Wahine sweep Boise State
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
It has been a decade since Fred Sturm coached volleyball here. Back then, his players wore red, white and blue and were on their way to the Olympics. Before he took over the U.S. men's national team, he led the Stanford women to four final fours.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Any similarity between those squads and the Boise State team 11th-ranked University of Hawai'i beat up on last night is purely coincidental.
Hawai'i's Lauren Duggins, left, and Maja Gustin, right, go up against Boise State's Mindy Bennett (4) in the first game.
The Wahine (17-4) ran their winning streak to 14 with a 30-16, 30-22, 30-16 victory over the Broncos (1-18), whose only victory came over Louisiana Tech. Those teams are in their first season in the Western Athletic Conference, where Hawai'i has won its last 50 matches and is 9-0 this season.
With little drama to amuse them, the 4,580 at Stan Sheriff Center for yesterday's early evening match made their own fun. The highlight of the 87-minute match came during the break between Games 2 and 3, when Wahine Jennifer Carey snuck into a contest and helped a blindfolded fan win a Las Vegas trip.
Sturm doesn't have a senior on his roster and started four freshmen. The Broncos are last in every WAC offensive category and their best hitter — sophomore Megan Tranter — had seven kills and six errors last night.
"I'm sure it's hard on Fred," said UH coach Dave Shoji, a close friend of Sturm's. "He's coached at a very high level and now he's really back to basics and doing a lot teaching. He's a really good tactical coach, but he's had to re-gear here and get back to technique. I'm sure it's a challenge for him and he probably likes it."
Sturm's success at Stanford, and with the national men's programs in the United States and Croatia, bode well for Boise. He is willing to be patient.
"From the very beginning I anticipated it would be a developmental type of a deal and it's proved to be exactly that," Sturm said. "One of the best things about this year is everybody has been able to play and get a lot of quality time. Hopefully sometime in the future — I don't know how far away —Êit will help us."
The Broncos were where they wanted to be for two-thirds of Game 1 last night, most of Game 2 and five minutes of Game 3. The rest of the time, the Wahine had them right where they wanted them.
The Wahine scored the last 10 points of Game 1. Maja Gustin served nine, with Kim Willoughby getting her only block and five of her match-high 17 kills in the closing surge.
Game 2 was tied 13 times, the last at 22-all. Melissa Villaroman served the final eight, with Gustin launching three of her 14 kills. Gustin also had four aces and hit .619, while Willoughby had her 15th double-double of the season before Game 3 started.
That game ended quickly, as Hawai'i broke away early and never stumbled, despite experimenting at half the positions.
Hawai'i's only senior, Tanja Nikolic, played three positions in the match, hit .700 (7-for-10) in two games, then got the rare pleasure of going home to her parents. Neda and Zoran Nikolic saw her play Saturday for the first time in nearly four years. They are here from Croatia for a month.
"They were so surprised and excited Saturday," Tanja said. "My mom said she had tears in her eyes. They never saw anyplace this great. The fans are amazing. That's why all us girls come here, because the crowd is so meaningful to us."
