Wahine stop SMU
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Another hour and Southern Methodist might have been tenacious enough to take a game off the University of Hawai'i yesterday.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Instead, the 13th-ranked Wahine swept to a 30-16, 30-21, 30-26 volleyball victory that left their winning streak at nine and their conference dominance intact. They have won their last 46 against Western Athletic Conference opponents.
Southern Methodist's Leslie Lasiter tries to get the ball past Hawai'i's Jennifer Carey (4) and Melody Eckmier (8).
The matinee match, watched by a season-low 3,852 at Stan Sheriff Center, brought together the first-place teams in the WAC divisions. SMU (7-9) flew home still holding a share of the East lead at 2-3, while UH (12-4) extended its best-of-the-West standing to 5-0.
The Mustangs provided a show, popping up 49 digs to constantly frustrate the Wahine offense. In stark contrast, Hawai'i's Kim Willoughby (22 kills) and Maja Gustin (13) often seemed to be trying to pop the ball, and finished with two-thirds of the UH offense.
"Kim just goes over us," SMU coach Lisa Seifert. "There's nothing we can do except dig her and we did that pretty well."
Hawai'i took control of the first game early, forcing Seifert to take time out four minutes into the match. The Mustangs stuck around longer in Game 2, until a four-point UH surge closed with Lauren Duggins' ace making it 15-10.
At that juncture, Seifert brought all-conference senior Tara Hatfield in to set. UH coach Dave Shoji had gone to Jennifer Carey nine points earlier when starting setter Margaret Vakasausau went down and aggravated a hip contusion suffered two weeks ago.
"Margaret just needs some rest," Shoji said. "That bruise is really ugly, like eight inches across and nasty looking. It jars her whole body when she touches it. I had to get her out of there."
SMU hardly noticed she was missing. Carey, who started the past two years, set the Wahine to a .361 hitting percentage for the match and helped Willoughby and Gustin hit nearly .600 in the game.
Hatfield's presence noticeably enhanced the Mustangs' offense. She was fourth in the country in assists per game last season — the first SMU player ever ranked nationally — and gave their attack enough new options to hold off the UH block.
Seifert sat her early because, after a historical first victory over San Jose State 10 days ago, the Mustangs had lost twice and the coach questioned her senior's leadership skills. In a long talk on the bench early in Game 2, Hatfield convinced Seifert she had what it took.
Hawai'i didn't have another block in that game. It roofed four balls in Game 3 — out-blocking SMU 12-2 for the match — and needed them all when the Mustangs scored four straight to close to 25-24.
Then they missed their serve, and a chance to tie. They missed 11 serves in all, with just two aces.
"That was the most disappointing thing," Seifert said. "We had to serve tough. It's a no-brainer when you come in here. Against Hawai'i, you've got to go after it. And we came in with a good service ace to service error ratio (20-22)."
It was the last chance the Mustangs had. After an SMU kill, Gustin knocked down an off-speed shot and assisted Duggins on her sixth stuff to make it 28-25. Hatfield's second-hit shot found the net to give UH match point. After one last SMU kill, Carey backhanded a second hit over and down.
"They kept hanging around in Game 2 and 3," Shoji said. "It felt like the team thought this was going to be easy so we just kept having them focus and try to grind it out. Their (the Mustangs') defense popped a lot of balls up."
Hawai'i is away all this week. It plays a non-conference match Wednesday at San Diego State, then goes to San Jose State Thursday and Fresno State Saturday. The Spartans and Bulldogs are tied for second in the West at 6-1.
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