Rainbow Wahine give Shoji his 800th victory
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
SALT LAKE CITY — In a tiny gym against a gifted team, Hawai'i hammered out all its frustrations last night as it headed into the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
The second-ranked Rainbow Wahine overcame 24th-ranked Utah in the first game and overwhelmed it in the next two, 31-29, 30-16, 30-18. The victory, before a raucous crowd of 1,065 at Crimson Court, made Hawai'i's Dave Shoji the fourth women's volleyball coach to win 800 matches. He is 800-146 in 28 years, with four national titles.
Shoji's celebration will be left for later. He and his team savored one of their grittiest performances last night, at the end of a five-match-in-six-days road trip and their regular season.
"It was one of the best comebacks we've had all year," Shoji said. "We got down and Utah was playing about as well as it can play, but our players didn't panic or get discouraged. They just hung in there. We finally started to slow them down and eventually took over."
Shoji called the match "exactly what we have to do to win." Against one of the country's best blocks, he got 32 kills from All-Americans Kim Willoughby (18) and Lily Kahumoku (14). But it was his middles and setters who ignited the offense and created the balance UH has been searching for all season.
Maja Gustin, who didn't play against Brigham Young Tuesday because of a bad leg, hit 5-for-7 in yesterday's first game. Lauren Duggins took off in the next two, finishing with 13 kills. With setters Jennifer Carey and Margaret Vakasausau making the middle a threat, the Utes' big blockers had to back off the outside. Willoughby and Kahumoku came back to blast them.
"Lauren hits for .478 so obviously she took full advantage," Utah coach Beth Launiere said. "Obviously everybody commits their blocks to Kim and Lily and if the other players get it done for them then there's a problem."
Hawai'i also showcased an effective block, with Carey (six stuffs) shutting down the right side, Duggins in on eight of UH's 11 roofs and Gustin touching balls on nearly every Utah swing. They held Mountain West co-Player of the Year Kim Turner to eight kills and suffocated Utah into .124 hitting.
The Rainbow Wahine (30-1) were ecstatic when it was over, and this one was all but over after they made their compelling charge in Game 1. The Utes (24-7), who won their second straight conference championship last weekend, did not know what hit them.
Hawai'i trailed by as many as six early in Game 1 with the Utes' block, particularly 6-foot-5 Lyndsey Phillips and the 6-2 Turner dominating its All-Americans. The Rainbows rallied behind their middles, finally catching up at 22. UH moved ahead 24-22 on kills by Gustin and Willoughby, each following a Duggins' dig.
The Utes found their way back and tied it at 25, 26, 27 and 28. Setter Kelsie Kartchner's kill gave Utah game point at 29-28, but she missed her jump serve to force the seventh tie. Duggins and Carey untied it with a stuff of Sylva Strzinkova, then won it by doing the same to Turner.
From there the Rainbow Wahine put their offense in cruise control and Utah's ran out of gas. UH had nine- and eight-point runs in Game 2 as Utah started to self-destruct. By the time the third game came around, the Rainbow Wahine were in a zone and nothing Utah did could take them out of it.
"To finish a five-game road trip with a match like this is great," Carey said. "It gives us a lot of confidence, especially going back home. ... We've talked all year about how, come postseason, it's going to be 29-29 and we're going to have to figure out how do we make the play? Finally, we were in that situation and we were able to do it. We got through it mentally and physically. That was really good to see."
That performance was all the celebration Shoji needed.
"Throwing out the loss (to Stanford), this has been an unbelievable season," Shoji said. "Almost every night out we have played well.
"We were challenged by a really good team tonight. We got down, we were patient, we came back to dominate. That has to happen. That's the kind of team we could see in the second round."
QUICK SETS: The NCAA Tournament brackets will be announced Sunday afternoon. If Hawai'i hosts first- and second-round matches, they will be played Thursday and Friday. ... Rainbow freshman Susie Boogaard turned her ankle during warmups and used crutches to get around the rest of the night. ... Utah coach Beth Launiere was honored before the match for getting her 250th victory last week. ... This is Hawai'i's 14th season with 30 or more victories. ... Jennifer Carey and Margaret Vakasausau, UH's senior setters, have gone 119-12 in their UH careers. ... Iolani graduate Taryn Horner is a defensive specialist for the Utes. She is also on the diving team. ... Lily Kahumoku's hair has returned to its original dark color. She was blonde the past two weeks. Kim Willoughby threatened to color her hair purple in Provo, but never made good. ... Hawai'i is now 10-0 against Utah. ... The Utes are 28-2 at home the past two seasons.
