Real season begins for Rainbow Wahine

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

That two-month speed bump better known as the Western Athletic Conference volleyball season is history.

KAMANA'O

SHOJI

It is time for second-ranked Hawai'i — seeded second in the NCAA Championships that starts tomorrow — to bring back summer's sense of urgency.

Back then, the seven seniors kept reminding teammates to "have fun ... but play like it's national championship point every serve," freshman Alicia Arnott recalled. That idea has been echoed since, but against UTEP, it's tough to take too seriously.

The 'Bows don't doubt they can turn the intensity back up. Others are not so sure.

"They are going to have to be a real disciplined team that plays hard on every point from now on," said UNLV coach and former UH All-American, Deitre Collins after watching the 'Bows last week. "I don't think they have had to play every point hard in a long time."

That's a WAC fact. For the past two seasons, conference coaches have wondered out loud if they could push the Rainbow Wahine hard enough to help them in the postseason. That will change next year, when the seniors depart. But this season, only SMU, Nevada and San Jose State posed a serious threat and each lasted but an hour.

A year ago, UH's No. 2 national ranking by the coaches was good only for a No. 6 seeding by the NCAA Committee. This year, the Rainbows held their No. 2 ranking all season and had it verified Sunday by the NCAA, which also kept it home until the final four.

"We've gotten better since the beginning of the year," freshman setter Kanoe Kamana'o said. "It's hard to play at our best when we're not playing a team at the same caliber. We just have to push ourselves. Everyone knows we have to push through this to get to the final four. It's right around the corner."

Adds senior Nohea Tano: "We don't have any choice but to just be ready. At this point you've got to believe in yourself and what you've accomplished. I think we're ready."

Hawai'i finds out tomorrow when it plays Idaho, one of six Big West teams in the tournament. UH is the WAC's lone representative.

The Vandals are here thanks to a fast finish. They won 12 of their last 14, including an upset of No. 20 UC Santa Barbara — the Big West's only ranked team.

Idaho is Hawai'i's alter-ego. While the 'Bows are outside oriented because of All-Americans Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku, the Vandals' offense revolves around all-conference middles Anna-Marie Hammond, who is averaging a team-high 4.63 kills, and Sarah Meek, who leads the Big West in blocking.

Hammond and Meek should help Hawai'i immediately gauge if it has improved — over the last year and this WAC season.

"I really think our middle attack is better," UH coach Dave Shoji says. "Lauren (Duggins) has gained a lot of confidence and Maja (Gustin) has played her way to the same level of two or three years ago. Tano has vastly improved."

The fifth-national-title question is if the Rainbow Wahine have improved enough, and can prove it under Hawai'i's scrutiny, and in Dallas at the final four.

"We're primed to do this," Shoji says. "We've talked about the progression of the team during the season and who we're going to play. Everything has gone according to plan. They won't overlook Idaho. They'll go out and play hard."

QUICK SETS: The Vandals have not been to the postseason since winning the Big Sky in 1995. ... A year earlier, they lost to Hawai'i in the second round.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.