Posted on: Sunday, October 12, 2003

Rainbow Wahine sweep UTEP

Advertiser Staff

Second-ranked Hawai'i flattened Texas-El Paso, 30-16, 30-19, 30-20, yesterday in a Western Athletic Conference volleyball match at Memorial Gym in El Paso.

The Miners (5-15, 0-6 WAC) could do little to prevent the Rainbow Wahine's 79th consecutive victory against a conference opponent. Hawai'i (17-1, 5-0) has won its last 16 since losing to top-ranked Southern California opening week.

All-American Lily Kahumoku put together her seventh double-double (16 kills, 11 digs) of the season to lead UH, which made this trip without All-American Kim Willoughby, who is sick.

Willoughby's absence actually helped to balance the UH offense. Susie Boogaard added nine kills, Lauren Duggins eight, Nohea Tano seven and Maja Gustin six. Everyone played and Hawai'i still hit .427.

"There was not a whole lot of blocking going on against us," UH coach Dave Shoji admitted.

The Miners, who have lost their last nine, started four underclassmen. They had just three blocks and hit 300 points less than UH (.126). They were led by freshman Nina Reeves, with 12 kills, and Jennifer Abbruzzese, with 10.

Boogaard, a sophomore backup at both hitting positions, had the best match of her career. "By far," Shoji said. "She went up and hit the ball hard. She needs to give us some offense when she goes in. She's been real conservative and we don't need that from her. When we put her in, we need a quick kill."

Boogaard played on the right side early, then replaced freshman Alicia Arnott, Willoughby's replacement, on the left in the final game.

Her rotation and all the substitutions never changed the direction of the match.

Hawai'i plays three matches at home this week, against Louisiana Tech Thursday, Southern Methodist Saturday and Arizona Sunday.

SMU leads the WAC East. Arizona started the year in the Top 10 and tumbled out of the rankings after a terrible start. But Friday, the Wildcats upset eighth-ranked UCLA for their first Pac-10 victory. They will be Hawai'i's last non-conference opponent in the regular season.

"I want them to play well," Shoji said. "We need them to be playing well and give us a challenge."