Rainbows were confident playing against the odds
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
LINCOLN, Neb. — Imagine a place far from home and filled with big people in red who all want you to lose. Then imagine having the game and guts to win anyway and go to volleyball's final four.
Hawai'i's Rainbow Wahine didn't imagine any of this. They were collectively confident as they dismantled fourth-ranked Nebraska last night in the Cornhuskers' little house of horrors.
"Every one of us felt confident," UH coach Dave Shoji said, "but no one said it."
Until Nebraska called time down 13-10 in the fourth and final game.
"I remember going into the huddle and saying 'Bring me home now,' " said UH All-American Kim Willoughby, who grew up 45 minutes from New Orleans, where the NCAA Championship starts Thursday. "I'm ready to go home now."
The Rainbows finished off the Huskers, whose schedule might have set them up for the fall. Their only loss before last night came against top-ranked USC Sept. 2. They had barely broken a sweat since.
"When we played Stanford in November it was the first time we were really challenged and we felt it really helped us," Shoji said. "I didn't think Nebraska had played a team like that late in the season. I felt if we put pressure on them and they hadn't seen that type of pressure since early September ... maybe they wouldn't be able to deal with it."
He convinced his team of it. Shoji's final words to them before they took the Coliseum court were that he felt they had the psychological advantage because of all the pressure the Cornhuskers are under here. Hawai'i found that out first-hand when it lost regional matches in 1995 and '99 before its own packed house.
He also told them to enjoy themselves and "let it fly" in a "terrific atmosphere" that might never be duplicated.
His players were comfortable enough in this very foreign place to take it to heart.
"Everything seemed surreal to me," senior captain Margaret Vakasausau said. "I still think we're in Honolulu. Jen (Carey) and I were talking today about how fearless we felt — just play and have fun, we know we can win. It wasn't about being nervous like when we were sophomores. It was about being older and more mature."
The feeling was contagious. Willoughby said she woke up with "so much confidence in myself and my team that it's unbelievable. I'd never felt like this before."
Everyone caught it, and kept it through every rocket Nebraska sent their way.
"There wasn't one moment we weren't communicating, even though we had to scream at each other basically," Carey said. "And when I looked at their side no one was communicating. We just looked each other in the eye, we were in each other's faces, touching each other. We were not finished yet. We pulled together and our heart and determination came out.
"We had nothing else to lose. Margaret and I don't have any more shots. If we don't leave it all on the floor, what's the point? It's a weird feeling being a senior and having such a sense of calm."
When his team — once down 4-9 — tied it at 15 in Game 3, Shoji knew he had the Huskers where he wanted them.
"That's the position I wanted to get in," Shoji said. "Let's see how they react. ... I really do feel it was a battle of wills. We're at a point where we really believe in ourselves. Against Utah and Washington we had to get tough and we did. We felt confident coming here in this situation. I knew there'd be times we'd be down and have to come up with something."
The Rainbow Wahine came up big. They knew they would.
QUICK SETS: Fifth-seeded Florida will play top-seeded Southern California in the other final-four semifinal Thursday. The Gators ousted 14th-seeded Washington in four games in yesterday's East Regional final in Gainesville. ... Hawai'i has won four national championships, the last in 1987. ... The hotel the Rainbow Wahine stayed in this week took on a new look Friday when Susie Boogaard's father, John, hung a "Go Bows" banner next to the "Go Big Red" banners that hang over the atrium permanently. When Hawai'i returned to the hotel last night, the "Go Bows" banner was gone. ... Dave Shoji's in-laws drove in from North Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska to cheer for Hawai'i. They took up seven rooms in the all-suite hotel. ... UH athletic director Herman Frazier and President Evan Dobelle flew in for the match. ... Neither Nebraska nor Hawai'i had lost a postseason game until last night. ... Jennifer Carey and Margaret Vakasausau, Hawai'i's four-year seniors, are 122-11 going into the final four. ... The UH series with the Huskers is now tied at 5.
