Senftleben to take a game off the Wahine for the first time in nine matches dating back to 2001.
San Jose State (14-8, 5-4) was led by freshman Senftleben's 14 kills. Nash recorded her 16th double-double of the season (12 kills, 11 digs), Sarah Christensen added 12 kills and Dana Rudd 11.
The Spartans' outstanding libero Jessie Shull had 32 of her team's 83 digs, the fourth time this season she's had 30 or more digs.
"Our kids were hitting the ball hard and give (Shull) credit, she kept getting there," Wade said. "As for Boise, they didn't particularly play well at our place (a 3-0 loss on Oct. 8). They have played well at home.
"It's a tough travel schedule for us and we're playing at an odd time in the afternoon."
Prince said she was especially looking forward to tomorrow's match. Her mother and eight other family members will make the trek from eastern Washington to watch the team.
NOTE: The Wahine now lead the series with the Spartans 50-4 and haven't lost to San Jose State since 1993, a string of 25 straight ... The pro-Hawaii crowd of 678 -- San Jose State's season high -- included Dave Shoji's daughter Cobey, an assistant on the Stanford women's volleyball staff, and former UH football player Isaac Sopoaga, a defensive tackle with the San Francisco 49ers.
WAC Standings
Western Division Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Hawaii 9 0 1.000 19 0 Nevada 7 2 .778 14 6 San Jose State 5 4 .556 14 8 Boise State 5 4 .556 16 7 Fresno State 4 5 .444 11 10 Eastern Division Rice 8 1 .889 19 3 SMU 3 6 .333 9 10 Tulsa 2 7 .222 13 8 UTEP 1 8 .111 8 11 LaTech 1 8 .111 5 17 Last night's result
Hawaii def. San Jose State, 33-31, 30-21, 26-30, 30-20
Tonight's matches
Rice at SMU
Sul Ross State at UTEP
Tomorrow's matches
Hawaii at Boise State, 12:30 p.m. HST
Tulsa at Louisiana Tech
Saturday's matches
Fresno State at Nevada
Rice at Louisiana Tech
San Jose State at Boise State
Tulsa at SMU
Hawaii def. San Jose State
33-31, 30-21, 26-30, 30-20
Spartans (14-8, 5-4 wac) g k e att pct. bs ba d Nash 4 12 7 55 .091 0 1 11 Christensen 4 12 6 35 .171 0 2 4 Herald 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 11 Conrad 4 3 0 8 .375 0 1 8 Rudd 4 11 7 31 .129 0 3 1 Senftleben 4 14 6 37 .216 0 3 2 Shull 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 32 Orong 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 Freeman 4 8 8 30 .000 0 2 4 Totals 4 60 34 196 .133 0 12 83 Rainbow Wahine (19-0, 9-0 WAC) g k e att pct. bs ba d Boogaard 4 18 7 58 .190 0 4 18 Hittle 4 8 6 32 .062 0 5 6 Gregory 3 5 1 13 .308 1 7 1 Arnott 4 23 9 61 .230 0 5 16 Kamana'o 4 0 0 2 .000 1 2 12 Prince 4 15 2 28 .464 0 7 7 Sanders 2 4 2 8 .250 1 2 0 Watanabe 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 19 Fotu 3 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 6 Thurlby 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 3 74 27 203 .232 1 32 85 Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- SJSU (4): Nash, Christensen, Herald, Shull. Hawaii (8): Watanabe 2, Prince 2, Kamana'o, Arnott, Hittle, Boogaard. Assists -- SJSU (56): Conrad 49, Shull 4, Christensen 2, Orong. Hawaii (70): Kamana'o 64, Hittle 3, Gregory 2, Boogaard.
T -- 2:08. Officials -- John Martin, Lara Donaldson. A -- 678.
