Wahine to play NCAA champs twice this year
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
In a scheduling quirk that guarantees an upgrade, defending NCAA champion Stanford will play in Hawai'i more than any Western Athletic Conference volleyball team this year.
Advertiser library photo • Dec. 17, 2001
The Cardinal, with Olympian and national Player of the Year Logan Tom, play the Rainbow Wahine April 26 in an offseason exhibition and Nov. 10 during the regular season. Stanford was 33-2 last year and upset previously unbeaten Long Beach State in the NCAA championship.
Hawai'i volleyball All-American Kim Willoughby took the past week off after finishing her basketball season March 14.
The Cardinal were No. 1 in the final USA Today/AVCA Top 25, while the University of Hawai'i was 13th, at 29-6. The Rainbow Wahine's 2002 schedule also includes No. 9 UCLA, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 23 Colorado, No. 24 San Jose State, No. 22 Brigham Young and No. 15 Utah.
The Bruins, Buckeyes and Buffaloes help UH open the season, Aug. 30-Sept. 2, in the 15th annual Hawaiian Airlines Classic. The Rainbows end their season at BYU and Utah, following the WAC Tournament in Reno, Nev.
The NCAA has added the libero position to the women's game for the 2002 season. The designated backrow player is used in international competition and was adopted by the men's collegiate game in 2000.
Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji used Melissa Villaroman and Hedder Ilustre extensively in the backrow last season.
Advertiser library photo
"The libero spot is going to create competition because the best one gets to play more than the other," Shoji said. "We still get 12 subs, so I'm not sure exactly how we'll use it. It doesn't really help us because we have two or three really good backrow players. If you have just one, it's to your advantage."
Coach Dave Shoji is undecided on how he'll use his libero.
UH lost just one player (senior Tanja Nikolic) from last year. It started spring practice last Monday. Shoji gave All-American Kim Willoughby — whose basketball season ended March 14 — the week off. Everyone else is in the gym, including 2001 All-American Lily Kahumoku, who took last season off.
Hawai'i will travel to Las Vegas for a tournament April 20. Its spring season ends with the Stanford match. Tickets are on sale for that exhibition. All seats are general admission, at $7 for upper level and $6 for lower.
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QUICK SETS: Former Rainbow Wahine Jen Roberts left the 2002 USA Women's training team to pursue other interests. Hawai'i Pacific's Nia Tuitele and Kea Wong are still with the team. ... They will be competing for a spot on a squad that will be touring Japan in late May and a potential place on the U.S. National Team that will be competing at the Women's World Championship, Aug. 30-Sept. 15 in Germany. Others vying for those teams will include players from the last U.S. National Team as well as from the U.S. Professional Volleyball league (USPV). ... With most of the established national team players competing overseas — including former Rainbows Robyn Ah Mow, Heather Bown and Therese Crawford — and in the USPV, the training team will also play in three domestic exhibition matches against a Chinese team, Tianjin, April 18-20. ... Roberts is an assistant coach at Biola University in California.
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