Wahine hit the wall

Tired Hawaii has its season end in a four-game loss to Missouri after 11 days away from home

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. » The team from the "Show Me State" showed up. Big time.

And No. 6 Hawaii had no answer.

Or as Na Yang would have said in her native language, "Veshiote." ("I don't know.")

The Rainbow Wahine never truly figured out Yang, Missouri's 6-foot-3 sophomore hitter from Shan Dong, China. That lack of translation translated into Hawaii getting bounced out of the NCAA volleyball tournament's sweet 16 for the second consecutive year by a lower-ranked team in a snow-covered gym far from home.

Yang put down 24 kills, including three at the end of momentum-turning Game 3, to lift No. 8 Missouri over Hawaii 30-26, 26-30, 30-27, 30-22 yesterday at Rec Hall. The Tigers (25-4) advance to their first elite eight appearance and will face No. 17 Tennessee today (11 a.m. Hawaii time) for a spot in next week's final four in San Antonio.

The Lady Vols (24-8) upset host and second-ranked Penn State in last night's second match 30-27, 14-30, 30-27, 33-31, ending the Nittany Lions' year at 31-3.

The weary Wahine (27-7) return home, four victories shy of their fifth national title, four wins away from giving coach Dave Shoji 901 in his 31-year career. Hawaii has been on the road for the last 11 days, 16 of the past 18 dating back to Nov. 22, and even Shoji looked tired in the postmatch interview.

"Maybe the travel finally caught up to us," Shoji said after seeing his team's 21-match win streak skid into history. "At the end, we didn't have another gear to go to. We ran out of gas ... we ran out of magic at the end."

Magic AND momentum. After seemingly having taken control after Game 2 and leading 11-8 in Game 3, the Wahine hit a wall ... and a bad rotation.

The Tigers scored six straight, including three kills in a row by Yang to take a 14-11 lead. Hawaii rallied behind two of Tara Hittle's 19 kills to go back on top at 18-16.

It didn't last long. After Missouri coach Wayne Kreklow called a timeout, the Tigers teamed up to block Hittle twice and tie it.

There would be six more ties and three lead changes, with Hawaii taking its last at 24-23 on a Tiger net violation. But Missouri took advantage of two Wahine hitting errors -- both Juliana Sanders and Susie Boogaard hit wide -- and got three kills from Yang to close out Game 3 on a 7-3 run.

It carried over to the start of Game 4, where the Wahine quickly found themselves behind 5-0, including being aced by Missouri setter Lindsey Hunter for three straight points. Hawaii never got closer than 25-21 before being outscored 5-1 to end the season with its seventh loss, the most since the 1997 team finished 25-8.

After 2 hours and 18 minutes, the careers of Hawaii seniors Victoria Prince, Ashley Watanabe and Boogaard were pau. Watanabe had 26 digs, Prince 11 kills and three block assists, and Boogaard three kills, two block assists and an ace ... and very few words.

"I don't know what I would ... could ... have changed," said Watanabe, her single-season dig record ending at 461.

When asked what made Yang so hard to stop, Prince had no answer, only tears.

Yang wasn't the only Tiger to do damage. Senior middle Lisa Boyd had 12 kills and was in on eight blocks, including four solo. Shen Danru also had 12 kills.

Sophomore libero Tatum Ailes had a career night -- 26 digs -- and motivation. Her parents were stranded due to the weather "and I did it for them," she said.

What does this do for the Missouri program? Hawaii is the highest-ranked team the Tigers have ever defeated.

"It's really big, one of the biggest nights in the program up to this point," Kreklow said. "When you talk about the traditional volleyball powers, you're talking about the Hawaiis and the Penn States. It's such an honor to just get here and play against these teams. And to be able to win against Hawaii ... I couldn't be prouder of my team. Hawaii is a great team, a fantastic opponent."

But one that leaves its first trip to Penn State, and its first meeting with Missouri, with a loss after hitting .200. Although the Wahine had more digs (95-87), the Tigers continually deflated Hawaii's hitters with key defensive plays.

"They were very disciplined, played perimeter defense like we do," Shoji said.

Both teams had four players in double-digit digs: Watanabe (26), Kanoe Kamana'o (20), Hittle (16) and Boogaard (13) for Hawaii; Ailes (26), Jessica Vander Kooi (20), Danru (12) and Abbie Booth (12) for Missouri.

"Missouri is a great defensive team overall," junior setter Kamana'o said. "It was pretty hard for us to put balls down. They did a great job reading our hitters.

"No one gave up (after Game 3), we weren't going to give it away. We did what we could take care of, what we could control. Missouri did a job."

Freshman Jamie Houston and Hittle, a sophomore, led Hawaii with 19 kills each. Sanders, a sophomore middle, added 11 kills and four blocks. Junior hitter Sarah Mason, who lit up Texas for 15 kills last week, had nine last night.

The Wahine were outblocked 16-8 and didn't have a single block in Game 3. Shoji said he thought that blocking was one of the Tigers' few weaknesses.

"That was the one thing we've been working really hard on, trying to get better at," Kreklow said. "You never know if it will carry over from practice into a game. I'm happy it did."

Tennessee 3, Penn State 1

Kelsey Fautsch had 16 kills as the Lady Vols handed the Nittany Lions their first loss at home in four seasons, 30-27, 14-30, 30-27, 33-31.

Penn State had not lost at Rec Hall since falling to Stanford 3-1 on Sept. 4, 2001, a streak of 77 straight.

Yuliya Stoyanova and Kristen Andre each added 12 kills for Tennessee. Penn State's Nicole Fawcett had a match-high 19 kills.

---