Wahine beat New Mexico State in WAC tourney final

Hawaii avenges its loss to the Aggies by taking the season's rubber match on a neutral court

RENO, Nev. » It was the calm before the storm.

All-Tournament team MVP: Jamie Houston, Hawaii Kanoe Kamana'o, Sarah Mason, Kari Gregory, Juliana Sanders, Hawaii; Kim Oguh, Jackie Choi, NMSU

The Hawaii volleyball players have been described as too nice at times this season.

Last night, the Rainbow Wahine didn't get mad.

They got aggressive.

They got focused.

They got even.

And more ... including getting an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament that begins next week.

Senior hitter Sarah Mason had a match-high 18 kills and sophomore hitter Jamie Houston, the tournament MVP, added 16 to lift No. 12 Hawaii to a 30-27, 30-20, 29-31, 30-22 victory over No. 21 New Mexico State in the championship match of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

A loud, pro-Hawaii crowd of 921 at the Lawlor Events Center saw the Rainbow Wahine improve to 26-5 and the Aggies fall to 33-3 after 2 hours 12 minutes.

Both teams await tomorrow's selection show to see where they will be for the first round.

The win was especially gratifying for the Wahine, who have had more than a month to think about losing to the Aggies in Las Cruces, N.M., a defeat that ended their 114-match WAC winning streak. Although Hawaii returned the favor two weeks ago in Honolulu, the Wahine couldn't wait to prove themselves on a neutral court.

"We were out for blood," said Mason, who had four of the team's 11 aces and shared match-high honors with 16 digs. "It was hard losing to them (On Oct. 13). Revenge is sweet."

Mason drew a yellow card warning after she questioned the ruling that her hit attempt was outside the antenna, giving New Mexico State a 7-3 lead in Game 2.

"I was really mad," she said. "I always say that you don't want to get me (ticked off)."

Mason answered with 15 kills, 14 digs, four blocks -- including two solo -- and two aces the rest of the way.

"Our players really wanted this one," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji added. "They've been thinking about that loss a lot. We wanted to prove to ourselves that we were the better team."

When we play aggressively that's when we play well and are fun to watch."

Especially when dominating at the net. Hawaii had a 21-5 advantage in blocks, with middle Juliana Sanders and Kari Gregory in on nine each and setter Kanoe Kamana'o.

"There aren't many teams in the country better at blocking than Hawaii," Aggies coach Mike Jordan said. "I'm not unhappy with the way we blocked, but we soft-blocked and they were able to dig it up. They blocked balls back to the floor."

Part of Hawaii's success was following the game plan for blocking. Part of New Mexico State's trouble was figuring out where Kamana'o was going to set the ball.

"When we play our best, we are very comparable to that team," Aggies setter Jackie Choi said. "They are a very good blocking team and their setter is very good at recognizing who will get a one-on-one situation. I wish I was better at that."

With the Aggies block camped out in the middle. Kamana'o took advantage of the situation on the right side, where freshman Amber Kaufman was able to swing away for a career-high seven kills. The most important one was her last, giving the Wahine a 24-17 lead in Game 4.

"(Amber) Kaufman had a big-time kill there," Shoji said. "She just buried the ball on the right when they were creeping up."

Hawaii jumped out to a 12-3 lead in Game 4 and upped the margin to 17-6 on Elise Duggins' ace. The Aggies pulled within 23-17, but the Wahine gained the breathing room they needed on Kaufman's kill and a hitting error by Krista Altemate.

New Mexico State avoided being swept for the first time in 54 matches when holding off Hawaii in Game 3. The Wahine had rallied from deficits of 26-21 and 28-24 to tie it at 28-28.

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