Posted on: Saturday, December 11, 2004
UH hits end of rainbow
| • | Wahine were agonizingly close |
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Those who only saw the bittersweet conclusion of Hawai'i's volleyball season last night will remember the Rainbow Wahine as relentless, desperately rallying until an ignominious end to transform their NCAA regional semifinal with Wisconsin into something special.
Photos by Mike Roemer • Associated Press Until it took on 14th-seeded Wisconsin (22-9) last night before 2,169 mostly red-clad fans at Resch Center. The third-seeded Rainbows (30-1) reeled early, then rocketed back as they have all season. Jill Odenthal, UW's only starting senior, and freshman libero Jocelyn Wack ultimately rejected the Hawai'i rally in a 31-29, 30-23, 22-30, 28-30, 21-19 Badger victory.
"I told my players I thought this was one of the best volleyball matches I've ever been involved with," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "It had every emotion you could ask for from all the players. Wisconsin and Hawai'i players basically just put their hearts on the line. I think it was what college athletics are all about. ... The emotion out there was unbelievable."
Eleventh-seeded Stanford (27-6) swept sixth-seeded Texas, 30-28, 30-26, 30-27, in the opener. The Badgers play the Cardinal at 11 a.m. HST today for the regional championship and right to advance to next week's final four. The Longhorns' season ended at 26-5.
The Rainbow Wahine season ended with Odenthal rejecting match points with two of her 25 kills. Wack was just as wondrous in the back row, sucking up 35 digs and stalling Rainbow rallies for much of the 2-hour and 38-minute match.
They were the reason Wisconsin was the one team this year that stayed with UH, while every other went down in a heap of Hawai'i brilliance.
"Technically, tactically, we just couldn't stop Odenthal," Shoji said. "She got the key sideouts at the end. We never did slow her down. I thought that was the key to the match. We tried everything."
Wack helped UW hold UH to .220 hitting in the match and just .133 in the final game. Game 5 was pushed into overtime when the 'Bows' 7-2 surge put them up, 13-11, and Wisconsin trumped that by scoring the next two points.
There would be six more ties, with UH serving for the match at 14-13 and 19-18, and desperately holding off Wisconsin match points at the four intervals in between. It was the first time the Rainbows faced a match point all season, and on the fifth one they finally went down.
Yesterday's results At Green Bay, Wis. Today's match, Hawai'i time "We had nothing to lose," Odenthal said. "I told my teammates before the fifth game, 'You better want this as much as I do, because I want it very, very badly.' "
It was not the dream ending the 'Bows had believed in since riveting their fans with a fast start to a season that was supposed to be a slow, steady climb after losing seven seniors from last year's final-four team. Hawai'i had remarkable resilience from the first serve this year, showing its unsophisticated exterior often, but always digging deep inside to find a way to win.
The Rainbows overwhelmed no one but never doubted themselves, finding a new saviour every match. Until last night, when they all fought back one last time, in their seventh five-game match of the season, only to come up a point short.
And still, Boogaard (20 kills) and Alicia Arnott (19) were heroic on the left side, as they have been all season. Transfer Victoria Prince, fighting illness and fatigue the last two weeks, still had 15 kills and six blocks. Sanders came in to play the best match of her career in the biggest match of her life.
Teisa Fotu, one of only two seniors along with captain Melody Eckmier, started the match at libero for Ashley Watanabe, who broke her hand last week. Fotu finished on the right side, going in for ineffective freshman Tara Hittle, who played backcourt the final three games.
The new alignment turned walk-ons Kelly Ong and Raeceen Woolford into liberos, and forced Arnott to pass for the first time this season. That lineup brought Hawai'i back, with WAC Player of the Year Kanoe Kamana'o — the only returning starter from last year — setting, salvaging rallies and instigating the charge.
"It's so hard to pick one emotion you feel out there," Kamana'o said. "You're just focusing on that next play and what you're going to do. When you're out there those last points, you're just giving your all. Both teams battled. Wisconsin gave it their best. We gave it our best, whatever we had left. And, we came out with a loss."
It was Hawai'i's first loss in 358 days. For a team that kept proving itself, and improving itself, all season, it was very tough to take. The dream had died, much later than most expected but a week earlier than the Rainbow Wahine had wanted.
Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043. • • •
Those who watched all season will remember them as dream weavers who finally woke, four wins short of astonishing perfection. For more than three months, Hawai'i defied description and logic, winning its first 30 matches with a fascinating mixture of faith, tenacious comebacks, and just enough talent at all the right times.
Wisconsin celebrates after its win over Hawai'i in the Green Bay regional semifinals. The Badgers will play Stanford in today's regional final.
Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji told his team after the match, "I thought this was one of the best volleyball matches I've ever been involved with."
Hawai'i's Alicia Arnott, right, tries to hit past Wisconsin's Jackie Simpson at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. Hawai'i lost in five.
Maria Carlini and Taylor Reineke stuffed UH freshman Juliana Sanders —who came in to bury 14 kills and hit .500 — and give the Badgers one more shot. Odenthal hit the bull's-eye by blocking Susie Boogaard.
GREEN BAY REGIONAL
