Rainbow Wahine make quick work of LaTech
POSTED: Saturday, October 11, 2008
First match in nearly two weeks.
First home match in nearly three.
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There was a bit of rust to be flaked off. As well as some lethargy.
It took until nearly the middle of Set 2 for No. 6 Hawaii to find some energy and enthusiasm when hosting Louisiana Tech at the Stan Sheriff Center. And even then it came in bursts.
But it did come, particularly at the end of the 76-minute match.
A turnstile crowd of 4,807 (6,480 tickets) saw the Rainbow Wahine extend their winning streak to 12 via a 25-15, 25-19, 25-9 victory over the Lady Techsters. Hawaii got 10 kills from senior hitter Jamie Houston and a near-perfect night from Stephanie Ferrell to improve to 13-2 overall, 6-0 in Western Athletic Conference play.
KC Clayton led LaTech (2-12, 0-6) with six kills.
The Wahine now go from the bottom team in the conference to the one that they have had the most problems with: New Mexico State (10-7, 5-1) at 5 p.m. tomorrow. It was just two weeks ago that Hawaii swept the Aggies for the first time since 1993.
“;I think we bruised their egos a bit,”; Ferrell said of last month's match at New Mexico State. “;We think they'll come out stronger.
“;Tonight, it was hard not to play down, to be able to play up to our level. Tomorrow, it will be hard to play down when (the Aggies) are pushing the tempo.”;
The speed of last night's match was slow, until Ferrell replaced freshman hitter Kanani Herring in Set 2. The Wahine broke an 8-8 tie with a 4-0 run, highlighted by two kills from Ferrell.
Hawaii pulled away at 20-12 only to have the Lady Techsters close to 23-19 with what Wahine setter Dani Mafua described as rat-a-tat balls. Ferrell's four kills gave Hawaii set point and the Wahine took a 2-0 lead on a block of Lindsay Armstrong by Amber Kaufman and Jessica Keefe.
It was 1-1 in Set 3 and then it was basically over. Hawaii's outside hitters continued to pound open-look kills. Ferrell's lone error of the night came when a serve by Aneli Cubi-Otineru that appeared to be an ace was returned; Ferrell jumped early on her tip and “;it was my bad,”; she said, hitting .778 for the match.
“;Ferrell plays with a lot of energy,”; UH coach Dave Shoji said. “;She definitely brings some pace to our game. She's a young player who makes things happen all the time.
“;I was hoping we could look and play a little sharper going into this next match. We weren't sharp handling that first pass. I hope we can play up to our abilities Sunday.”;
Shoji said he sat Herring early in Set 2 because the freshman didn't appear to be moving well. Herring played in the front row for the first time since spraining her ankle two weeks ago.
About the only thing of note last night was Tara Hittle climbing up the UH career dig chart. With four digs last night, the senior libero has 1,139, passing Suzanne Eagye (1,138) for fourth place, four behind Teee Williams (1,143).
Hawaii def. Louisiana Tech
25-15, 25-19, 25-9
| Lady Techsters (2-12, 0-6 WAC) |
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| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Jones | 3 | 4 | 2 | 12 | .167 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2.5 |
| Fritz | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | -.500 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2.0 |
| Clayton | 3 | 6 | 1 | 12 | .417 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8.0 |
| Bin | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -.167 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Crowder | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Alexander | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bolonhini | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2.0 |
| Artim | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Armstrong | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -.500 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Stanley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kolunija | 3 | 5 | 4 | 13 | .077 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Totals | 3 | 19 | 18 | 68 | .015 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14.0
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| Rainbow Wahine (13-2, 6-0 WAC) |
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| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Kaufman | 3 | 4 | 0 | 6 | .667 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5.0 |
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| Herring | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Houston | 3 | 10 | 4 | 20 | .300 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.5 |
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| Thomas | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | .182 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
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| Mafua | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .500 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 |
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| Cubi-Otineru | 3 | 7 | 2 | 12 | .417 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
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| Ferrell | 2 | 8 | 1 | 9 | .778 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 |
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| Hittle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Keefe | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.5 |
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| Kaaihue | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Brandt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Fowler | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.5 |
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| Lee | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| Totals | 3 | 38 | 9 | 70 | .414 | 27 | 1 | 10 | 37.5 |
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Key—g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces - service errors)
Aces—Louisiana Tech (1): Fritz. Hawaii (5): Mafua 2, Kaufman, Cubi-Otineru, Hittle. Assists—Louisiana Tech (15): Bin 12, jones 2, Armstrong. Hawaii (38): Mafua 29, Brandt 5, Hittle 3, Cubi-Otineru. T—1:16. Officials—Kent Kitade, Ernie Ho. A—4,807.
| WAC standings |
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| W | L | Pct. | GB | All |
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| Hawaii | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 13-2 |
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| New Mexico St. | 5 | 1 | .833 | 1/2 | 10-7 |
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| Idaho | 4 | 2 | .666 | 2 | 11-6 |
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| San Jose St. | 4 | 4 | .500 | 3 | 8-10 |
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| Utah State | 3 | 3 | .500 | 3 | 5-12 |
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| Nevada | 2 | 4 | .333 | 4 | 7-9 |
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| Fresno St. | 2 | 4 | .333 | 4 | 5-10 |
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| Boise St. | 2 | 4 | .333 | 4 | 5-11 |
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| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 5 | .000 | 5 1/2 | 2-11
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Yesterday
Hawaii def. Louisiana Tech 25-15, 25-19, 25-9
Today
Nevada at Fresno State
San Jose State at Idaho
Utah State at Boise State
Tomorrow
New Mexico State at Hawaii, 5 p.m.
