Wahine missing intensity at home
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
For the seventh volleyball season in a row, the University of Hawai'i will lead the nation in attendance. Wouldn't it be weird if the 13th-ranked Wahine discovered they were better off away from home?
Coach Dave Shoji and sophomore Kim Willoughby broached the subject after Friday's clumsy four-game victory over Texas-El Paso.
"We played a lot better on the road," Willoughby admitted after amassing a career-high 36 kills against the Miners. "The team we have right now is better on the road than at home. On the road, we wanted to be back home and that motivated us so much that we dominated teams. Here, we're so relaxed."
Hawai'i (11-4) goes after its eighth straight victory today against Southern Methodist. The Western Athletic Conference match begins at 4 p.m. at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Wahine's goal — beyond extending their 45-match WAC winning streak — is to prove their balance is more than an act. Willoughby provided half the offense Friday, and often appeared to be the only option. There have to be others, no matter how high she soars.
The Mustangs (7-8) lead the Eastern Division at 2-2 and defeated perennial WAC runner-up San Jose State last week, behind Leslie Lasiter's triple-double. Janna Newsom and Beth Karasek also average three kills a game.
According to Shoji, the difference between SMU and UTEP is in initials only.
"SMU has also got kids on the outside that go up and bang and middles that keep you honest," Shoji said after the Miner scare. "I think we'll be in for more of the same.
"I think we got a wake-up call. We understand we have to show up and play hard every game."
His team's next conference matches are against the best of the West, at San Jose and Fresno State Thursday and Saturday, and back home against Nevada Oct. 27. The Wahine also play a non-conference match at San Diego State Wednesday.
In the first NCAA West Region rating, Hawai'i is third (behind Long Beach State and Colorado State), Nevada sixth and San Jose State ninth. Since that rating, which is used to seed the NCAA Tournament, Nevada lost at Fresno and San Jose.
That leap-frogged the Wahine into first in the West, and left them the only WAC team with a perfect conference record. That is not unusual — they are 75-1 in the WAC regular season since joining the conference in 1996. The game loss to UTEP was — UH hadn't dropped a WAC game in nearly a year.
It wasn't all Willoughby Friday. Lauren Duggins was in on seven of the Wahine's 11 stuffs and contributed 18 digs, including three at point-blank range when the UH block failed to materialize. Sophomore Melissa Villaroman, a 5-foot-6 defensive specialist, got her first collegiate kill, slamming the ball down untouched in Game 1.
QUICK SETS: Punahou graduate Lindy Vivas earned her 200th coaching victory Monday when Fresno State swept SMU. ... Former Wahine Therese Crawford had 24 kills in Team USA's 27-29, 28-26, 24-26, 25-19, 15-12 victory over Cuba Friday in the NORCECA Zone Championships. Former UH All-Americans Robyn Ah Mow and Heather Bown also started for the U.S. The tournament is in the Dominican Republic. ... Third-ranked USC defeated fourth-ranked Stanford, 28-30, 30-28, 30-22, 30-26, Friday in a Pac-10 match. ... UTEP brought 17 cheerleaders and its mascot to Friday's match.
