Wahine sweep Broncos for 20th in row
POSTED: Friday, November 13, 2009
A change in the starting lineup did nothing to change the outcome for the third-ranked Hawaii volleyball team last night.
Sophomore middle Lex Forsythe, making her first start in place of ailing freshman middle Brittany Hewitt, had a career-high seven kills, and sophomore hitter Stephanie Ferrell had a match-high 11 kills as the Rainbow Wahine won their 20th consecutive match last night in Boise, Idaho.
Hawaii needed just 80 minutes to sweep Boise State, 25-16, 25-14, 25-16, at Bronco Gym and defeat BSU for the 20th straight time.
With the win, the Rainbow Wahine (24-2, 14-0) clinched the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title. Despite the loss, the Broncos (6-20, 6-8) remain in contention for a WAC tournament berth.
“;I thought Lex did a nice job tonight,”; Shoji said. “;It was too bad that Britt wasn't able to play in what was basically her hometown, but she was just too ill.
“;The good thing about tonight was we didn't give up a lot of runs of points, and that's always a concern when you're on the road. It can get you in trouble, but we were always able to get a key sideout when we needed it.”;
Hawaii hit .344 for the night, with only seven hitting errors. Boise State, getting nine kills from Sadie Maughan, hit .121.
The Wahine also outblocked the Broncos 8.5-1, with Amber Kaufman and Dani Mafua in on five each. Kaufman added seven kills with no errors on 13 attempts and three of the team's five service aces, and Mafua had a double-double with 30 assists and 10 digs to go with two aces.
Both of Mafua's aces came in the match's first minutes as Hawaii took a 4-0 lead in Set 1. Boise State got as close as 16-13 before Hawaii pulled away with a 9-3 run.
The Wahine were never seriously threatened in Set 2, with a kill by Forsythe jump-starting a 4-0 spurt that put Hawaii up 11-5. It was 18-12 and then it was over as a Kaufman ace closed out a 7-2 run to put the Wahine up 2-0.
The Broncos hung in until 10-8 in Set 3, when Ferrell put down two kills and the Wahine ran out to a 15-10 margin. Another ace by Kaufman set up match point and, after one sideout, Ferrell ended it with her 11th kill.
Sophomore hitter Kanani Danielson—Hawaii's kill leader—had a season-low five kills, breaking her streak of 11 straight double-digit kill matches.
Hawaii continues its final regular-season road trip tomorrow at Idaho (10-4, 14-13), which came into the week as the top blocking team in the country.
WAC VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS
| W | L | Pct. | GB | All | |
| xy-Hawaii | 14 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 24-2 |
| x-New Mexico State | 12 | 3 | .800 | 2 1/2 | 17-8 |
| x-Idaho | 10 | 4 | .714 | 4 | 14-13 |
| Fresno State | 6 | 8 | .428 | 8 | 13-13 |
| Nevada | 6 | 8 | .428 | 8 | 10-18 |
| Boise State | 6 | 8 | .428 | 8 | 6-20 |
| Utah State | 5 | 9 | .357 | 9 | 14-13 |
| Louisiana Tech | 4 | 11 | .308 | 10 1/2 | 15-17 |
| San Jose State | 1 | 13 | .072 | 13 | 1-23 |
x-clinched WAC tournament berth
y-clinched tournament top seed as regular-season champion
Yesterday
Hawaii def. Boise State, 25-16, 25-14, 25-16
Idaho def. San Jose State, 25-18, 25-22, 27-25
Fresno State def. Louisiana Tech, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23
New Mexico State def. Nevada, 23-25, 25-13, 25-12, 25-17
Tomorrow
Hawaii at Idaho, 5 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at Nevada
San Jose State at Boise State
New Mexico State at Fresno State
no. 3 Hawaii def. Boise State 25-16, 25-14, 25-16
| Rainbow Wahine (24-2, 14-0 WAC) | |||||||||
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts | |
| Ferrell | 3 | 11 | 3 | 28 | .286 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 |
| Kaufman | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13 | .538 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12.5 |
| Danielson | 3 | 5 | 1 | 18 | .222 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Forsythe | 3 | 7 | 2 | 11 | .455 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8.5 |
| Mafua | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .000 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5.5 |
| Cubi-Otineru | 3 | 7 | 0 | 18 | .389 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9.0 |
| Cascioppo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaaihue | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Brandt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fowler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lee | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 3 | 39 | 7 | 93 | .344 | 36 | 0 | 17 | 52.5
|
| Broncos (6-20, 6-8 WAC) | |||||||||
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts | |
| Nesselhuf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .333 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Lewis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Griffin | 3 | 6 | 4 | 27 | .074 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 |
| Maughan | 3 | 9 | 5 | 19 | .211 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9.5 |
| Remy | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -.125 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
| King | 3 | 5 | 4 | 19 | .053 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Rose | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harden | 3 | 7 | 1 | 12 | .500 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7.5 |
| Fellows | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 |
| Hamm | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1.000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| Whitney | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Totals | 3 | 33 | 21 | 99 | .121 | 41 | 0 | 2 | 35.0 |
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)
Aces—Hawaii (5): Kaufman 3, Mafua 2. Boise State (1): Hamm. Service Errors—Hawaii (4): Cubi-Otineru 2, Mafua, Kaaihue. Boise State (7): Lewis, Remy, King, Rose, Harden, Hamm, Whitney. Assists—Hawaii (36): Mafua 31, Brandt 2, Danielson 1, Cubi-Otineru, Kaaihue. Boise State (31): Nesselhuf 29, Hamm, Whitney.
T—1:20. Officials—Margie Ray, Conrad Johnston. A—731.
