Wahine volleyball wins No. 31

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS — On the bright side, second-ranked Hawai'i was never in danger of losing on the opening night of the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament. And, if ever there was a time for a turkey of a volleyball match, last night was it.

With little at stake and even less to keep their concentration, the Rainbow Wahine rolled over Weber State, 30-15, 28-30, 30-17, 30-22, before about 600 at Cox Pavilion. The second-game hiccup was as distasteful to UH (31-1) as it looks, particularly against a team that passes as poorly as the Wildcats (7-20).

It did not stop the 'Bows, and some 50 of their closest friends and family, from enjoying a huge Thanksgiving dinner at redshirt Kari Gregory's house afterward. Gregory's mother and grandmother cooked all day — even missing the match — to prepare for the onslaught.

"They're going to eat pork," said Maja Gustin, a senior from Slovenia, and a vegetarian. "They're preparing something else for me."

Gustin might have her holiday roasts confused, but it was nothing compared to how lost the Wildcats looked trying to defend Hawai'i's middle attack.

Gustin buried 10 of her first 11 swings and finished with 14 kills — two less than Lily Kahumoku, who only played three games. Gustin finished with a .500 hitting percentage that would have been more spectacular but for two missed connections with setter Kanoe Kamana'o. Lauren Duggins added 13 kills from the other middle spot, hitting .409.

The only real surprise of the night, other than the second-game loss, was the first bad match in Kim Willoughby's remarkable four-year career. Slowed by a sore shin and weakened by illness, she had five kills and nine errors before UH coach Dave Shoji convinced her to rest after the second game.

"She had a poor start and just couldn't work her way out of it," Shoji said. "I've never seen her play that badly. I hope I never see it again."

Her ineffectiveness did not hurt in Game 1. Duggins served 10 straight to put Hawai'i up 21-11, as Weber shanked almost everything and had just three kills.

"We didn't pass very well," Weber State coach Al Givens admitted. "With rally scoring, that becomes an issue."

Gustin drilled all five of her swings in a weird game where the All-American hitters (Willoughby and Kahumoku) combined for just five kills and hit negative .063, while their teammates launched 13 and hit .800.

"Hawai'i has so many different weapons, you take away their All-American and everybody else beats you," Givens said. "Absolutely, their middles crushed us. They kept running that slide behind us and hitting that real dynamic angle. Then we drew our block in and they hit somewhere else."

Then it got weirder as Weber State, which took a game off sixth-ranked Stanford, proved it was no pushover.

Alicia Arnott and Susie Boogaard went in for Kahumoku and Nohea Tano in Game 2 and the Wildcats pulled their passing together for half an hour. Arnott and Boogaard were brilliant, but Willoughby continued to struggle and the substitutions threw off the Rainbows' ballhandling. The game was tied 12 times and Hawai'i blew a 25-20 advantage.

But after taking the second, Weber State never threatened again. Gustin served seven straight and Kahumoku blasted nine kills to break open the third game. Karin Lundqvist came in for the final four serves of Game 4 and ended it suddenly with two kills, giving UH its 30th consecutive victory this season and 174th straight against an unranked team.

Shoji admitted his team was poorly prepared. "We've been on the road a long time and there's a lot of distractions here," he said. "It was hard to keep focus."

He didn't appear worried about it, nor did his players.

"I think it was good to play a team like this now depending on who we're going to meet up with next week," said Gregory, who made her first trip and suited up for warmups in front of family and friends. "In the (NCAA) first round we might meet up with a team like this, a wild card."

QUICK SETS: The Thanksgiving menu last night included three turkeys, prime rib and ham, along with fish for the vegetarians on the Hawai'i team. "Lots and lots of turkey, and lots of family at our house," was how Kari Gregory described it. "It's all about family, 'cause that's what we are." ... Hawai'i plays its final regular-season match tonight, against Kentucky. ... The 64-team NCAA Championship field will be announced Sunday.

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

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