Hawai'i wins WAC

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

RENO, Nev. — San Jose State played as well as it could for as long as it could yesterday and still was swept as second-ranked Hawai'i won its sixth straight Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship. The 30-28, 30-26, 30-20 scores were symbolic of the Spartans' tenacity and Rainbow Wahine's dominance.

Lori Hernandez, lower left, of Sparks, Nev., and Lehua Alana, 7, of Reno, Nev., cheered on Hawai'i yesterday. Associated Press

The Rainbow Wahine have won 90 consecutive WAC matches; their last loss was in 1998. Only 15 of those victories have gone more than three games.

That happened once this year. Hawai'i's dominance makes it almost impossible to know how good it is going into the postseason.

Sixth-seeded San Jose State (10-18) at least made it interesting for two games.

Before 541 mostly green-clad fans at the 61-year-old Virginia Street Gym, the late-blooming Spartans out-served and out-passed the Rainbows early while outside hitters Kimberly Noble (19 kills) and Carrie Nash (16) provided enough punch to keep the scoreboard moving.

Hawai'i pulled ahead 27-20 in Game 1, behind 5-0 and 3-0 surges with Nohea Tano serving. San Jose State then cut its deficit to one twice when UH got sloppy and the 5-foot-6 Nash got hot.

"It's difficult to defend her because she's a small outside hitter," said UH senior Lily Kahumoku, the tournament MVP. "As she's going up she really has a nice view of the block and the ability to tool the block. She hits the ball very hard and low off our arms."

Duggins and Kahumoku went down in a heap that ended Hawai'i's celebration in a heartbeat. "Lauren almost broke my leg," Kahumoku said. "Good thing she only weighs 100 pounds."

Game 2 was tied nine times before Kahumoku served five straight to put UH up 21-16. She and Kim Willoughby had kills in the flurry, but it was highlighted by two stuffs of Nash by Duggins and Kanoe Kamana'o, both named all-tournament.

Behind Nash, the Spartans closed their deficit to one again, twice, the last at 27-26. Then Willoughby crushed a ball from the back row and rotated to the front to bury another. On game point, Kahumoku lofted a perfect set sideways to Willoughby, who knocked it down the line.

After a terrible start, Willoughby finished with 21 kills on .333 hitting and Kahumoku 17 at .318. Both finished with double-doubles, combining for 26 digs. San Jose countered with Noble and Nash, who were heroic in defeat but hit only a combined .196.

"If you look at our outside hitters and their outside hitters, we're a little bit more physical and a little more dominating," Willoughby said. "If it's a game between our outside hitters and theirs, we win it everytime."

As a team, the Spartans hit barely half as well as Hawai'i (.340 to .187) and had half as many blocks.

In Game 3, Hawai'i's size advantage took more out of the Spartans than playing at the altitude of 6,000 feet.

It was not a fitting end to a wonderful tournament for the Spartans, who beat No. 2 seed SMU and No. 3 seed Fresno State to advance to the final.

"We went crazy this weekend," Noble said.

An upset of the second-ranked team in the country would have been too crazy, however.

"Tell me Hawai'i completely dominated us in the skill category," San Jose State coach Craig Choate said. "It's not that. It's that we can't challenge them at the net."

To win San Jose needed to "dig everything," as Nash said, or play perfectly. The Spartans had not come quite that far over the weekend. Hawai'i was still playing at another level, and knew it. It never sensed trouble yesterday. It hasn't for long time.

"You just never think that way," Willoughby said. "No matter who you're playing, for one second, you never doubt yourself. That's when you get in trouble. They played great. We could have been down. But you just go out and play, keep competing. The more you compete, the better the game gets. It's who survives at the end."

In the WAC, there is no question.

QUICK SETS: Hawai'i plays in UNLV's Thanksgiving Tournament, taking on Weber State Thursday and Kentucky Friday in Las Vegas. ... The Rainbow Wahine have won at least 30 matches in 15 seasons. ... UH is 49-4 all-time against San Jose State, winning the past 25 meetings. ... Hawai'i has swept San Jose State in the past four WAC tournaments. ... UH is 16-2 in its six WAC tournaments. ... The Rainbow Wahine's semifinal victory over Nevada lasted 1 hour and 12 minutes — a minute longer than the tournament record for quickest match. Hawai'i was involved in the tournament's longest match — 3 hours and 31 minutes to beat BYU in the 1998 final. ... Kim Willoughby and Lauren Duggins earned all-WAC Tournament honors the past three years. Willoughby was MVP in 2001 and 2002. ... Willoughby moved into sixth on the NCAA career kill list yesterday, at 2,453.

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

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