BYU-Hawai'i hammers New Haven to reach semis

By Jeremy Heath
Special to The Advertiser

CANYON, Texas — Ashley Moeai was almost unstoppable and the Brigham Young University-Hawai'i block was almost impenetrable in a lopsided win yesterday.

The Seasiders (25-2) walked out of the NCAA Division II quarterfinal round with a dominant, 30-10, 30-15, 30-18, victory over the Chargers of New Haven, Conn. (34-6).

Moeai, a junior middle blocker/outside hitter, pounded 21 kills on 28 attempts for a .679 attack percentage. Defensively she had five block assists.

Senior New Haven outside hitter Kate Barile said the Chargers just couldn't find an answer for Moeai.

"She was just doing a great job hitting around us, hitting through us and finding the holes," Barile said.

Moeai said her performance had everything to do with sophomore setter Kaala Lo's ability to make good reads and put the ball in the right place with coach Wilfred Navalta's game plan.

"I think I just had a lot more opportunities today. My setters did a great job," Moeai said. "We saw the tape (of New Haven) and we literally had an outline laid out with their strengths and weaknesses when we got there."

Every time the Chargers tried to get their block inside to Moeai, Lo would get the ball outside to freshman outside hitter Yu Chuan Weng. Weng kept the Chargers' defense off-balance with a combination of power, hitting through the blocks and accuracy, finishing with 12 kills.

Defensively, the Seasiders seldom had to rely on their back row. New Haven, a team that relies heavily on quickness, just didn't have the power to hit through the Seasiders' block. In fact, some Seasiders' miscues made the final score closer than the match actually was. New Haven scored just 23 of its 43 points on plays that didn't involve BYU-Hawai'i errors.

"Yeah, we played pretty good defense," Navalta said. "We saw the tape, and it's always an advantage to see their strengths and weaknesses. We had some idea coming in. I thought they might get by our block, but our block was great and they couldn't get to our back lines."

BYUH freshman Chun Yi Lin finished with seven kills in just 13 attempts, attacking at a .538 clip. Teammate Mariah Goselin had five kills and three block assists.

BYU-Hawai'i is scheduled to play Tampa, Fla. (28-6) in the semifinal round today at 1 p.m. (HST). Tampa beat University of Northern Colorado, 30-28, 24-30, 30-24, 32-30, yesterday.

The Seasiders beat Tampa in the finals of the 1999 national tournament in Battle Creek, Mich.

Tampa head coach Chris Catanach watched the Seasiders-Chargers match and said his team could have problems with the Seasiders' attack.

"I don't know that we match up real well. They have two really outstanding players and some role players," Catanach said. "We have a real daunting task ahead of us, but maybe we can get it done. Hopefully that (four-hour) time difference will kick in about five o'clock tomorrow."