Wahine stop Kansas State

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

When the future of University of Hawai'i Wahine volleyball was at its bleakest last night, Margaret Vakasausau set it right.

Jennifer Carey and Lauren Duggins block a shot by Kansas State's Jayne Christen during last night's match at the Stan Sheriff Center. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The home opener was watched by 5,273 at Stan Sheriff Center. For two games, the crowd watched its Wahine get whipped, just as they had last week against top-ranked Nebraska and No. 4 Wisconsin.

But in the third, Vakasausau replaced Jennifer Carey at setter and Tanja Nikolic, Hawai'i's only senior, burst out of a hitting slump to complement Kim Willoughby, who finished with a match-high 24 kills.

"The tempo of Margaret's sets are a little quicker," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "Her location on the four-set (left) has always been good. I didn't think Kim was getting much to hit at."

Vakasausau's positive presence coaxed a comatose offense awake and first-year middles Melody Eckmier (10 blocks) and Lauren Duggins (eight) started doing their stuff, as UH committed its block outside.

The kicker though, might have come from far off the net. With Hawai'i up 12-7 in the third, and Kansas State threatening, transfer Hedder Ilustre — in her first match playing middle back defense —came up with three spectacular digs on the same play.

"That series just ignited everybody," Shoji said.

Willoughby finally thanked her with a vicious slam to end the rally. The Wahine never let Kansas State get away again in the new fulltime rally-scoring format. They nursed early advantages in Games 3 and 4, then blew the Wildcats away in the fifth, as Duggins served eight straight points.

"We just altered our look," Vakasausau said. "The team was down, having lost eight straight games. There's no way we were going to lose at home and I expressed that to our team and each one of them wanted the ball.

"I was just the link. When everyone expresses that type of aggression and anger, you can't do anything but control it in a positive way."

It was a radical departure from Game 1, when Hawai'i's only lead was 3-2 and its offense was obsolete. Kansas State, which has gone to the last five NCAA Tournaments, missed six serves and still won going away, hitting a torrid .455 against a UH defense that was block-less.

That changed quickly in the second game, but the result did not. A missed serve and three straight Wahine stuffs gave them a 4-zip advantage. It wasn't enough. The Wildcats went on a 9-2 run, thanks to five UH errors, to go up 21-17. Kansas State missed four more serves down the stretch — it missed 22 in all — but the Wahine still couldn't close.

Then came Vakasausau and Nikolic, who buried eight kills in the third game, including the winner off a brilliant set. She finished with 17 and hit nearly .500 in the final three games. Eckmier, Duggins and Maja Gustin tripled their offensive output in the same time frame.

Willoughby was the constant, bombing Kansas State from all corners of the court and taking 65 swings.

"Quite honestly, I just thought Hawai'i started playing better," said Suzie Fritz, in her first month as Kansas State's interim head coach. "Vakasausau was tremendous, but she didn't change the way we approached things. What they did remained fairly consistent.

"We were on their tendencies early, and then they just started passing real well and they were able to set more quicks, which opened up their left sides. They just really started playing well."

QUICK SETS: Hawai'i has won the last two Classics, and six overall. UCLA has won five, and was second to UH the past two years. ... While Suzie Fritz looks for her first victory as Kansas State's head coach tonight, Bruin coach Andy Banachowski will be going for his 900th.