Spartans no match for Rainbow Wahine
POSTED: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Admittedly, there has been a little guilt.
Actually, more than a little.
| HAWAII 3 SJSU 0 NEXT UP vs. Fresno St. tomorrow |
And it just hasn't been about losing to New Mexico State the last time they were in the Stan Sheriff Center. Nor was it just about being swept by a Western Athletic Conference team for only the second time in 13 WAC volleyball seasons, albeit the second time in as many years.
No, the guilt was about how poorly Hawaii played as a team on Oct. 12, hitting a program-low .023.
With the exception of some lost focus at the end of Sets 2 and 3, there were few recriminations last night. The ninth-ranked Rainbow Wahine hit .298 in sweeping San Jose State 25-12, 25-22, 26-24 in 87 minutes.
A turnstile crowd of 4,388 (6,188 tickets) saw Hawaii (16-3, 9-1) defeat the Spartans (9-13, 4-6) for the 34th consecutive time dating to 1993.
Senior hitter Jamie Houston finished with her third double-double of the season (18 kills, 12 digs) and freshman hitter Kanani Herring added 12 kills, including the match-ender, as the Wahine won their third straight heading into tomorrow's 5 p.m. match with Fresno State (5-13, 2-7).
“;That first set we just jelled,”; Wahine setter Dani Mafua said, tying her career high with 12 digs in addition to 45 assists. “;It was like how we go in the practice gym. Every thing was clicking.”;
And then?
“;We got a little complacent,”; Houston said. “;Our passing was a little off. I think we got a little lazy after Game 1.”;
The Wahine appeared to be on a mission in the first 20 minutes. A diverse attack led by Houston (seven kills, .600), and a 7-0 serving run by Mafua helped Hawaii break a 7-7 tie to take a 14-7 lead.
A kill by Spartan middle Colleen Burke and a hitting error by Wahine middle Amber Kaufman brought San Jose State within 14-9, but the Spartans could get no closer.
Hawaii let down and San Jose State picked it up in Set 2. It was tied four times, the last at 11-11 on a kill by SJSU sophomore Brianna Amian (Moanalua '07), before the Wahine pulled away.
Set 3 was even closer, with 14 ties, the final time at 24-24 on a service error by UH's Stephanie Brandt on match point. Amian netted her serve to give the Wahine their second swing at ending it and Herring, as she had done at the ends of the previous two sets, finished it off.
Amian finished with a team-high eight kills and junior libero Kristal Tsukano a team-high 11 digs.
“;I thought we played well, probably played good for a set and a half, once we settled down,”; Spartan coach Oscar Crespo said. “;I wish we could have taken a set off them. I'm seeing some nice things from Bri (Amian) and Kylie (freshman middle Miraldi) in thinking about our future.”;
Asked what would have forced a fourth set Crespo said, “;I wish we could have stayed more in control on our side, not have an uncontrollable urgency to end it.
“;The first set (Hawaii) out-controlled us. I give them points for the intimidation factor. I saw glimpses of them being pushed to the level they can be at.”;
Hawaii was able to take SJSU senior hitter Kelly Crow out of the match early, mainly by serving her tough. Crow, fifth in the WAC in kills per set (3.52), had three the entire match and hit negative .083.
The goal for Hawaii is to stay focused for longer stretches tomorrow.
“;We played a flawless first game, did all the things right, then got complacent and sloppy,”; Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. “;When you win easy, you start thinking it's going to continue that way.
“;It very easily could have gone four. We got a couple big swings at the end and eked it out. There were some ball -control issues and we served out nine times. We have to stay focused for an entire match and that's been hard for our team to do.”;
Hawaii def. San Jose State
25-12, 25-22, 26-24
| Spartans (9-13, 4-6 WAC) |
||||||||||
| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
||
| Crow | 3 | 3 | 5 | 24 | -.083 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 |
|
| Amian | 3 | 8 | 5 | 27 | .111 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 9.0 |
|
| Miraldi | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | .091 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2.5 |
|
| Zellmer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1.0 |
|
| Burke, E. | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | .375 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
|
| Burke, C. | 3 | 4 | 0 | 11 | .364 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6.0 |
|
| Pham | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Tsukano | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 11 | 0 | 0 | -1.0 |
|
| Biddle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Freeman | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | |
| Totals | 3 | 24 | 12 | 93 | .129 | 34 | 0 | 10 | 27.0 |
| Rainbow Wahine (16-3, 9-1 WAC) |
|||||||||
| g | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
|
| Kaufman | 3 | 4 | 1 | 15 | .200 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4.0 |
| Herring | 3 | 12 | 3 | 24 | .375 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 12.5 |
| Houston | 3 | 18 | 8 | 35 | .286 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 19.0 |
| Thomas | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | .714 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Mafua | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .000 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Cubi-Otineru | 3 | 8 | 3 | 17 | .294 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 9.0 |
| Ferrell | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 |
| Hittle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keefe | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Kaaihue | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1.0 |
| Brandt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2.0 |
| Simmons | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fowler | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -.250 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Totals | 3 | 54 | 20 | 114 | .298 | 52 | 1 | 6 | 54.0 |
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—San Jose State(2): Amian, Burke. Hawaii (5): Kaufman 2, Houston, Mafua, Cubi-Otineru. Assists—San Jose State (22): Burke, E. 18, Tsukano 3, Burke, C. Hawaii (52): Mafua 45, Kaufman 2, Brandt 2, Thomas, Cubi-Otineru, Fowler. T—1:27. Officials—Eric Asami, Ernie Ho. A—4,388.
| WAC standings |
|||||
| W | L | Pct. | GB | All |
|
| Hawaii | 9 | 1 | .900 | — | 15-3 |
| New Mexico St. | 8 | 1 | .889 | 1/2 | 14-7 |
| Idaho | 6 | 3 | .667 | 2 1/2 | 13-7 |
| Utah State | 6 | 4 | .600 | 3 | 8-13 |
| Nevada | 5 | 5 | .500 | 4 | 10-10 |
| San Jose St. | 5 | 5 | .500 | 4 | 9-12 |
| Boise St. | 4 | 6 | .400 | 5 | 6-14 |
| Fresno St. | 2 | 7 | .222 | 6 1/2 | 5-13 |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 9 | .000 | 8 1/2 | 3-16 |
Yesterday
Hawaii def. San Jose State 25-12, 25-22, 26-24
Today
Utah State at Nevada
Boise State at Idaho
New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech
Tomorrow
Fresno State at Hawaii, 5 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
