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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, September 2, 2003

Hawai'i needs five games to top 11th-ranked UCLA

 •  USC No. 1, UH second in voting
 •  Game Statistics

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's Maja Gustin, left, is blocked by UCLA's Brynn Murphy in the championship match of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Ultimately, second-ranked Hawai'i hung on to defeat 11th-ranked UCLA last night and win the 16th annual Hawaiian Airlines Volleyball Classic.

What happened in the 2 hours and 39 minutes leading up to Kim Willoughby's 34th kill, which ended it at 25-30, 30-18, 30-24, 29-31, 15-13, was good, bad and ugly for the Rainbow Wahine.

"There was a lot of ugly," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "We dominated about every phase of the game, but it came down to the end. We were in position in Game 4 and Game 5 and let them back in."

Hawai'i (4-1) played the first half of the first game without Willoughby, who was disciplined for showing up late to practice. On the second play, the Rainbow Wahine were already out of rotation.

"We got off to a rough start, different lineup ...very confusing," said Lily Kahumoku, Hawai'i's other senior All-American, who finished with 20 kills. "No one knew where they were going."

The roller-coaster ride was on before 6,186 at Stan Sheriff Center.

"We had some breakdowns," Willoughby said. "I think it was based on what the other team was doing. When they did great things they were jumping and screaming. When things went bad they went back down. I think we got in their mode and it hurt us."

2003 schedule

September
12-13 — Sprint Hawai'i Invitational (Friday—Stanford vs. Weber State, 5 p.m.; Hawai'i vs. Utah State, 7. Saturday-Third place, 5 p.m.; Championship, 7.).
18 — Loyola Marymount vs. UNLV, 7 p.m.
19 — Loyola Marymount.
20 — UNLV.
26 — *at San Jose State.
28 — at Santa Clara.

October
2 —
*Fresno State.
4 — *Nevada (Alumnae at 5 p.m.).
9 — *at Boise State.
11 — *at UTEP.
16 — *Louisiana Tech.
18 — *SMU.
19 — Arizona (5 p.m.).
23 — *at Rice.
24 — at Louisiana State.
25 — *at Tulsa.
30 — *Boise State.

November
6 —
*at Nevada.
8 — *at Fresno State.
15 — *San Jose State.
21-23 — at WAC Tournament (Reno, Nev.).
27-28 — at UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament
(Thursday-Hawai'i vs. Weber State, UNLV vs. Kentucky. Friday-Hawai'i vs. Kentucky, UNLV vs. Weber State.).

* WAC matches
All home matches begin at 7 p.m. at Stan Sheriff Center
Hawai'i actually played worse after Willoughby came in at the first timeout, with UH down 15-12. Its passing sent freshman setter Kanoe Kamana'o scrambling. It hit .150 with six errors — as many as it had the entire night before.

Then UH hammered the Bruins (2-1) in Game 2 and shook them off late in Game 3, scoring six of the final eight points.

In the fourth, Hawai'i folded. The rambunctious Bruins scored eight straight points to go ahead 18-17 on Haley Jorgensborg's serve.

"I've never experienced a team coming back on an eight-point run against us since I've been here," Kahumoku said. "That turned the game around."

Added Shoji: "We failed to make the play, failed to communicate. That just can't happen. It wasn't any different than the serve we'd seen earlier in the match. When the game's on the line you've got to step forward and we didn't do that."

Hawai'i fell back 23-19, then caught the Bruins at 23 on Willoughby's first kill since the eighth point. Kahumoku's first kill since the 12th put UH up 27-24.

How do you shut out All-Americans for 24 serves?

"I think our serving got hot there," UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said. "Haley just started serving some real tough balls and we went to a different area than we had been serving. It just threw them off stride a little. Their 1-2 punch couldn't get any kills. It's absolutely a coach's dream."

The 'Bows tripped again, allowing UCLA to score four in a row and go ahead on Heather Cullen's serve. The Bruins never trailed again.

The final game was a microcosm of the fourth. UCLA led 5-2. Hawai'i scored five in a row. The Rainbow Wahine pulled ahead 13-10 on two Willoughby kills. UH served long, Cullen hit another ace and freshman Becky Green's kill tied it.

Finally, Cullen missed her serve and Willoughby ended it with an offspeed shot into the empty middle of UCLA's defense.

UCLA careened back down to the bottom of the roller coaster, elated to take a top-ranked team to the bitter end, but obviously disappointed by the result. The Rainbow Wahine finished at the top, but barely clinging to their No. 2 ranking.

All-Tournament Team

MVP— Kim Willoughby (UH), Paula Gentil (Minnesota), Lena Ustymenko (Louisville), Cira Wright (UCLA), Kanoe Kamana'o (UH), Brynn Murphy (UCLA), Lily Kahumoku (UH).

QUICK SETS: The Rainbows have won eight Classics, including four of the past five. UCLA has won six. ... UCLA and UH have finished in the top two at all but five of the 16 Hawaiian Airlines Classics, including the last five. This is the first time both have swept into the final match without losing a game. ... The ninth Aston Imua Wahine Volleyball Challenge begins Thursday, with UH playing Wichita State, Baylor and Pacific on consecutive nights. ...ÊLauren Duggins and Melissa Villaroman have been named Hawai'i's co-captains. ... Minnesota dropped from sixth to 13th in yesterday's first regular-season ranking. Louisville moved up six spots, to No. 16.

• • •

GAME STATISTICS

UCLA

G
K
E
A
Pct.
BS
BA
D
SA
SE
Ringel
3
8
5
25
.120
0
1
1
0
1
Wright
5
12
6
26
.231
0
2
8
0
2
Murphy
5
17
7
52
.192
1
5
2
0
1
Lyman
5
11
2
29
.310
0
0
11
0
2
McFarland
5
4
1
10
.300
0
5
7
1
0
Cullen
5
12
4
35
.229
0
2
15
2
3
Barba
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Ray
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Jorgensborg
4
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
1
Carter
2
0
0
2
.000
0
0
0
0
0
Green
3
9
2
18
.389
0
0
1
0
0
Zartman
5
0
0
0
0
0
22
0
0
Totals

73
27
197
.234
1
15
69
4
11

HAWAI‘I

G
K
E
A
Pct.
BS
BA
D
SA
SE
Tano
4
3
0
5
.600
0
2
4
0
1
Arnott
5
3
4
17
-.059
0
1
3
4
2
Kahumoku
5
20
7
55
.236
0
6
15
0
1
Kamana‘o
5
1
1
4
.000
0
2
13
0
1
Gustin
5
11
2
23
.391
0
5
5
0
0
Duggins
5
10
1
21
.429
0
8
11
1
2
Boogaard
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Willoughby
5
34
7
61
.443
0
2
17
3
6
Lundqvist
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Watanabe
5
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
Villaroman
5
0
0
0
0
0
14
0
0
Totals

82
22
186
.323
0
26
85
8
16

UCLA (2-1) 30 18 24 31 13
HAWAI‘I (4-1) 25 30 30 29 15
Team blocks — UCLA 8.5, Hawai‘i 13.0. Assist leaders — UCLA 65 (McFarland 51), Hawai‘i 77 (Kamana‘o 73). Time —2:39. Att. —6,186.
Key — G: Games. K-E-A: Kills-Errors-Attempts. Pct.: Hitting percentage (Kills minus errors divided by attempts). BS: Block solo. BA: Block assist. D: Dig. SA: Ace. SE: Service error.