Posted on: Friday, November 7, 2003
Hawai'i edges Nevada
| • | Game statistics & WAC standings |
Advertiser Staff
In the chill of Reno's Virginia Street Gym last night, Nevada became the first Western Athletic Conference team to take a volleyball game off Hawai'i in nearly a year.
That did not prevent the second-ranked Rainbow Wahine from winning their 24th match in a row and clinching the No. 1 seed at the WAC Tournament, which will be played in Reno in two weeks. Hawai'i (25-1, 11-0 WAC) rallied for a 28-30, 30-26, 30-22, 30-24 victory.
Tristin Adams, the Wolf Pack's freshman setter, had a rare triple-double, going for a career-high 13 kills and adding 13 digs and 37 assists. She hit .571, continually fooling the UH defense with "dumps" over the net on the second hit.
"It was embarrassing to our defense that the setter had 13 kills," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "That's one area where we just played poorly. We did not anticipate, did not make any adjustments. There's no excuse for that. It's inexcusable to give up that many. That kept us off-balance."
Nevada coach Devin Scruggs said Adams actually didn't hit enough; nine kills came in the first two games and the shot was still open when the match turned 2 hours old.
"We exposed a weakness that maybe will help them later," Scruggs said. "Hawai'i really struggled. Our setter didn't dump enough. There were probably eight or 10 other times she could and should have dumped and it would have worked."
The 'Bows overcame Adams' brilliance with All-Americans. Kim Willoughby had 26 kills and Lily Kahumoku 19 — 14 in the final two games as she kept hitting over the 5-foot-10 Adams. Kahumoku added 16 digs.
Nevada (12-14, 5-6) was swept in Manoa a month ago with starters Carly Sorensen and Lauren Galler hurt. Those two freshmen combined for 24 kills last night. As the temperature dropped into the 30s, the Pack refused to let Hawai'i come back in Game 1.
Nevada, which starts three freshmen and three sophomores, ripped to a 22-16 advantage. UH rallied to tie it at 23, 24, 25 and 28, but Karen Adams ended the 'Bows' streak of 32 consecutive WAC game victories with consecutive kills.
The Rainbows, who extended their winning streak over WAC opponents to 85, never trailed in Games 2 and 3 and did not let Nevada chase them down in Game 4. But their effort was not what Shoji wanted to see.
"I think we all realized we didn't put our best effort out there," he said. "It starts from the top down. We didn't prepare them well enough. Nevada was much better than they were in Honolulu. We did not expect they would be that much better."
QUICK SETS: Kim Willoughby turns 23 today. ... Sunday's match at Fresno will be broadcast on 1420 AM, at 9:50 a.m. HST.
