Posted on: Thursday, October 4, 2001

Sea Warriors not everyone's No. 1

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

That the Hawai'i Pacific volleyball team is ranked No. 1 in the latest AVCA Division II Top 25 poll is nothing out of the ordinary.

The defending national champions have been ranked in the top five in 38 consecutive polls, and have held the top spot at some point in each of the last three seasons.

But, what is curious to some observers is that — despite winning 42 consecutive matches, four shy of the national record — the Lady Sea Warriors (14-0 overall, 8-0 PacWest) received only 27 of 35 first-place votes on the weekly ballots. The other eight first-place votes went to North Alabama (15-1).

HPU received 844 total points compared to 835 for North Alabama, indicating that voters who did not rank HPU No. 1 ranked them No. 5 on average.

"I'm not surprised at all," said HPU head coach Tita Ahuna. "I think there are still people who doubt us. I guess we have more to prove, but I don't know what more."

North Alabama's one loss came against Truman, which is ranked No. 4. North Alabama advanced to the semifinals of last year's championships, where it was swept by Augustana. HPU swept Augustana the following night.

"Go figure," Ahuna said.

Still, Ahuna said she and her team aren't bothered by the dissenting votes.

"We've been overlooked before and every time we've won a national championship," Ahuna said. "But we don't even want to think that far right now. We just want to get through the season one match at a time."

For the Lady Sea Warriors, that means a road match against UH-Hilo (1-7, 6-10) Saturday.

"I'm just hoping we're well rested," Ahuna said. "We're not as deep as some other teams."

None of the Lady Sea Warriors has a serious injury, but Ahuna said each starter has her share of nagging injuries. Nia Tuitele, arguably the team's most important player, is nursing a sore shoulder among hurts.

"What's nagging for Nia might be a serious injury for anyone else," Ahuna said. "We know that no matter what, she'll go out there and play."