Hawai'i, other teams aim to close gap on USC
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Only four teams opened the women's collegiate volleyball season last weekend, but the worst fears of all but one of the 350 or so Division I schools were realized.
• WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center • Friday 5 p.m., No. 22 Louisville (0-0) vs. No. 13 UCLA (0-0) 7 p.m. (approximately), No. 6 Minnesota (0-0) vs. No. 2 HAWAI'I (1-1) • Saturday 1 p.m., Minnesota vs. Louisville. • Sunday 3 p.m., UCLA vs. Minnesota 5 p.m. (approximately), Louisville vs. HAWAI'I • Monday 4 p.m., UCLA vs. HAWAI'I • TV/RADIO: K5 (Channel 5) will broadcast all matches live and 1420 AM will broadcast UH matches live • TICKETS: $16 lower level, $13 upper level, $9 senior citizens (65-older), $6 students 4-18 and $3 UH System students. Saturday's match is free • PARKING: $3
The gap has grown between Southern California and the rest of the country. And the gap was large last year, when the Trojans dominated the final four to capture their first national title in 21 years.
16th annual Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic
Mary Wise, coach of third-ranked Florida, brought up "the gap" Friday after her team was flattened by what she called USC's "unique talents."
"What we'll do is go back and work hard and hope we have an opportunity to play USC again," Wise said. "If that happens, it will be just one match at some point in the NCAA Tournament. Any team that has to play USC in a best-of-seven series, USC wins. But in our sport, it's just a single match."
Coach Dave Shoji, who guides his second-ranked Rainbows into the 16th annual Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic on Friday, spoke of the gap after watching his team get swept by USC in last Saturday's State Farm Classic final.
It was the first time in the nine-year history of the tournament, designed as a "preseason final four," that a team had not lost a game.
On the bright side for USC's opponents, the only Classic champion that went on to win an NCAA title was Long Beach State in 1998. Four champions have lost in the NCAA final, including Hawai'i in 1996.
After admitting "obviously we have a long way to go" and venturing with little enthusiasm — twice — that "I think we'll get better," Shoji echoed Wise's feelings.
"We need to close that gap that Mary Wise talked about," Shoji said. "We need to close the gap on SC and maybe create a gap between us and Florida and Stanford. That would be our goal right now — close the gap on SC and stay ahead of everybody else."
Hawai'i opens this week's tournament against sixth-ranked Minnesota and plays 22nd-ranked Louisville on Sunday and 13th-ranked UCLA on Monday. The Rainbow Wahine have won the Hawaiian Airlines Classic seven times and the Bruins six.
The Golden Gophers are 0-5 against UH. But, they have their highest preseason ranking in history and won the Big Ten for the first time last year, advancing to the Sweet 16.
They are a unanimous pick to win the conference again with all-region players Cassie Busse, Paula Gentil and Lindsey Taatjes, who led them in kills, digs and assists last season.
Louisville shared the Conference USA regular-season title last year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament's second round. Bing Sun, who averaged 4 1/2 kills a game, is the conference's Preseason Player of the Year.
UCLA also advanced to the NCAA second round last year, when it was 20-14 and fifth in the Pac-10. The Bruins have five starters back.
The Rainbow Wahine only lost their setters from last season, but are still searching for a lineup — and their block. Against USC, the 'Bows hit .109 and were out-blocked 14-5.
They tried four players on the right side last week, including freshman Alicia Arnott and middle blocker Karin Lundqvist. Shoji said he still does not have a favorite, but does not expect to red-shirt Arnott.
Two-time All-America Lily Kahumoku suffered through one of her worst weekends as a Rainbow, hitting .119 and struggling to find a seam in the Trojans' big block.
"This will be good for her, she'll bounce back," Shoji said. "We haven't created blocks like that in practice. We can't — we don't have anybody 6-6 or 6-5. But we have to find a way because we hope to see that block again."
