Hittle won’t miss
No. 11 Hawaii’s first
WAC road trip

The Wahine sophomore outside hitter had a
'precautionary' MRI on her sprained right ankle

Tara Hittle sat out yesterday's practice but she won't sit out this week's road trip, the first of the Western Athletic Conference season for the No. 11 Hawaii volleyball team.

The sophomore outside hitter had an MRI taken as a "precautionary measure" yesterday to determine whether there was a problem with the Achilles' tendon in her right foot. Hittle sprained her right ankle and tore several ligaments during a practice last month, causing her to miss the first two matches of the season.

Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji considered leaving Hittle off the travel roster, pending results of the MRI. The Rainbow Wahine (7-6, 1-0) were to leave this evening for matches at Louisiana Tech (12-4, 0-2) Thursday and New Mexico State (6-3, 0-2) Saturday.

"But she's OK and she'll make the trip," Shoji said last night. "We wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem with the Achilles'.

"She's been playing hurt but she still brings a lot when she's in there."

Hittle has been used at libero and in the front row since the injury. She entered Saturday's match against Loyola Marymount with Hawaii trailing 22-13 in Game 2; she had four kills and served for the last two points as the Wahine rallied for a 31-29 win and the sweep of the Lions.

As per WAC regulations, Hawaii is limited to a 12-player travel roster. Only one back-row player is making the trip in senior libero Ashley Watanabe, and the only scholarship player being left in Honolulu is freshman hitter Jessica Keefe.

UH will also take its lowest ranking of the season on the road. Yesterday the Wahine slipped two spots to 11th in the national coaches poll.

Distance-wise, this will be Hawaii's longest trip of the year. The Wahine fly into Dallas and then Shreveport, La., before driving an hour to Louisiana Tech. They return to Dallas then fly to El Paso before driving an hour north to Las Cruces, N.M.