Parity the only true predictor in the PacWest
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Before the start of the Pacific West Conference volleyball season, the word on each Hawai'i coach's lips was parity.
As in: Hawai'i Pacific may be the best team in the country, but it plays in perhaps the most competitive and unpredictable league in Division II.
Two months into the season, the evidence is already mounting. Chaminade (6-7 overall, 3-2 PacWest) stands in second place behind HPU (14-1, 8-1) after beating Brigham Young-Hawai'i three times in what may no longer be considered upsets. BYUH (7-5, 3-4) is a half-game behind Montana State-Billings and a half-game ahead of Western New Mexico.
And then last weekend, last place Hawai'i-Hilo pulled off the upset of the year by derailing HPU's march toward history in a dramatic five-game match.
HPU, the defending NCAA Division II national champion, flew into Hilo with a 42-game win streak, just four shy of the all-time Division II record. It had beaten the Vulcans 13 consecutive times dating to 1997.
UH-Hilo, in contrast, entered with a 6-10 overall record, 1-7 in PacWest play.
And it didn't matter.
Led by sophomore setter Megan Denman, the Vulcans turned back the Lady Sea Warriors, 30-27, 16-30, 30-28, 27-30 and 15-11. Denman posted season highs in assists (63), digs (16) and kills (6). She also served two aces and assisted on four blocks, and was recognized as PacWest Player of the Week.
While HPU is still comfortably in first place, the perils of this weekend's back-to-back games against BYUH and Chaminade are more apparent as the Lady Sea Warriors position themselves in the Western Region for another post-season run at the championship.
The Lady Sea Warriors' first loss since 1999 proved costly as the team fell three spots in the latest AVCA Division II Top 25 Poll.
HPU had been ranked No. 1 for the past five weeks. It dropped to No. 4 this week behind West Texas A&M, Truman and Cal State-San Bernardino.
Despite the upset, the Lady Sea Warriors received six first-place votes in this week's balloting.
Last week's results
Saturday
Hawai'i-Hilo 3, Hawai'i Pacific 2
Chaminade 3, BYU-Hawai'i 2
This week's matches
Tomorrow
BYUH at HPU, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
HPU at Chaminade, 7:30 p.m.
UH-Hilo at BYUH, 7:30 p.m.
Standings
Conference Overall
W-L W-L
Hawai'i Pacific 8-1 14-1
Chaminade 3-2 6-7
MSU-Billings 4-4 11-8
BYU-Hawai'i 3-4 7-5
W. New Mexico 2-4 8-10
Hawai'i-Hilo 2-7 7-10
Conference Individual Leaders
Hitting Percentage (Minimum .250/4.0 attacks per game)
G Kills Errs Total Pct
Wean, Andrea, HPU 57 265 65 529 .378
Salvador, Elena, UHH 62 161 50 336 .330
Brady, Audrey, CU 49 138 45 313 .297
Harris, Tegan, MSUB 73 186 63 454 .271
Moeai, Ashley, BYUH 50 145 47 368 .266
Robert, Roberta, HPU 57 282 80 785 .257
Scott, Hilary, WNMU 61 104 42 248 .250
Kills (Minimum 2.50 per game)
G No. Per Game
Robert, Roberta, HPU 57 282 4.95
Wean, Andrea, HPU 57 265 4.65
Hopes, Angie, MSUB 73 325 4.45
Xu, Don, BYUH 42 152 3.62
Pilgreen, Sara, UHH 62 216 3.48
Sepulona, Valasi, CU 51 164 3.22
Moeai, Ashley, BYUH 50 145 2.90
Brady, Audrey, CU 49 138 2.82
Ollison, Tiffanie, UHH 53 148 2.79
Hastert, Julianne, CU 52 144 2.77
Assists (Minimum 5.00 per game)
Player G No. Per Game
Tuitele, Nia, HPU 57 717 12.58
Denman, Megan, UHH 65 52 11.57
Burgess, Nohealani, WNMU 64 677 10.58
Taylor, Mandi, MSUB 73 752 10.30
Waialae, Janeen, CU 51 499 9.78
Lo, Kaala, BYUH 50 445 8.90
Service Aces (Minimum 0.30 per game)
Player G No. Per Game
Denman, Megan, UHH 65 36 0.55
Fotu, Teisa, HPU 57 28 0.49
Meatoga, Leiau, BYUH 50 24 0.48
Lo, Kaala, BYUH 50 23 0.46
Burgess, Nohealani, WNMU 64 29 0.45
Munro, Olivia, MSUB 51 23 0.45
Taylor, Mandi, MSUB 73 31 0.42
Sepulona, Valasi, CU 51 21 0.41
Robins, Jessica, CU 50 19 0.38
Preston, Heather, WNMU 35 12 0.34
Blocks (Minimum 0.75 per game)
Player G Solo Asst Tot. Per Game
Wean, Andrea, HPU 57 19 48 67.0 1.18
Dahlgren, Katrina, MSUB 73 25 60 85.0 1.16
Harris, Tegan, MSUB 73 25 57 82.0 1.12
Shiroma, Cheriesse, UHH 64 13 49 62.0 0.97
Ribeiro, Karla, BYUH 50 8 40 48.0 0.96
Brady, Audrey, CU 49 11 34 45.0 0.92
Hopes, Angie, MSUB 73 17 46 63.0 0.86
Salvador, Elena, UHH 62 10 39 49.0 0.79
Robins, Jessica, CU 50 9 30 39.0 0.78
Digs (Minimum 2.50 per game)
Player G No. Per Game
Robert, Roberta, HPU 57 240 4.21
Munro, Olivia, MSUB 51 186 3.65
Paulson, Mandi, MSUB 71 241 3.39
Hopes, Angie, MSUB 73 241 3.30
Fotu, Teisa, HPU 57 187 3.28
Ribeiro, Karla, BYUH 50 164 3.28
Ollison, Tiffanie, UHH 53 172 3.25
Meatoga, Leiau, BYUH 50 160 3.20
Dietrich, Dana, WNMU 61 182 2.98
Tuitele, Nia, HPU 57 170 2.98
Water Polo
• BYUH wins two: The Seasider men's water polo team turned in a pair of impressive offensive performances to beat Occidental and Cal Tech in Southern California yesterday.
Led by Derek Anderson's six goals, BYUH posted its highest point total of the season with a 21-10 win over Occidental in yesterday's day match.
The Seasiders then beat Cal Tech in the evening, 20-10, behind four goals by Mike Rieben.
The Seasiders are now 6-8 in their first season.
