Future looks bright for UH
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS — This was where Hawai'i wanted to end its volleyball season, just not how. The Rainbow Wahine outlasted more than 300 teams to charge into the NCAA Championship semifinals Thursday, but could not beat Stanford.
Not now and not in November, when the 'Bows' other loss came against the Cardinal — the only team that could match their lethal left-side attack. That and a defense that was not out-dug all season were not enough against Stanford, which fell to top-ranked Southern California in yesterday's final. Hawai'i needed at least one more element to have a chance at its fifth national championship.
"We didn't get enough out of our middle," UH coach Dave Shoji admitted. "I don't think that's a flaw on our team, that's just what we had to work with. It's just how this team evolved. It would be nice to have a Heather Bown in there, we just didn't have it.
"It was good enough to win 34 matches and not good enough to win two."
The Rainbow Wahine will be back next season with seven seniors. That includes All-Americans Lily Kahumoku and Kim Willoughby, and middles Maja Gustin and Karin Lundqvist, who each lost half this season to injury, and Lauren Duggins, who blossomed into a third-team All-American this season.
Shoji all but guaranteed — "There is no doubt in mind" — a 2003 final-four appearance at Reunion Center in Dallas. If he's right, it will be with freshman setter Cayley Thurlby or Kanoe Kamana'o.
Hawai'i will lose seniors Hedder Ilustre, a defensive specialist, and Margaret Vakasausau and Jennifer Carey, whose setting took the Rainbows to No. 1 nationally in kills, hitting and assists. Their loss creates a void that goes much deeper than digs and offense. Carey was the reliable nurturer and Ilustre an always-upbeat inspiration. Vakasausau, the captain and constant source of support, was unique in Shoji's eyes.
"She was the heart of this team," Shoji said. "Everything had to go through her. She had a lot of responsibility. You hear a lot about leaders and how they step up. Margaret was born like this. A lot of captains and seniors have to work at being leaders. Margaret didn't have to work at it. When she spoke, everybody listened."
Together, the seniors helped hold Hawai'i together through 33,000 frequent-flier miles and a year where the pressure intensified as the postseason closed in.
"I'll really miss the chemistry we had with them," Duggins said. "They were all awesome. All three have a great sense of humor. They made us laugh constantly. We really wanted to make their last match a winning one. What can you do?"
Be patient, according to Shoji — with Thurlby, a relentless worker, and Kamana'o, a 5-foot-8 Iolani senior with a gifted game and junior national experience as a libero. They will need transition time.
The Rainbow Wahine lost just 10 games all season — six to Stanford.
"They truly love the game," Shoji said. "Often at the end of the year players are tired of practicing or playing. But the majority came every night with everything. I never got the feeling they didn't want to be there or their enthusiasm for the game wasn't there. Obviously we were winning and things were going well, but that's because they pretty much brought their game every night."
They will need to bring it again in eight months. Hawai'i will host the State Farm/NACWAA Tournament Aug. 22-23 — a week before every other team opens. The tournament's other three teams will be announced next month and usually include at least half the final-four participants. Stanford will be back in the Stan Sheriff Center in September along with Minnesota, Pacific and Louisville. Arizona plays at Hawai'i in November. The Rainbow Wahine will travel to Louisiana State — to help Willoughby celebrate her final year — during the WAC season and UNLV after the WAC Tournament. Willoughby is a native of Napoleonville, La.
But for now, even after what happened here, Shoji wants to enjoy the moment. He wants the same for his team.
"We've got to look back and all be happy with the season we had," he said. "We're not happy with the outcome, but the season ... I think our team just grew as a family. Even at the end everybody was sticking together. We won as a team and we lost as a team. Everybody is still best friends. That's how I want to remember it. I hope that's how they remember it too."
The Rainbow Wahine might be way ahead of him. Willoughby turned to Kahumoku in the tunnel following Thursday's loss and told her this: "OK, tomorrow we start training for next year."
QUICK SETS: Stanford sophomore Ogonna Nnamani provided two of the funniest moments at the tournament. At the press conference after Thursday's match someone asked if Kim Willoughby hit the ball as hard as it appeared. "Oh yeah," Nnamani piped up, "she messed up my manicure." At the All-American banquet the following day, Nnamani recalled the bus ride to the semifinal and how she "hit the deck" when she heard sirens and saw lights. Her teammates had to tell her the team was getting a police escort. ... Rainbow Wahine Lauren Duggins had no sympathy for Nnamani, who tore Duggins' thumbnail off with one kill. ...ÊThe face of volleyball is changing. There were only two players from Southern California on the 12-woman All-America first team. The national Players of the Year were from Columbia (two-year schools), Kenya (NAIA), Illinois (Division III), Colorado (DII) and Utah (DI). ... Along with Kanoe Kamana'o and Cayley Thurlby, who red-shirted this season, Hawai'i will bring in freshmen Alecia Arnott (6-foot hitter from La Pietra) and Kari Gregory (6-3 middle from Las Vegas) next year. ... UH sold 5,700 season tickets this season. ... USC, which won its first NCAA title in 21 years yesterday, drew 10,264 all season.
