UH cruises by Buckeyes in 3 games
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
In a volleyball opener that had to be an eye-opener, fourth-ranked University of Hawai'i basically emptied its bench and still swept ninth-ranked Ohio State, 30-24, 30-24, 30-23, last night in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
Before a crowd of 8,469 at Stan Sheriff Center, the Rainbow Wahine used 13 players to swat the preseason favorite in the Big Ten. That barely included all-region middle blocker Maja Gustin, who injured the bottom of her foot Tuesday and hardly practiced the next two days.
Lily Kahumoku, playing for the University of Hawai'i for the first time since the 2000 final four, picks up one of her two blocks against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Gustin only got in for the final 10 points of Game 1. Her imposing presence, along with two kills, was enough to lift Hawai'i in its most difficult moment. From there, the Rainbows roofed Stacey Gordon — last season's national Freshman of the Year — and relied on their depth and All-American Kim Willoughby. She went on a rampage in the second game, burying 11 of her 18 kills and turning the Buckeyes into bull's-eyes.
"I'm glad we hung in there in the middle of Game 1," UH coach Dave Shoji said, "because they were playing well and we started out a little shaky. Nobody panicked. That's a good sign."
OSU coach Jim Stone called the experience "educational" for his team — he started two freshmen — and hoped his players learned enough to get past 11th-ranked UCLA tomorrow. The Bruins stopped No. 21 Colorado, 30-15, 30-28, 26-30, 30-27, in the Classic's first match.
"We relied on a couple people way too much," Stone said. "And I think you learn how to block when you have to block good hitters. Hopefully we learned how to block trying to stop Kim, for sure, tonight."
The Buckeyes controlled the opening minutes, fell behind 23-18 when they got sloppy, then went on a 3-0 run that convinced Shoji to bring in Gustin for Karin Lundqvist, who was surprised to start her first match after transferring from Montana State. She figured finding out late about Gustin's absence helped her focus.
"But still, just standing there, listening to the cheering and looking around to see how amazing it really is to see so many people getting together just for fun ..." said Lundqvist, who had three stuffs. "That was an incredible feeling."
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
The quick appearance was all Hawai'i needed from Gustin. The all-region middle blocker remained on the bench the rest of the night. Shoji said she could start tomorrow against Colorado, but last night her teammates seized control in the second game when they figured out Gordon. She had eight kills in Game 1, but went 0-for-10 in Game 2, when she was stuffed three times as the Rainbow middles cheated outside on her.
Kim Willoughby, who had 18 kills for the Wahine, slams the ball past Ohio State’s Katie Virtue.
"I wouldn't even call it cheating," Stone said. "They were just releasing their middles, and for good reason. We weren't running much of a middle attack. They did a good job of adjusting. And at times our outside hitters just tried to hit the ball hard. They didn't hit smart at times."
Lauren Duggins, who had a double-double (10 kills, 11 digs) and hit .769, dropped in with Nohea Tano to stuff Gordon — loudly — and kick-start a five-point UH run that put it ahead 13-12 in Game 2.
Then Willoughby got extremely hot. The Rainbow junior buried eight of her 11 kills from 17-all. She hit through would-be blockers, carved shots around them, and simply went over them.
"I think maybe when we get into a rut, she gets motivated to do well — to pull us up and throw the other team down," Duggins said. "And she does really well."
The game ended in a flurry of Willoughby kills and two more big blocks of Gordon, by Duggins and freshman Susie Boogard, and a solo from Lundqvist. Hawai'i had six stuffs in the game and 10 in the match. The Buckeyes had but one in the final two games. They were never in the Game 3 aside from Gordon, who got her first kill in 45 minutes.
"It was ideal," Shoji said. "If I could get a lot of people in without compromising the win, that's what I wanted to do. We're deep. We have a lot of good players."
QUICK SETS: USA Volleyball representative Kent Ma presented Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji with his All-time Great Coach Award before last night's match. The award was announced in the summer. ... Until Tuesday, no Rainbow had sat out a minute of practice this season. That day, Maja Gustin suffered her foot injury and Lily Kahumoku came out after getting hit in the head with the volleyball. ... Hawai'i is 15-0 in Classic openers.
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