Hawaii's Kanoe Kamana'o and Victoria Prince went up to block a shot by Loyola Marymount's Emily Day last night.
Wahine find fun
Struggling Hawaii rediscovers
what it takes to win with a sweep
of Loyola Marymount
The one thing that won't show up in the box score is the cathartic effect of a good soul-searching. When No. 9 Hawaii dug down deep last night, it found itself ... and some pride.
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Whatever spark that lit Hawaii's fire against Loyola Marymount is more than worth keeping for the rest of the season. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,845 (7,441 tickets) saw the Rainbow Wahine rebound from one of their most tear-inducing losses Friday with a 30-17, 31-29, 30-25 win over the Lions last night.
Senior middle Victoria Prince finally wore down LMU's relentless tracking, breaking free for 13 kills, as Hawaii (7-6) got back over .500 after an hour and 46 minutes. The heroine of the night was senior libero Ashley Watanabe, who carried the team with her defense (22 digs) and helped hold LMU to a .039 hitting percentage.
"Ashley was the senior leader in the back row tonight," said setter Kanoe Kamana'o, who added 15 digs to her 43 assists. "From last night to tonight, I thought she really stepped it up. When someone made a mistake, she calmed them down. She was amazing."
That could easily describe the Game 2 comeback, when the Wahine found themselves hitting negative in falling behind at 27-20. Watanabe's extended stay at the serving line included an ace as Hawaii began clawing back to within 27-24.
Hawaii's Kanoe Kamana'o and Victoria Prince went up to block a shot by Loyola Marymount's Emily Day last night.
It would be their only shot as Tara Hittle jump-started a 3-0 closing run that Prince capped with her eighth kill. In their last six swings, the Wahine put down five kills with no errors.
Hawaii took the momentum into the locker room and came back out with it.
"If we win Game 2, the complexion of the match changes," said LMU coach Steve Stratos after his team fell to 11-2. "We've very young and I don't know if they fully embraced how Hawaii would come out tonight. We tried to prepare our young athletes for that.
"Tonight was about passing. We didn't do it and Hawaii stayed in system most of the night. A lot of growth came out of the ability to win here and a lot of growth came from losing tonight. What our team needs to learn is what a wise professor once told me. You can't rest on past laurels, you've got to get up the next day and do it again."
Which is what Hawaii will take on the road for conference matches this week at New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech. The one streak that is still alive is the 92 consecutive Western Athletic Conference regular-season victories (107 including WAC tournament play).
"If we had lost two this weekend ... the girls would have been miserable because I would have been miserable," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "I think we'll be challenged on the road. We need to be a good road team like the rest of our teams have been.
"How'd we win Game 2? We got lucky, had some people come off the bench and turn it around. Hittle ignited it, went up and banged. We got into a really good flow, something we never got into (Friday). We made the off-plays, made some adjustments."
The biggest adjustment was on how to block the left-handed 6-foot-2 Hughes, who had 29 kills and hit .344. The sophomore led her team last night with 10 kills, hitting .077.
"We moved the block to take away her line-shot," Prince said. "We adjusted.
"What I'd like to mention is how amazing our fans were. We've been losing and they still came to watch us. They were so supportive tonight and we couldn't have done it without them."
Junior hitter Alicia Arnott, returning to the starting lineup, added 12 kills.
LMU senior libero Michelle Look, a Punahou School product, led her team with 19 digs.
Green 2, White 0: In a match with more laughs than finesse, watched by more fans than most collegiate contests, the Green defeated the White 30-23, 30-29 in the annual alumnae match.
Hedder Ilustre had seven kills to lead the Green, while her sister Heidi led the White with seven. U.S. National Team members Heather Bown and Melissa Villaroman added six kills for the Green, while Leah Karratti had six for the White.
Hawaii def. LMU
30-17, 31-29, 30-25
Lions (11-2) g k e att pct. bs ba d DeBernardi 3 9 5 26 .154 1 5 5 Day 3 5 6 21 -.048 0 2 0 Reneau 3 5 8 26 -.115 1 2 14 Walsh 3 0 0 13 .000 0 3 8 Hughes 3 10 7 39 .077 1 0 5 Houseman 3 7 3 21 .190 0 2 2 Glomb 3 0 0 2 .000 0 0 9 Svorinich 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Krone 2 1 2 7 -.143 0 0 4 Kirk 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Look 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 19 Totals 3 37 31 155 .039 3 14 68 Rainbow Wahine (7-6) g k e att pct. bs ba d Sanders 3 7 2 19 .263 0 5 4 Boogaard 3 5 5 18 .000 0 3 10 Arnott 3 12 2 44 .182 0 4 3 Kamana'o 3 0 0 1 .000 0 5 15 Prince 3 13 3 26 .385 0 6 5 Mason 3 5 5 18 .000 0 0 2 Hittle 3 6 3 20 .150 0 0 7 Gregory 1 1 1 2 .000 0 1 0 Houston 2 1 2 6 -.167 0 0 1 Thomas 1 1 0 2 .500 0 0 1 Watanabe 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 22 Thurlby 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Ong 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Woolford 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 3 51 25 156 .167 0 24 72 Key - g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces - LMU (2): Hughes, Look. Hawaii (7): Mason 2, Arnott, Boogaard, Kamana'o, Prince, Watanabe. Assists - LMU (35): Walsh 32, Hughes 2, DeBernardi. Hawaii (48): Kamana'o 43, Watanabe 2, Arnott, Boogaard, Thurlby.
T - 1:46. Officials - Dan Hironaka, Wayne Lee. A - 5,845.WAC standings
Western Division
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Utah State 2 0 1.000 9 6 Nevada 2 0 1.000 7 5 San Jose State 2 0 1.000 7 6 Hawaii 1 0 1.000 7 6 Idaho 1 1 .500 8 5 Fresno State 0 1 .000 2 9 Louisiana Tech 0 2 .000 12 4 New Mexico State 0 2 .000 6 3 Boise State 0 2 .000 4 5 Yesterday
Hawaii def. Loyola Marymount, 30-17, 31-29,
30-25
Utah State def. Lousiana Tech, 30-24, 30-14, 30-19
Idaho def. Fresno State, 30-16, 26-30, 30-24, 31-29
San Jose State def. Boise State, 30-22, 30-23, 30-19
Nevada def. New Mexico State, 33-31, 27-30, 30-18, 33-31, 15-11
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