UH holds off Washington to reach regional

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's Lily Kahumoku is greeted at the net by the block of Washington's Gretchen Maurer . Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The tears that stained her face were of joy, after a pulsating 30-26, 39-37, 30-25 victory that catapulted second-ranked Hawai'i (32-1) into its 19th NCAA Volleyball Championship regional. The sixth-seeded Rainbows play 11th-seeded North Carolina in a Central Regional semifinal at a site to be named this weekend.

"We are ecstatic about going to the regional," said UH coach Dave Shoji, who won the last of his four national championships 15 years ago. "We don't care where it is."

Chances are, the 5,774 that watched UH hush the Huskies at the end of each game last night saw the final home match of the season. It was one of the finest, with the Pac-10's fifth-place team pushing the school that owns the WAC every moment. The decisive second game was 40 minutes of mayhem. In the 10-minute intermission that followed, the Rainbow locker room was "bedlam" according to Shoji.

"It was a great atmosphere," Shoji said. "I don't think anybody thought about losing that match after that game."

The Huskies (20-11) are the second of eight Pac-10 tournament teams to go home. They lost in four hard-fought games here three months ago and were just as tenacious last night. Ultimately, they just couldn't handle Hawai'i.

Washington's wicked jump serving and irritating block forced Rainbow All-Americas Lily Kahumoku (22 kills) and Kim Willoughby (19) to create kills most of the night. Both hit some 100 percentage points below their average. Washington also frustrated middle Lauren Duggins, who had been all but untouchable offensively the last five matches.

But it could not stop the All-Americans when it absolutely had to —"They were good when they had to be," Washington coach Jim McLaughlin said — and it never really slowed Maja Gustin (12-for-23). Eventually the Hawai'i defense, anchored by Willoughby and libero Melissa Villaroman, wore the Huskies down.

"At times, it was unreal," McLaughlin said. "There was some big-time volleyball going on. Hawai'i elevated when they had to and they were impressive. I also think it came down to a point where it was who was going to win the defense-to-offense transition. We were creating some opportunities. We weren't finishing."

The analytical McLaughlin, who guided USC to a men's NCAA Championship, said his team wins when it converts 42 percent of its offensive opportunities off defensive transition. His statistics had the Huskies at less than 10 percent last night. The Rainbow Wahine — the only team outside the Pac-10 to beat UW this season — won that battle convincingly, particularly at the end of each game.

Both teams dug deepest in a riveting Game 2. Washington led early, but the Rainbow Wahine caught up at 19. There would be 16 more ties as teams ran out of substitutions but never comebacks.

The Huskies pulled ahead 28-26, but Kaitlin Leck missed her serve and UW mangled the return of Kahumoku's to tie it at 28. Washington got to 29 first, but Sanja Tomasevic hit into the net on the first game point.

There would be nine more. The Huskies served for the game six more times and the Rainbows' three. In the end, UH freshman Susie Boogaard, inserted for her offense, had to play back row because UH was low on subs. She came up with four digs, including one "pancake" save with the back of her hand. Setter Margaret Vakasausau, who hasn't played front row in weeks, had to and shoved down a kill to tie it at 35.

UH denied Washington in a variety of ways at game point — Vakasausau, kills by Gustin, Willoughby (twice) and Kahumoku, and another missed serve. Paige Benjamin's 12th kill denied one Hawai'i game point and a block another. Finally, after a Kahumoku dig, Willoughby crushed the winner to end it after 40 minutes.

"We knew Kim and Lily wouldn't hit 40 percent tonight," Shoji said. "They had to work really, really hard to get their kills and they did. They did an awesome job."

The Rainbow Wahine celebrated their torrid second-game finish with another deep-freeze start, dropping into a 9-4 hole to start Game 3. Willoughby dragged them up with a breathtaking run, scoring five in a row on a kill, three serves the Huskies couldn't handle and one ball they let drop.

When it was over, Hawai'i led 14-12 and never let Washington pull even again. It was similar to the first game, when the 'Bows shrugged off the Huskies' 3-0 surge with a 4-0 run of their own to go up 28-23. Hedder Ilustre, with three digs off her toes, and Villaroman instigated that crucial charge.

Carey buried game point by blocking Tomasevic so completely the ball bounced off her head. The Huskies' most prolific hitter after Benjamin hit zero for the night. Shoji attributed that, and Tomasevic's sub-par passing, to Carey's influence at the net. She finished with six stuffs and Duggins seven. The rest of the Rainbows struggled to put up a solid roof, but soft-blocked Washington into .209 hitting.