Rainbows make first road trip of season
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
For the first time since the Samorodok club team went back to Russia, the second-ranked Rainbow Wahine have more to worry about than clearing the volleyball court by 8:30 on game night.
In the next eight days, Hawai'i (13-0, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) plays its first road matches, meets a team that dropped out of the Top 25 after winning its first three matches and faces the toughest 1-2 punch in the WAC.
It all begins tomorrow in El Paso as the Rainbows try to win their 62nd consecutive WAC match. They play Saturday morning at Southern Methodist. Those teams pull in 700 fans a match — combined — while Hawai'i averages an NCAA-best 7,200.
"We've been very, very comfortable and it's about time we hit the road and find out what it's about," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "We have to do a little extra preparation. We don't have the crowd to pump us up. We've got to pump ourselves up on the Mainland.
"We have a really tough two weeks — six matches in eight days, four competitive matches here in five nights. It's a tough stretch for us, but it will be good for us. It will be a challenge."
UTEP (7-7) is 2-2 in the conference with four-game victories over San Jose State and Boise State. It took a game off the 'Bows last year and features a "Miner version" of UH All-Americans Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku.
Jennifer Abbruzzese, a junior from Texas, and Ana Beatriz Fontes, a sophomore from Brazil, are averaging four kills apiece and nearly seven digs together. UTEP is in the top four in both WAC statistics. Hawai'i leads all the WAC team statistics with the exception of aces.
The UTEP match begins at 3 p.m. HST tomorrow, the SMU match at 6 a.m. HST Saturday.
The Mustangs (8-10) are also 2-2 in the WAC East, their losses coming against Nevada in five games and San Jose State in four — 38-36 in the fourth. SMU is led offensively by senior middle blocker Leslie Lasiter and defensively by senior libero Kristen Peterson, who is first in the WAC with more than four digs a game.
The SMU match is so early, UH is scheduled to arrive home at 8:20 Saturday night and rest before non-conference matches against Notre Dame Monday and Tuesday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Fighting Irish (15-3) have been to the last 10 NCAA Tournaments. They fell out of the Top 25 after capturing the Shamrock Invitational opening weekend. Losses to Loyola Marymount, Colorado and Purdue have kept them out.
After Notre Dame, the Rainbow Wahine have one day to prepare for WAC Western Division matches with San Jose State next Thursday and Fresno State next Friday.
Maja Gustin, who has been out most of the season with a stress fracture in her foot, practiced yesterday for the first time in six weeks. She did not make the trip.
QUICK SETS: Both Hawai'i road matches will be broadcast on 1420 AM, beginning at 2:45 p.m. tomorrow and 5:45 a.m. Saturday. ... UH juniors Kim Willoughby (No. 4) and Lily Kahumoku (20) are both ranked among the national leaders in kills. Willoughby is also seventh in aces and 21st in hitting percentage. ... In the NCAA team statistics, Hawai'i is first in kills and hitting percentage, second in assists and 13th in digs. ... Willoughby now needs seven kills to tie Tita Ahuna at No. 5 on the career list, at 1,411. ... Tulsa's 12 points in the final game Sunday was not the lowest a UH opponent has scored in one-plus seasons of rally scoring. The Hurricanes had nine in Tulsa last year.
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