WAHINE VOLLEYBALL
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Sarah Mason tried to block a hit by Northwestern's Chelsy Hyser in the first game of last night's UH victory.
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Bench beats Wildcats
Hawaii survives Northwestern despite missing a pair of starters, including setter Kamana‘o
Day 2 of the Cayley Thurlby Era began with the injured Tara Hittle entering the Stan Sheriff Center on crutches and ended with the M*A*S*H unit that is the ninth-ranked Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team pulling out a hard-earned victory over Northwestern in 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Next Up vs. Stanford, today
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Behind the offense of Jamie Houston (23 kills), Sarah Mason (19 kills) and Nickie Thomas (career-high 12 kills and five aces), and a defense anchored by Jayme Lee's career-high 26 digs, the Rainbow Wahine downed the Wildcats 29-31, 30-27, 32-30, 32-20 in front of 4,603 (6,430 tickets). The victory lifted Hawaii (5-2) into tonight's 7 o'clock match with No. 8 Stanford (5-1), which will decide the championship of the 12th Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge.
"We'll still be hungry and we know we're going to have to look across the net against a very powerful group of athletes," said senior setter Thurlby. "Being able to win that way adds confidence. We would have been extremely frustrated if we had lost. But the energy shifted after Game 3. And we stayed aggressive.
"Dave (UH coach Shoji) told us, 'Don't try to do it all yourself, let things go as a team. We went with the flow."
The Rainbow Wahine have won 10 of the previous 11 titles, but there are bigger concerns than winning No. 11. There are decisions to be made over the futures of junior hitter Hittle (right ankle) and three-time All-America setter Kanoe Kamana'o (MRI of her hip yesterday). Decisions that could include redshirting one or both. Shoji said Hittle would not play tonight but that Kamana'o could possibly be cleared.
Stanford coach John Dunning said he didn't know what to expect from Hawaii, in terms of the Wahine personnel. He knew nothing about Thurlby and went back to the hotel to watch the UH-Northwestern match following his team's 30-13, 30-16, 30-14 sweep of Fairfield in 70 minutes.
"Every setter has a different personality," Dunning said. "One of the great things about Kanoe is she is doing everything. She is so good. It's completely different if she isn't in there.
"But we know Hawaii's going to be good. They have great servers, and if you'd don't pass well you'll be in trouble."
Dunning, who has spent plenty of time with Shoji on volleyball courts and golf courses, knows well what Shoji is going through with the injuries. Stanford lost several key players for big chunks of last season: setter Bryn Kehoe was out seven matches with a broken hand; middle Lizzie Suiter, used sparingly while working through ankle and eye injuries; and hitter Cynthia Barboza, leading the Pac-10 when tearing her left ACL, causing her to miss the last 11 matches.
The turning point of the match came in Game 3 after Hawaii fell behind 23-17 and 27-22. Thomas had four kills to help the Wahine to a 28-28 tie.
It would be tied twice more, with each team holding off one game point. Houston's 14th kill gave the Wahine their second swing at it, with Houston putting down her 15th.
The Wahine again had to scramble in Game 4, holding off two Wildcat game points before tying it at 29-29. It would be Mason at the end, putting down two more kills, including the match-ender.
"The difference was execution at the end," Northwestern coach Keylor Chan said. "Their composure and tradition came through at the end. Our skills were not as good at the end as Hawaii's.
"I thought Thurlby did a job you'd expect of a senior, lived up to the expectations of a senior and their program."
Shoji said it came down to perseverance at the end.
"We hung in there, made the key plays down the stretch," he said. "And I thought it was by far the best ball-control match we've played this season."
Both teams had 80 digs. Hawaii had five players in double-digit digs, Northwestern four.
In today's 4:30 p.m. match, Fairfield (3-5) faces Northwestern (2-3). The Wildcats got 17 kills from Lindsay Anderson and 34 digs from freshman libero Kate Nobilio.
Stanford 3, Fairfield 0
Foluke Akinradewo put down 17 kills and Kristin Richards added 13 kills and 11 digs to lead the Cardinal past the undersized Stags 30-13, 30-16, 30-14. Also in double figures was Barboza, who had 12 kills in 19 swings with no errors (.632).
Katie Mann had six kills for Fairfield, which hit negative .009.
"It was a good match for us and I thought we executed really well," Dunning said. "We had the advantage of watching Fairfield (Thursday against Hawaii), saw what they did and took away their stuff.
"And I think our block is doing better and better."
The Cardinal outblocked the Stags 9-2
Hawaii def. Northwestern
29-31, 30-27, 32-30, 32-30
Wildcats (2-3, 0-2 wbm)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Jurivich |
4 |
7 |
1 |
15 |
.400 |
0 |
3 |
14
|
Paulus |
4 |
12 |
4 |
27 |
.296 |
0 |
4 |
10
|
Aldridge |
4 |
11 |
4 |
33 |
.212 |
0 |
2 |
0
|
Anderson |
4 |
17 |
8 |
57 |
.158 |
1 |
1 |
12
|
Greenwood |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
Hyser |
4 |
9 |
3 |
22 |
.273 |
2 |
7 |
1
|
Nobilio |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
34
|
Baxterbeck |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Purcell |
4 |
13 |
2 |
34 |
.324 |
0 |
1 |
5
|
Totals |
4 |
69 |
22 |
188 |
.250 |
3 |
18 |
80 |
Rainbow Wahine (5-2, 2-0 WBM)
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Sanders |
4 |
6 |
3 |
18 |
.167 |
1 |
4 |
1
|
Gregory |
3 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
.400 |
0 |
1 |
1
|
Keefe |
4 |
7 |
4 |
23 |
.130 |
0 |
2 |
1
|
Houston |
4 |
23 |
9 |
57 |
.246 |
0 |
1 |
10
|
Thurlby |
4 |
5 |
0 |
9 |
.556 |
1 |
1 |
12
|
Mason |
4 |
19 |
8 |
49 |
.224 |
0 |
3 |
15
|
Thomas |
4 |
12 |
2 |
24 |
.417 |
0 |
2 |
1
|
Woolford |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
12
|
Duggins |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Lee |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
26
|
Totals |
4 |
75 |
27 |
185 |
.259 |
2 |
14 |
80 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Northwestern (5): Anderson 2, Jurivich, Greenwood, Baxterbeck. Hawaii (9): Thomas 5, Mason 2, Woolford, Lee. Assists -- Northwestern (61): Jurivich 47, Paulus 7, Nobilio 4, Anderson 2, Hyser. Hawaii (71): Thurlby 63, Woolford 4, Lee 3, Houston.
T -- 2:26. Officials -- Ernie Ho, Dan Hironaka. A -- 4,603.