Danielson, Kaufman power UH
POSTED: Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Hawaii's Kanani Danielson started off the day with her fourth Western Athletic Conference player of the week honor of the season.
The sophomore hitter ended it with a solid bid for a fifth, turning in a near-perfect performance last night at San Jose State.
Danielson put down 15 kills with only one error in leading the third-ranked Rainbow Wahine to their 17th consecutive victory, a 25-12, 25-15, 25-15 sweep of the Spartans in 71 minutes.
Danielson could get some competition for the weekly accolades from teammate Amber Kaufman. The senior middle, playing in her hometown for the final time, had 11 kills with no errors on 13 swings, hitting .841.
The season-high pro-Hawaii crowd of 822 in Spartan Gym saw the Wahine finish with seven aces, three by senior hitter Aneli Cubi-Otineru and two by Danielson. Hawaii also had an 8-0 edge in blocks, including four block assists by sophomore hitter Corinne Cascioppo, who played only in Set 3.
WAC VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS
Yesterday
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“;I was happy the way the match went. We were in control most of the night,”; Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. “;I thought we played a better all-around game tonight, certainly better than we did at Fresno (a 3-1 win Thursday).
“;We hit for a really high percentage (.458) and our serving was pretty good. We're ready to come home.”;
Hawaii was scheduled to return today and will host Fresno State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Utah State on Sunday at 5 p.m. in the Wahine's final regular-season home matches.
The Spartans (1-21, 1-10), getting 10 kills from Kylie Miraldi, fell to the Wahine for the 38th consecutive time. Freshman setter Caitlin Andrade (Kamehameha '09) had 15 assists, freshman hitter Alex Akana (Kamehameha '09) added two kills and an ace, and senior libero Kristal Tsukano (Kamehameha '07) had six digs.
Hawaii dominated from the first whistle, with Danielson putting down the team's first three kills, and Cubi-Otineru added consecutive aces to give the Wahine an 11-5 lead. Danielson had a 5-0 serving run that included her first ace as Hawaii went ahead 23-9.
Set 2 was close at 8-8 when Elizabeth Ka'aihue's ace highlighted a 3-0 spurt that put the Wahine ahead for good at 11-8. Kaufman ended it with her sixth kill.
Hawaii completed its 16th sweep with a different lineup in Set 3. Cascioppo subbed for sophomore hitter Stephanie Ferrell, sophomore middle Lex Forsythe came in for freshman middle Brittany Hewitt, and senior defensive specialist Jayme Lee moved to libero for Ka'aihue.
It didn't matter. In a near replay of Set 2, It was tied at 8-8 with Hawaii going on another 3-0 run to go ahead for good.
Danielson's lone hitting error came on her 26th attempt when she hit wide to make it 16-13. Cascioppo and Forsythe teamed for two blocks to help push the lead to 21-14 and the Wahine closed it out on a 4-1 run on two kills by Ferrell and two blocks.
Shoji said he was pleased that the team wasn't adversely affected by the number of family and friends in attendance. The Wahine traditionally draw well at San Jose State, but there was extra support for Kaufman.
“;Sometimes players press, but Amber had good approaches, was in command of her game, and Dani (setter Mafua) was in rhythm with her,”; Shoji said. “;It was nice to see all the local people and the players' families in the stands.”;
NO. 3 HAWAII DEF. SAN JOSE STATE 25-12, 25-15, 25-15
Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces)
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