Hawai'i will be Tulsa's first test

By Ann Miller
Associated Press

•	WAC volleyball WHO: Second-ranked Hawai'i (12-0, 2-0) vs. Tulsa (16-5, 1-2) WHEN: 7 p.m. tomorrow WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center TV/RADIO: KFVE (5) and 1420 AM live TICKETS: $12 lower bowl, $9 upper, $8 senior citizens and $5 students PARKING: $3

There is the good Golden Hurricane, which won 11 of its first 12, took a game off San Jose State, swept Boise State Thursday and is among the WAC's top five in every team statistic but one.

There is the bad Tulsa, which hit sub-.200 in four of its five losses, fell to volleyball unknowns Texas Pan-American and Cornell, and learned little in victories over teams such as Colgate, Centenary, Grambling, Alcorn State and Binghampton.

Unfortunately for Tulsa, the Rainbow Wahine usually bring out the worst in it. Hawai'i comes into tomorrow's 7 p.m. match unbeaten this season and looking for its 61th consecutive victory against a WAC team.

Seven of those have come against the 'Canes. The average score during sideout scoring was 15-6. In last year's rally-scoring matches, UH allowed Tulsa to score 20 just once.

Clearly the Golden Hurricane can be blown away by good teams. Scheduling weak ones has helped Tulsa's record — it won only nine all last year — and confidence so far this season. Whether that will last in the WAC is still in question.

"You need to challenge yourself and play some top 25 opponents or teams from good conferences," UH coach Dave Shoji says. "You aren't doing your team justice by scheduling all cream puffs. They're on the right track to try and give kids some confidence, but you've got to challenge them sometime."

Tulsa is led by 6-foot-2 sophomore Dana Weddle, who is averaging 3.7 kills and nearly a block a game. Setter Vanessa Thon, a 5-6 sophomore and the daughter of former major leaguer Dickie Thon, has a WAC-high 13 double-doubles.

The Rainbow Wahine are more worried about themselves at this point in the season. They take their first trip next week, to UTEP and SMU, then come home for non-conference matches against Notre Dame (Oct. 21-22).

"We've had really good practices all week and that's the key," Shoji says. "If we don't practice hard and try and elevate our game during the week then we really have not done our job or accomplished much because the games may or may not be challenging. We have worked hard this week."

Shoji expects to have all-region middle blocker Maja Gustin in practice for "limited action" next week. She has been out most of the season with a stress fracture in her foot. Gustin, now out of her walking cast, could make the first road trip.

QUICK SETS: In the latest national statistics, Hawai'i is among the top 10 in kills (1), assists (2), hitting percentage (2) and digs (8). ... Individually, Kim Willoughby is third in kills (6.27) and eighth in aces (0.95). ... Willoughby, a junior, needs 21 kills to catch Tita Ahuna at No. 5 on the career list, at 1,411. ... Rice sophomore Rebecca Pazo is WAC Player of the Week. She had 39 kills, 17 digs and hit .452 in sweeps of Boise State and Nevada last week.