No. 7 Wahine sweep Vandals
POSTED: Sunday, November 09, 2008
The game plan was simple: serve tough and slow down one of the top hitters in the country.
No. 7 Hawaii did just that last night, sweeping Idaho 25-17, 25-13, 25-21 in a Western Athletic Conference volleyball match in Moscow, Idaho. A Memorial Gym crowd of 1,055 saw the Rainbow Wahine take just 85 minutes to run their record against the Vandals to 10-0.
Hawaii improved to 21-3 overall, 14-1 WAC. The Wahine conclude regular-season conference play tomorrow at Fresno State (5 p.m. Hawaii time).
The Bulldogs (8-17, 4-10) threw a scare into New Mexico State (19-7, 13-1) last night before losing to the visiting Aggies 19-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-18. New Mexico State, a half-game behind Hawaii, finishes out with home matches against Utah State and San Jose State.
Barring an upset, the Wahine and Aggies will finish tied for the WAC championship. New Mexico State would be seeded No. 1 in the WAC tournament based on a tie-breaker (set differential against third-place Idaho).
Hawaii dropped a set to Idaho in the WAC season opener on Sept. 19, while New Mexico State swept both matches against Idaho. Last night's sweep by the Wahine was the only other time this season the Vandals have lost in straight sets.
Hawaii did it by shutting down Idaho senior hitter Haley Larsen, ranked eighth nationally in kills (4.55 kps). Larsen finished with a team-high nine kills, four in Set 3, her last three accounting for the Vandals' final three points.
The Wahine outblocked the Vandals 11-5 in picking up their seventh road sweep in as many matches. Junior middle Amber Kaufman was in on five stuffs to go with her match-high 11 kills and junior hitter Aneli Cubi-Otineru had four block assists and 11 digs.
Freshman hitter Kanani Danielson turned in her eighth double-double (10 kills, 12 digs).
Just as Hawaii “;camped out”; on Larsen, Idaho did the same on Wahine senior hitter Jamie Houston. Houston, hitting more than .500 the past four matches, hit negative .043 with just five kills.
“;They did get out on (Houston),”; Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “;But it's nice that we have other people who picked it up.
“;We blocked really well and the tough serving set up the block, forcing (Idaho) to set the high and outside. We played really well for 2 1/2 games and then struggled a bit. Idaho is a good team.”;
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan returned the compliment.
“;There is no doubt about it, Hawaii is a good team, and they are even better than when we played them the first time around,”; Buchanan said. “;Coming into the match, I thought our team we saw in Set 3 was the team we were going to see in Set 1. We had way too many errors.
“;We have to compete at our top level when we play this type of team.”;
Last night's outcome was never in doubt. Idaho's only leads came in Set 3, the largest at 16-13.
A hitting error by Larsen tied it at 18-all. Cubi-Otineru and Kaufman blocked Debbie Pederson and Kaufman's 10th kill gave the Wahine the lead for good.
Hawaii def. Idaho
25-17, 25-13, 25-21
| Vandals (16-9, 9-5 WAC) |
|||||||||
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
|
| Taylor | 3 | 4 | 2 | 10 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Loney | 3 | 6 | 1 | 13 | .385 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Larsen | 3 | 9 | 10 | 37 | -.027 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| James | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 | -.571 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .5 |
| Rice | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| McKinney | 3 | 5 | 2 | 147 | .176 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7.5 |
| Tribley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yonker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pederson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Conwell | 3 | 7 | 2 | 27 | .185 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7.5 |
| Hamilton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 3 | 31 | 22 | 115 | .078 | 44 | 1 | 8 | 36
|
| Rainbow Wahine (21-3, 14-1 WAC) | |||||||||
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
|
| Kaufman | 3 | 11 | 3 | 21 | .381 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 14.5 |
| Danielson | 3 | 10 | 0 | 29 | .345 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Houston | 3 | 5 | 6 | 23 | -.043 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Thomas | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | .143 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 |
| Mafua | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | .500 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Cubi-Otineru | 3 | 8 | 3 | 20 | .250 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| Ferrell | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hittle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Keefe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ka'aihue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 3 | 43 | 17 | 118 | .220 | 55 | 4 | 14 | 54 |
Key—s: sets played; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces)
Aces—Idaho (1): Yonker. Hawaii (3): Kaufman, Cubi-Otineru, Hittle. Assists—Idaho(30): James 28, Rice, Yonker. Hawaii (39): Mafua 37, Kaufman, Danielson.
T—1:25. Officials—Maile Merrell-Jewkes, Alan Hirayama. A—1,055.
WAC standings
| W | L | Pct. | GB | All |
|
| Hawaii | 14 | 1 | .933 | — | 21-3 |
| New Mexico St. | 13 | 1 | .928 | 1/2 | 19-7 |
| Idaho | 9 | 5 | .643 | 4 1/2 | 16-7 |
| Utah State | 8 | 6 | .571 | 5 1/2 | 10-15 |
| Nevada | 6 | 8 | .428 | 7 1/2 | 11-13 |
| San Jose St. | 6 | 8 | .428 | 7 1/2 | 11-15 |
| Boise St. | 4 | 10 | .286 | 9 1/2 | 8-17 |
| Fresno St. | 3 | 10 | .231 | 10 | 6-16 |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 14 | .000 | 13 1/2 | 4-21 |
Yesterday
Hawaii def. Idaho, 25-17, 25-13, 25-21
San Jose State def. Nevada, 25-15, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22
Boise State def. Louisiana Tech, 25-21, 25-12, 25-22
New Mexico State def. Fresno State, 19-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-18
Tomorrow
Hawaii at Fresno State, 5 p.m. Hawaii time
