Kanoe Kamanao, Ashley Watanabe (11) and Teisa Fotu combined for 31 of Hawaii's 62 digs against Fresno State yesterday.
Wade talks Wahine
into reaching final
RENO, Nev. » It definitely wasn't a Disney Channel moment. Nor did it come with a G rating.
What got Hawaii motivated when trailing 19-11 in Game 3 against Fresno State last night may have made even Terrell Owens blush. It was an admittedly "X-rated" pep talk by associate head volleyball coach Charlie Wade that knocked the Rainbow Wahine out of their lethargy and into today's championship match of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
No. 2 Hawaii remained the only undefeated team in the country following a 30-24, 25-30, 30-25, 30-21 win over Fresno State. It took 2 hours and 20 minutes for the top-seeded Wahine to wear down the fifth-seeded Bulldogs at the Virginia Street Gym and advance to the final for the seventh time.
Hawaii (25-0) will seek its fifth consecutive WAC tournament title against host Nevada (20-7) today (1 p.m. Hawaii time). The third-seeded Wolf Pack upset No. 2 seed Rice 30-26, 31-29, 28-30, 30-26 to gain a spot against the Wahine for the second time in three years.
"We really didn't care who we saw," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "Nevada will have a big home-court advantage. They have given us a lot of problems in two matches this year.
"But we're just happy we'll be there. In the middle of Game 3, it wasn't looking like we'd be the only undefeated team in the country. I kept having thoughts about both Washington and Hawaii going down."
On Thursday, No. 1 Washington saw its perfect record snapped at 22-0 by No. 9 Stanford. After dropping Game 2 and falling behind 19-11 in Game 3, the possibility loomed that Hawaii's unblemished season would be marred as well, along with its winning streaks of 104 WAC matches and 196 against unranked teams.
"I saw some panic on their side," Fresno State setter Robyn Keune said. "I could seem them frazzled."
But the Wahine didn't come unglued, not even after Bulldog sophomore Tuli Peters (Kahuku High) had served two aces during a 3-0 run that gave Fresno State a seemingly comfortable margin at 19-11.
During the timeout, Wade lit into the team, igniting what Shoji called an "X-rated, not-much-printable fire."
"It wasn't G-rated," said Hawaii hitter Alicia Arnott, who put down 19 kills. "We really needed to hear it. We are too nice to each other and we were too relaxed."
Whatever Wade said worked. Behind five serves by Teisa Fotu and four serves by Susie Boogaard, the Wahine went on an 11-1 run to seize the lead and the momentum for good.
Hawaii hit .750 (six kills, no errors, eight attempts) in between two Fresno State timeouts, pushing the lead to 26-22. The Wahine's balance finished it off with kills by Melody Eckmier, Fotu and Boogaard, and a Bulldog attack error.
"The momentum carried over to Game 4," UH setter Kanoe Kamana'o said. "We didn't want to let down."
A very focused Hawaii team took control midway through Game 4, stretching a 20-16 lead to 26-16 behind Ashley Watanabe's serving. Victoria Prince continued to make a strong bid for tournament MVP honors when putting down two kills and teaming with Kamana'o to block Mounia Nihipali (Kamehameha) for match point.
The Bulldogs held off the Wahine three times before Prince knocked over FSU libero Yuko Mori with her 20th kill. Hawaii is now 35-0 against Fresno State.
Boogaard finished with 13 kills and was in on four of the team's 10 blocks. Watanabe had 20 digs and four of UH's four aces.
For Fresno State, freshman Christianna Reneau had 20 kills, Peters 17 and Tiffany Bishop 13. Nihipali and Mori each had 17 digs.
"It was one of our best efforts of the season and we put ourselves in position to win all of the first three games," said Bulldog coach Lindy Vivas. "We got the second, and the third one got away from us. We got stuck in a rotation that we couldn't get out of.
Hawaii cannot afford another Adult Attention Deficiency Disorder moment today. The Wolf Pack have taken the Wahine to five both times this season, the first time it's happened to UH since joining the WAC in 1996.
