Thursday, November 26, 1998
Wahine
advance
They will meet surprising
By Cindy Luis
San Jose State in the semis of
the WAC volleyball tournament
Star-BulletinLAS VEGAS -- They warmed up to the song "Just What I Needed," then got more than they bargained for.
The Hawaii women's volleyball team thought it had a clear path to Saturday's championship match in the WAC Tournament, courtesy of San Jose State. The fourth-seeded Spartans knocked out Mountain champion Colorado State, 7-15, 10-15, 17-15, 15-8, 15-10, in the quarterfinal prior to the Hawaii-Rice match at the MGM Grand Garden.
The Wahine had expected to play the Rams in tomorrow's semifinal -- for the second consecutive year. But with CSU out of the way, No. 7 Hawaii relaxed, only to be rudely awakened by the unheralded Owls.
Rice surprised the Wahine in Game 1 before Hawaii rebounded for its 15th consecutive victory, 12-15, 15-1, 15-10, 15-6. The victory puts the Wahine (27-2) into tomorrow's 2 p.m. (HST) semifinal against San Jose State.
In tomorrow's second semifinal, No. 6 Brigham Young meets UNLV. The Cougars swept Wyoming, 15-13, 15-5, 15-3, and the Rebels took care of Utah, 16-14, 15-12, 15-9.
Tomorrow's winners meet Saturday at 1 p.m. (HST) in the championship.
"We weren't focused at the start and it took a while for us to adjust to Rice's offense," Wahine junior blocker Heather Bown said after a 22-kill performance. "Their timing is a lot different than we're used to."
The Owls' quick attack had the Wahine block out of sync. Particularly effective was Rice's Tiffany Carrethers, who had eight of her 15 kills in Game 1 as the Owls jumped out to a 14-6 lead.
Hawaii held off six game-points to close to 14-12 before Karolina Zelinka ended it with a kill. But the momentum had shifted and, as the clock struck midnight back home in Houston, Rice (23-10) turned into an ordinary team.
Backed by the pro-Hawaii crowd of 1,497, the Wahine struck for 13 unanswered points. Veronica Lima served for six consecutive points during the run.
Rice made one last charge at 10-10 in Game 3. But UH answered with a varied attack: a block by Jenny Roberts, two of Heidi Ilustre's 15 kills, a double block by Ilustre and Lima and a kill by Bown.
Rice had just one hitting error in Game 1 while Hawaii had zero blocks. The Owls finished with 24 errors and UH had 16 blocks.
"I think Hawaii started keying on me more after Game 1," Carrethers said. "I think they got angry and said no more balls were going through the block."
"We've played Hawaii four times in three years," Rice coach Julio Morales said. "Each of their teams have been different, but the philosophy remains the same. We admire them greatly."
San Jose State 3, Colorado State 2: Entering the match, the Spartans were 17-0 when winning Game 3. But after losing the first two against the Mountain champion Rams, San Jose State had to be concerned, right?
"Actually, Nicole (Hintz) and I, the two seniors, said, 'No, it's not over, we don't want the season to end,'" Spartan senior Tanya Kamau said. "We didn't let it."
Hintz had 10 of her 17 kills in the last three games and Kamau, a Waiakea High product, played solid defense to pace the San Jose State rally. The Spartans also got a career-high 25 kills from Joslynn Gallop in the upset.
"I'm still in shock," Spartan coach Craig Choate said. "We've come back from some unbelievable holes, but even I'm surprised we pulled this out. It's irrelevant who we play. I'm so happy we're in the semifinals."
The Rams, who had advanced to the semifinals the past two tournaments, had five players in double-kill figures. Krista Swartzendruber led CSU with 20. University Lab graduate Summer Jennings added 13 kills, hitting .500.
In 88 minutes, the Rebels (23-7) eliminated the Utes (20-9) -- and a lot of self-doubt.
"This is so huge for us," said UNLV coach Deitre Collins, a former Wahine all-American. "You want to be competing at the top. When you look at the two divisions (Pacific and Mountain), everyone says we're the weaker one. So for us to beat the third-place team from the Pacific means a lot.
"It's been a great six days for us, beating Colorado State, Wyoming and Utah. We've got 20-plus wins, beat Utah, which has a great RPI, and we got some votes in the poll this week."
UNLV was tied for 35th with Colorado State in this week's USA Today/AVCA coaches poll.
Senior Angie Sylvas led the Rebels with 13 kills, but junior Jeanette Graves provided UNLV's spark. The 6-foot-1 blocker came off the bench for seven kills and five blocks.
Sara Shakula led Utah with 11 kills. Kalani Tonga, who led the Utes in kills and blocks all season, had just six kills, hitting negative .152.
Freshman Nina Puikkonen had 13 kills and Mari Carpenter added 10 kills for BYU, which hit .358 for the match. Melody Friehauf led Wyoming with 12 kills.
Hawaii def. Rice, 12-15, 15-1, 15-10, 15-6
Owls (23-10)
g k e at pct. d bs ba Zelinka, Kl. 4 5 3 24 .083 4 0 2 Carrethers 4 15 4 41 .268 7 0 4 Taylor 4 5 2 16 .188 5 0 2 Zelinka, Ka. 4 13 6 35 .200 5 0 2 Kalagoglu 4 0 1 2 -.500 7 0 1 Smith 4 16 7 37 .243 5 2 1 Moore 4 0 1 3 -.333 12 0 0 Leman 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 54 24 158 .190 45 2 12Wahine (27-2)
g k e at pct. d bs ba Karratti 4 14 9 41 .122 9 1 1 Bown 4 22 2 41 .488 5 0 8 Hubbert 4 5 2 10 .300 9 0 3 Lima 4 14 3 28 .393 14 1 5 Roberts 4 9 4 16 .313 2 1 4 Ilustre 4 15 9 36 .167 9 0 5 Sudduth 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Miyashiro 4 0 0 0 .000 12 0 0 Kim 2 0 0 0 .000 2 0 0 Totals 79 29 172 .291 62 3 26Aces--Rice (2): Ka. Zelinka, Kalagoglu. Hawaii (6): Bown 2, Hubbert 2, Lima 1, Miyashiro 1. Assists--Rice (52): Kalagoglu 47, Kl. Zelinka 4, Carrethers 1. Hawaii (75): Hubbert 67, Karratti 2, Roberts 2, Miyashiro 2, Bown 1, Ilustre 1.
Hawaii Pacific women's volleyball coach Tita Ahuna was named the NCAA Division II Pacific Region Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association yesterday. HPU's Ahuna
gets honorAhuna guided the Sea Warriors to a 28-5 record and the Pacific Region championship, beating No. 1-ranked BYU-Hawaii in the regional final.
Hawaii Pacific players Debbie Sant'anna and Hai Yan Wang were named to the 12-member All-Pacific Region team.
NCAA TOURNEY TICKET SALES: The University of Hawaii has submitted a bid to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships, Dec. 5-6, at the Stan Sheriff Center.
If Hawaii is awarded the bid -- the announcement will be made Sunday -- tickets will go on sale next week Monday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Box Office. Phone sales will be held 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (944-2697).
Match times will be at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 5 and 5 p.m. on Dec. 6.
