Nittaidai rallies past UH in five
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
After a pre-match gift exchange, Nittaidai of Japan scored the biggest prize last night, rallying to defeat the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team, 31-29, 20-30, 24-30, 30-21, 17-15, in an exhibition match.
A crowd of 1,521 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched the Rainbow Wahine play their first match without seven seniors, including National Player of the Year Kim Willoughby and All-American Lily Kahumoku.
Without them, Hawai'i struggled to finish off Nittaidai in two games last night, surrendering late leads in Games 1 and 5. Hawai'i squandered a 29-28 lead in Game 1 and a 15-14 advantage in Game 5.
"That's something that we got to get better at," Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji said. "We can't lose those games when we're in a position to win."
The smaller Nittaidai team used its floor-cleaning defense frustrate Hawai'i, a team that had advanced to the NCAA final four in the three of the past four years. Nittaidai, which had no player taller than 5 feet 11, finished the match with 96 digs, compared to Hawai'i's 57.
"They weren't tall at all, but they have really quick feet," said Hawai'i freshman setter Kanoe Kamana'o, the only returning starter. "They play really good defense."
Hawai'i outhit Nittaidai (.240 to .192), but couldn't muster key points. In Game 5, Hawai'i led 15-14, but surrendered the final three points on a kill by Kaoru Imanishi and two by Ayumi Kusano.
"I think we held our own," Kamana'o said. "Nittaidai played well on those crucial points. It's still preseason and I think we have a lot that we can work on after seeing this match. I think we need to work on passing. It all starts with the pass."
Nittaidai coach Ken Nemoto said his players gained confidence after their comeback victory in Game 1, and that feeling carried them through the match.
"If we lost the first game, maybe we would have lost the whole match," Nemoto said through an interpreter. "We wanted to win tonight, but we didn't know because Hawai'i is a very strong team."
Nittaidai's Imanishi put down a match-high 23 kills, Kusano 21 and Ikumi Sato 11. Hawai'i's Alicia Arnott registered 15 kills and Juliana Sanders 13.
"It's early in the spring and we're six months away from the season," Shoji said. "We have time to correct our mistakes. I'm not concerned at all. I think we showed really better than what I expected it."
Hawai'i begins its season by hosting the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic on Sept. 2 to 5.
Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.
