BYUH sweeps to national title

By Jeremy Heath
Special to The Advertiser

CANYON, Texas — The Brigham Young-Hawai'i Seasiders won their second NCAA Division II national volleyball title in four years last night, and coach Wilfred Navalta said winning this one felt better than winning the first.

"I think the second one is definitely sweeter than the first," Navalta said. "The first time (1999) we had a very experienced team and dominated people. But this team really surprised me because it's such a young group. I think this is a very special group.

"My feelings coming into the year were kind of up-and-down. I knew we had the talent, but I was thinking we were going to have a kind of helter-skelter year (because of youth). But the amazing thing about this team is that we played well when we needed to."

The Seasiders (27-2) overpowered, out-finessed and outwitted the Truman State Bulldogs, 30-21, 30-24, 30-21, in front of about 1,300 fans at the West Texas A&M University Event Center.

It was the 10th national title for BYUH; eight were won while the Seasiders were members of the NAIA.

"We really had to have a good game plan to neutralize their strengths. Truman's strengths were their intelligence and their smartness," Navalta said. "We had to play really smart volleyball to beat them."

Navalta used five freshmen, two sophomores, one junior and two seniors last night.

Freshman Chun Yi Lin and junior Ashley Moeai supplied the power with 23 and 15 kills, respectively, off Kaala Lo's well-placed sets. Yu Chuan Weng, the AVCA Freshman of the Year, provided balance with nine well-timed kills from the outside.

But it was the hustle of senior outside hitter Leiau Meatoga that helped the No. 3 Seasiders close the deal. Down 11-7 in Game 3, the Seasiders had lost momentum, and Truman's outside hitters started finding the floor consistently. The teams got locked in a long rally until a wild Seasiders' bump looked like it was going to end up landing on the scorers' table. Truman players slouched in relief — certain the ball would hit the floor.

But Meatoga not only tracked down the ball and saved it, she placed it right in front of the net and Moeai slammed it behind two shocked Truman defenders. The Seasiders eventually caught Truman at 12, and, following two more ties, were able to pull away.

Meatoga said she was just doing what she always tries to do.

"We're not supposed to let the ball drop. I'm not supposed to let it hit the floor. My first instinct was just to go get the ball," she said. "And if I get to a ball like that one and get it up, somebody had better get it down."

Moeai said she was able to make the play because Meatoga makes plays of that caliber all the time.

"I've seen Meatoga do amazing things," Moeai said. "She's like the Matrix."

One person who was taken by surprise was Truman libero Shelby Ortwerth, who had eight kills and 10 digs in the match.

"It caught me off guard, I know that. We were ready for a free ball," she said. "It definitely made a difference in the game."

Lo's performance in the semifinal and final not only earned her a spot on the all-tournament team but also earned the respect of Truman's players. Her pace changes and placement accuracy allowed Moeai, Lin and Weng to confuse the Truman defense,

"We couldn't get our timing. They hit it off-speed. They hit it hard. They hit it at different angles," Ortwerth said.

Lo finished with 45 of her team's 54 assists. Navalta said he wasn't surprised by her performance. He said there's a reason he relies on Lo to run his offense.

"She's the quarterback. She's like the point guard in basketball," he said. "She knew where the weaknesses were and she took advantage of them."

Lo, a sophomore from Mililani, said her performance reflects how she has matured as a player.

"I'm very excited. I'm just like very happy because I've improved so much in my game, and that has helped the team out a lot, compared to last year," Lo said. "And there was no doubt in my mind that we could make it this far after our two-week camp because I saw something in this team that was so different from last year. We just clicked a lot better and we got along very well."

Weng, Moeai and Lin joined Lo on the all-tournament team.

Truman finished 28-9.