Rainbow Wahine survive Cal Poly
POSTED: Thursday, November 27, 2008
Once is not enough, not for three of Hawaii's seniors. The trio of Jamie Houston, Nickie Thomas and Tara Hittle decided to make senior night a two-day celebration, turning in performances crucial to No. 6 Hawaii's nail-biting outing at the Stan Sheriff Center last night.
A turnstile crowd of 3,571 watched as the Rainbow Wahine kept their record in five-set matches perfect this season with a 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-13 victory in 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Houston had a match-high 19 kills, Thomas was in on a career-high 11 blocks and Hittle added a team-high 14 digs in Hawaii's 14th straight victory. It was the third consecutive meeting between the two that had gone five.
Hawaii (27-3) and Cal Poly (16-12) finish out the regular season tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Rainbow Wahine freshman Kanani Danielson finished with 16 kills, including the final two that capped the victory.
“;I have no idea how we won that match,”; Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “;We made all the plays down the stretch in the games we won, and we didn't make the plays down the stretch in the games we lost.
“;The only thing I liked about tonight was the scoreboard. It was nice to win a close match against a good team when you're not playing your best. It was good to see our team gut it out.”;
Kylie Atherstone and Jaclyn Houston had 15 kills each to lead Cal Poly and Dominique Olowolafe added 13. The Mustangs also had 11 aces, five by Atherstone.
“;We were able to squeak a few points past them at the end,”; said Thomas, who added nine kills. “;We got more fired up as the match went on.
“;They're a good team, the type of team we'll see in the NCAAs. We needed to get a win like this.”;
“;It would have been a junk Thanksgiving if we had lost this one,”; said sophomore defensive specialist Elizabeth Ka'aihue, coming up with key digs in the final set. “;We weren't really clicking out there, but we picked each other up. The crowd was very helpful tonight.”;
The fans got their money's worth. Set 5 saw two lead changes and five ties, the last at 13-13 when Danielson was blocked. The freshman came back with two consecutive kills, the last off an assist by Ka'aihue, to end it.
Hawaii is 3-0 in five-set matches. Cal Poly dropped to 2-4.
The Wahine found a way to win Set 1 despite trailing until late. Three consecutive errors by Cal Poly—a service foot fault, an overreach and a hitting error—gave Hawaii its first lead at 21-20.
It was tied three times before Jamie Houston put down her third kill and Thomas her fourth to end it.
Set 2 was a near replay, with the Mustangs pulling away at 17-13 on three straight aces by Atherstone, Cal Poly's first four-time first-team All-Big West selection. Again, Hawaii rallied, edging ahead at 23-22, only to have the Mustangs even the match on a kill by Olowolafe and two hitting errors by Jamie Houston.
It was Aneli Cubi-Otineru's serving run that proved the difference at the end of Set 3. The junior helped turn an 18-17 deficit into a 22-18 advantage. Hawaii needed two swings at set point, with Jamie Houston ending it with her 13th kill.
Set 4 got away from Hawaii early, as the Wahine dug themselves into a 4-0 hole that included Cal Poly's 10th ace. With Dani Mafua replacing Brandt at setter, the Wahine were able to close to 19-17 and 21-19 but got no closer.
Hawaii def. Cal Poly
25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-13
Mustangs (16-12)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
|
| Olowolafe | 5 | 13 | 3 | 27 | .370 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| Waller | 5 | 7 | 7 | 35 | .00 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Atherstone | 5 | 15 | 8 | 45 | .156 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 21.5 |
| Law | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston | 5 | 15 | 5 | 27 | .370 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16.5 |
| Fithian | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 7 | 1 | 2 | -1.0 |
| Mort | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -1.0 |
| Smith | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 | -.083 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Bertoni | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 | -.077 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Rivera | 4 | 0 | 3 | 6 | -.500 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Totals | 5 | 55 | 33 | 166 | .133 | 49 | 2 | 22 | 79 |
Rainbow Wahine (27-3)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
||
| Kaufman | 5 | 9 | 2 | 17 | .412 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9.5 |
|
| Danielson | 5 | 16 | 7 | 40 | .225 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 17.5 |
|
| Houston | 5 | 19 | 13 | 50 | .120 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 21.5 |
|
| Thomas | 5 | 9 | 2 | 18 | .389 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 14.5 |
|
| Brandt | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1.000 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
| Cuni-Otineru | 5 | 7 | 6 | 22 | .045 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 7.5 |
|
| Ferrell | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
| Hittle | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Keefe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Kaaihue | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Mafua | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lee | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.0 |
|
| Totals | 5 | 62 | 32 | 153 | .196 | 63 | 1 | 25 | 74.5
|
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—Cal Poly (11): Atherstone 5, Rivera 3, Waller, Smith, Bertoni. Hawaii (4): Houston, Brandt, Cubi-Otineru, Hittle. Assists—Cal Poly (49): Fithian 47, Atherstone 2. Hawaii (59): Brandt 41, Mafua 11, Thomas 3, Danielson 2, Houston, Ka'aihue.
T—2:26. Officials—Dickson Chun, Denice Hanson. A—3,571.
