Rainbow Wahine spread aloha
POSTED: Saturday, November 29, 2008
There was never any doubt that it was senior night at the Stan Sheriff Center. For most of the 87 minutes, the sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine volleyball team played as if it couldn't wait to get the party started.
And there was plenty to celebrate. From a 15th straight victory to hula to leis ... lots of leis.
“;This was amazing,”; said Cal Poly coach Jon Stevenson after his team was swept by Hawaii, 25-17, 25-19, 25-23. “;I'm very impressed. This is the way to treat athletes. It's very special.”;
Just as special was the performance of senior Jamie Houston, who finished with a match-high 15 kills as Hawaii improved to 28-3. Houston also became the second Wahine to reach the 2,000-kill plateau (2,009), trailing only Kim Willoughby (2,598).
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A turnstile crowd of 5,488 (6,687 tickets) saw Hawaii much more efficient than in the five-set win over the Mustangs (16-13) on Wednesday. The Wahine hit .340 for the night, including .484 in Set 2.
“;I thought we were much better tonight,”; Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “;Wednesday, we were emotionally drained (from winning the Western Athletic Conference tournament). Senior night is always special, but the coaches want to win the game and hope we can celebrate. But we had to take care of business first.”;
Helping Hawaii get back into rhythm was the return of sophomore setter Dani Mafua, who injured her hamstring in warm-ups prior to the Nov. 15 match with Utah Valley. In her first start since then, Mafua “;was real accurate,”; Shoji said. “;The tempo was faster, which is what we want.
“;What I liked tonight was that all the seniors contributed. The season isn't over for us and we'll need to draw on their leadership in the postseason.”;
Hawaii will learn its fate when the NCAA pairings are announced tomorrow (5 p.m. ESPNU.)
After the match, the Mustangs (16-13) were invited to watch the festivities from in front of the Wahine bench. The Wahine players formed a tunnel to have their seniors run en route to picking up plaques.
Houston, Jessica Keefe, Nickie Thomas and Tara Hittle tossed autographed volleyballs into the crowd. Linda Heffner, Hittle's mother, had more than a dozen black T-shirts made for family and friends that read “;Tara-rrificly.”;
Returning to help celebrate the night were former Wahine Kanoe Kamana'o, Kari Gregory and Raeceen Woolford. Also in attendance was former UH assistant Howard Wallace, now a coach at Texas-San Antonio.
The only “;off”; thing about the evening was the seating configuration for the teams. Because of the earlier Wahine basketball game, the teams were on the opposite side of the court, as for a basketball game.
“;I think they were just getting me ready for basketball season,”; said Hittle, who'll rejoin the Wahine basketball team after volleyball is done.
Unlike Wednesday's sluggish start, Hawaii came out ready to play, taking the lead at 2-1 and never letting up. The Wahine jumped out to leads of 13-8 and 22-16.
Fittingly, Houston ended Set 1 with her sixth kill of the night, 2,000th of her career.
The Wahine didn't commit a hitting error until late in Set 2 after taking a 23-14 lead. The Mustangs rallied to 23-19 before a service error and a block on Kylie Atherstone by Houston and Thomas gave Hawaii a 2-0 lead.
The Wahine pulled away in the middle of Set 3, gaining match point on Amber Kaufman's kill. Hawaii needed four tries at match point, but Kaufman finally ended it.
Hawaii def. Cal Poly
25-17, 25-19, 25-23
Mustangs (16-13)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Olowolafe | 3 | 7 | 4 | 19 | .158 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Waller | 3 | 10 | 4 | 26 | .231 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Atherstone | 3 | 11 | 7 | 35 | .114 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| Law | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston | 3 | 8 | 1 | 14 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9.5 |
| Fithian | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 5 | 0 | 1 | -1.5 |
| Mort | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Smith | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bertoni | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | .091 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Rivera | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Suttich | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 3 | 40 | 18 | 108 | .204 | 25 | 1 | 15 | 42.5
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Rainbow Wahine (28-3)
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts |
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| Kaufman | 3 | 8 | 2 | 13 | .462 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Danielson | 3 | 7 | 1 | 18 | .333 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Houston | 3 | 15 | 6 | 30 | .300 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 17.5 |
| Thomas | 3 | 6 | 3 | 13 | .231 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7.5 |
| Mafua | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .667 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cubi-Otineru | 3 | 9 | 1 | 19 | .421 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 8.5 |
| Hittle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keefe | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaaihue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 3 | 47 | 14 | 97 | .340 | 39 | 0 | 11 | 51.5
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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, none. Hawaii (2): Houston 2. Assists—Cal Poly (39): Fithian 37, Atherstone 1, Smith 1. Hawaii (45): Mafua 40, Danielson, Houston, Thomas, Cubi-Otineru, Hittle.
T—1:27. Officials—Wayne Lee, Ernie Ho. A—5,488.
