NCAA WOMENS VOLLEYBALL

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Jamie Houston, Victoria Prince, Kanoe Kamana'o and the rest of the Rainbow Wahine are in for a challenging second-round match if they advance Friday.

LSU knows misery

If the Tigers beat Texas, they could meet UH, but neither is tougher than Katrina

By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

AFTER all is said and done in college sports, it's still just a game.

That literally hit home when Louisiana was battered by Hurricane Katrina last fall. The University of New Orleans will go down as the only undefeated Division I women's volleyball team in the country in 2005 after the Lady Privateers canceled their season following a 4-0 start.

NCAA Tournament

At Austin, Texas
All times Hawaii time

Friday's first round

No. 7 Hawaii (25-6) vs. Texas State (17-14), 1 p.m.

No. 7 Texas (23-4) vs. LSU (21-7), 4 p.m.

Saturday's second round

Friday's winners, 2:30 p.m.

Radio: Hawaii matches live, KKEA (1420-AM)

TV: TBA

UNO's bayou neighbor LSU carried on, with the Tigers playing their first 17 matches on the road. Through all the adversity, LSU finished 21-7, winning eight of 10 matches before entering the SEC Tournament, and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 13 seasons as an at-large team.

The Tigers' reward was Friday's first-round match at No. 7 Texas (23-4), which handed No. 1 Nebraska its first loss of the season in the Big 12 finale for both teams Saturday. The winner will face the winner of the opening match between Hawaii (25-6), tied for No. 7 with Texas in the latest coaches poll, and Texas State (17-14).

For LSU, just having the opportunity to continue its season was a gift. The Baton Rouge campus was taken over by FEMA and the National Guard, with the athletic facilities as a base.

"We trained two hours a day for two weeks and tried to supplement that with practices at high schools in the area," said LSU coach Fran Flory, a Baton Rouge native. "Our players volunteered with the evacuees and injured people.

"The hurricane had a dramatic effect on our team emotionally and our ability to train as a team. It was a time that none of us will forget, but also one that taught us a lot about what is truly important in life."

LSU's catharsis continues Friday when they hope to regroup after being upset by Alabama in the SEC tournament opener Nov. 18. The Tigers played well, once they had some home matches and "we had a chance to recover," said Flory, whose team didn't play at home until Oct. 14. "We had a bad run in the middle of the season in which we were physically and mentally exhausted.

"Most teams go through that, but the additional stress of two hurricanes, the added travel and the mental and emotional status of our entire state ... we just bottomed out."

The Tigers did finish with a flourish, ending with home wins over NCAA teams Arkansas and Kentucky to clinch the SEC's West Division. LSU had some nagging injuries heading into the conference tournament, which resulted in the loss to the Crimson Tide.

"But we're healthy again and have had a week to recover and prepare for the NCAAs," Flory said. "We had anticipated going to Austin the entire time, basically due to geography, so it was not a surprise.

"It was a surprise that Texas wasn't a top-16 seed. Obviously, with three teams in this sub-region that have been ranked in the Top 25 at some point during the season (Hawaii, Texas and LSU), we feel this is one of the toughest in the tournament."

As with the other three teams in the sub-regional, Flory feels the key in advancing to next week's regional at Penn State is some luck and a lot of consistency. It also means that Flory will have beaten her alma mater; as an all-conference player, she helped the Longhorns to the AIAW national title in 1981.

"Both Texas and Hawaii are great teams," Flory said. "They have already been in this atmosphere and will be very prepared for the added pressures of the NCAA tournament.

"Texas is a very physical and quick team that is fairly balanced. Hawaii is obviously very steady and makes you beat them. They don't give you much. So against either of them, we'll have to be very efficient."

Trying to knock off Texas and Hawaii on Friday and Saturday is a daunting task. But Flory and the Tigers have stared at adversity before and didn't blink.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sarah Mason and the Rainbow Wahine face Texas State on Friday at Austin, Texas.

AUSTIN, TEXAS SUB-REGIONAL

Hawaii (25-6, 16-0 WAC)

NCAA tournaments: 24.

Titles: 3 (1982, '83, '87), (AIAW, 1979)

Coach: Dave Shoji (31st year, 895-156-1)

Series: vs. Texas State, 1-0; vs. Texas, 9-1; vs. LSU, 3-0

Winning streak: 18

Fun fact: Shoji turns 59 on Sunday

About the Rainbow Wahine: Hawaii swept through Western Athletic Conference play with a 16-0 record and earned the WAC's automatic berth Saturday with a 3-0 win over Utah State. It extended the Wahine's WAC winning streak to 125, including the conference tournament.

