UHH's sweep stuns HPU women
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
In Hawai'i Pacific terms, what happened at St. Andrew's Priory gym last night might be as remarkable as the 42-match win streak that ended last weekend.
For the second week in a row, the defending national champion Lady Sea Warriors were handed a stunning defeat at the hands of a Hawai'i rival.
Brigham Young-Hawai'i did the honors this time with a masterful 30-24, 30-24, 30-25 sweep.
Ashley Moeai led the way for the Lady Seasiders with 16 kills on .294 hitting. Karla Ribeiro chipped in with nine kills and 14 digs, and Kaala Lo added 40 assists and three kills.
HPU was led by Andrea Wean's 16 kills, one solo block and five block assists. Nia Tuitele added three kills, 29 assists, eight digs and three block assists.
"This was a big win, a great win," said BYUH coach Wilfred Navalta. "But like I've been saying, there's a lot of parity in this conference now. Rally scoring brings the teams together very closely."
HPU hasn't lost back-to-back matches since 1999. Those games — home-and-away twins against BYUH — also marked the last time HPU lost a home match and the last time they fell in straight games. HPU lost on the road to Hawai'i-Hilo last week.
"Taking them in three is the best feeling ever," said Moeai.
"Our energy and our motivation was definitely there tonight," she said. "Hilo's influence with their win pushed us because we beat them every time we met them. Statistically, we knew we were a good team and we could take HPU."
The first game saw the teams battle through 14 ties and six lead changes. In the end, it was tough defense by BYUH and a run of uncharacteristic errors by HPU that decided the game.
Down 25-24, HPU committed two net violations and two hitting errors. BYUH ended the game when Elisha Kamalu and Diana Plaisted roofed Teisa Fotu.
After dropping a close second game, HPU rode Tuitele's emotional play to a 15-9 lead in the third. BYUH responded with an 8-0 run highlighted by four kills by Moeai.
HPU managed to tie the game, 23-23, but Moeai proved too much at the net as BYUH closed the match with a 7-2 run.
"We can't play our game in spots" said HPU coach Tita Ahuna. "We have to sustain our play the entire match."
HPU's stumble could have major implications for the postseason. The top six teams in the Pacific Region advance to postseason play. HPU was ranked No. 6 heading into the game and will likely drop after last night's loss. An automatic berth does go to the winner of the Pacific West Conference regular season and HPU (14-2 overall, 8-2 PacWest) still has a commanding lead over Chaminade (6-7, 3-2).
"Right now we only have two losses but those losses are crucial to our ranking at the end of the season," Ahuna said. "I don't know if the girls really understand that. I try not to make statistics or rankings a big issue, but they are at this point."