Hawaii defeated Texas State (then called Southwest Texas State) in an NCAA first-round match in 1991 at Klum Gym, 3-0. The Wahine's only loss to Texas was in the 1988 NCAA championship match, 3-0. Hawaii last met LSU in 2003, sweeping the Tigers at the Maravich Center.

The Wahine are 11-2 on the road, with the only losses coming in the first two matches of the year at the AVCA/NACWAA Showcase to No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Penn State.

Texas State coach Karen Chisum on Hawaii: "I hear that (Victoria) Prince hits a mighty tough slide. We need to play with the consistency that we had in our conference tournament in order to be successful. We are better than a 17-14 team, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. In our tournament, we had great game plans and stuck to them."

Texas State (17-14, 12-6 Southland)

NCAA tournaments: 5

Titles: None

Coach: Karen Chisum (26th year, 616-390-3)

Series: vs. Hawaii, 0-1; vs. Texas, 9-36-2; vs. LSU, 1-3

Winning streak: 3

Fun fact: Texas State defeated Texas-San Antonio -- coached by former Wahine assistant Howard Wallace -- Saturday for the conference's automatic berth.

About the Bobcats: Texas State went 1-5 in its final six conferences matches, but pulled it together to sweep through the Southland Conference tournament as the No. 4 seed.

TSU is led by senior hitters Elizabeth Nwoke (3.79 kpg) and Brandy St. Francis (2.43 kpg, 1.13 bpg) and freshman Lawrencia Brown (3.44 kpg). Brown hit .636 against UTSA on Saturday, with 14 kills and no errors in 22 attempts, and Nwoke had 18 kills, hitting .441. Coach Chisum became one of nine active head coaches to reach 600 wins when the Bobcats opened the season with a victory over Morgan State.

UTSA coach Howard Wallace on Texas State-Hawaii: "The Bobcats will have to have all six of their players playing their best consistently for the duration of the match. Nwoke is a great leader, and Lawrencia has continued to improve all season."

Texas (23-4, 17-3 Big 12)

NCAA tournaments: 22

Titles: 1 (1988), (AIAW, 1981)

Coach: Jerritt Elliott (sixth year, 128-52)

Series: vs. Hawaii, 1-9; vs. Texas State, 36-9-2; vs. LSU, 17-4

Winning streak: 2

Fun fact: Coach Elliott played two matches for the Hawaii men's team in 1990 before suffering a career-ending injury.

About the Longhorns: Texas is coming off a huge upset of top-ranked Nebraska on Saturday. It was the first loss for the Huskers and kept the Longhorns unbeaten at home at 10-0, running their streak at Gregory Gym to 16 straight.

Junior hitter Dariam Acevedo led the Big 12 in aces with 29 in league play, 31 overall. She also leads the team in kills (3.75 kpg) and blocks (2.25 bpg).

The Longhorns have two dominating middles in sophomore Leticia Armstrong (3.27 kpg, 1.40 bpg) and junior Brandy Magee (3.20 kpg, 1.11 bpg).

UTSA coach Howard Wallace on Texas: "UT is all about size and power. We played them in spring and were impressed by their strength. If it's Hawaii-Texas, tough defense and serving could provide the edge."

LSU (21-7, 11-5 SEC)

NCAA tournaments: 7

Titles: None

Coach: Fran Flory (seventh year, 129-108)

Series: vs. Hawaii, 0-3; vs. Texas, 4-17; vs. Texas State, 3-1

Winning streak: 0

Fun fact: The Tigers were forced to play their first 17 matches on the road due to Hurricane Katrina. They won 12 of those matches, including wins over ranked teams Notre Dame and Tennessee.

About the Tigers: LSU is led by senior hitter Jelena Mijatovic (4.07 kpg) and senior middle Ivana Kuzmic (2.30 kpg, 1.72 bpg). Hitter Marina Skender (2.80 kpg, 0.91 bpg) was named the SEC Freshman of the Year.

LSU runs a 6-2 offense with two setters, sophomore Daniela Romero (9.02 apg) and freshman Heather Fierce (7.76 apg).

This is the first NCAA appearance for the Tigers in 13 seasons, the first under coach Flory.

Texas coach Elliott on LSU: "I think LSU will give us a battle. Anything can happen in this tournament and every year there are upsets. We feel that we're having an Elite Eight-type match with them and, if we're fortunate, the same type of match with Hawaii. We're young and the team has gotten frustrated when getting into long side-out battles. LSU has some big wins and can play at an extremely high level."