Wahine ranked No. 1
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
LOGAN, Utah — From the time Hawai'i left Reno yesterday morning and landed in Salt Lake City in the afternoon, the temperature went up eight degrees — to 28 — and the Rainbow Wahine officially became the top-ranked volleyball team in the country for the first time in two years.
The reaction to each rise was the same: "That's kinda cool."
This team never surprises itself.
"All it means is we've worked hard," sophomore Kanoe Kamana'o said. "And we have to keep working. It is motivation for that."
The 'Bows got news of the updated USA Today/College Sports Television Top 25 Coaches poll during a layover in San Francisco and issued a collective shrug. The ranking that matters is a month away. All this means is that former No. 1 Washington lost, they are the lone unbeaten team in Division I and have as good a chance as any at an NCAA championship in this season of surprises.
It is a long way from 13th in the preseason to unbeaten and top-ranked WAC champions, however. Even they can appreciate that after what they have accomplished with six first-year starters.
"I thought 13th was good," sophomore Alicia Arnott recalled. "But we've just won, taking it one point at a time and going as hard as we can. I don't know if it was luck or unbelievable skill. I can't explain it."
Hawai'i (26-0) ends its regular season tonight and tomorrow at Utah State (9-17) and 19th-ranked Utah (23-5). Both matches will be broadcast live on KKEA (1420 AM), beginning at 4 p.m. Hawai'i time.
The Aggies are several bodies short and so banged up that leading hitter Zuzana Cernianska is now setting. The junior from Prague is fourth in career kills at USU. Monarisa Ale, a freshman out of Kahuku, is playing part time.
The Utes might be the tallest team in the country. They are among the Top 10 nationally in blocking, and 6-foot-5 senior Lyndsey Henderson is in the top five. Emillie Toon, a 6-7 freshman, starts on the right. Iolani graduate Lacey Lavarias plays in the back row.
Utah, which has won 20 matches in each of the last nine years, upset UCLA and Colorado State while both were ranked in the top seven. The Utes have also lost to unranked Long Beach State, UC Irvine and Notre Dame. They were swept by Colorado State in last weekend's Mountain West Conference Tournament championship. Utah had one block in the match.
The Rainbow Wahine's finest match was their last, when they pounded pesky Nevada on Sunday for the WAC championship. A team with very little Division I experience never panicked or showed fear. It hasn't all season.
"They have performed beyond their level of maturity or experience, accelerated the process," said associate coach Charlie Wade, who will guide the team tonight with head coach Dave Shoji home to attend his father's memorial service. "I thought last (Sunday) night both teams were very excited to play that much. There was a lot of dialog and everybody thought it was a big, important match.
"I thought the difference was that our team had a calm confidence. They were animated, spirited in their play, but pretty composed. Nevada looked like it was a little bit of uncharted territory for them. There was a difference."
The most in-your-face difference was UH junior Victoria Prince, who hit .653 for the week, with 49 kills and 17 blocks. There are no records for the entire tournament, but Prince's percentage shattered the single-match record.
"I've got somebody watching over me and my teammates. We're all so blessed right now," Prince said. "I also had a little touch of God on me in this tournament. We all did."
WAC coaches might move tourney site
A decision probably won't be made until spring, but WAC coaches sound reluctant to let their tournament remain in Virginia Street Gym a fourth year, mostly because it is so small (1,800 capacity) and such an advantage for Nevada. The Wolf Pack has been in two of the last three finals.
Any school can bid to host. The event could also be moved to the larger Lawlor Events Center on campus (site of WAC Basketball next March) or the new Reno Convention Center, which will be the site of the next Volleyball Festival. A neutral site is also a distant option.
Shoji sounds as if he's ready to roll — and worried about the Pack in the future.
"They've always been pretty competitive," he said. "This year I look at the roster and they've got all young players. I think they are a team to be reckoned with for another two or three years. I like the way their players play hard. I'm not sure we're going to let them have the WAC Tournament next year.
"We really didn't think about it two or three years ago — about them having an advantage. Now the coaches are starting to say that's a good program and we don't think it should be automatic that they get this tournament anymore."
NOTES
Dave Shoji believes the WAC could get three teams in the NCAA Tournament. Hawai'i earned the conference's automatic bid. He calls Eastern Division champ Rice and Nevada, which beat the Owls in the semifinals, "bubble teams." Shoji said the Pack's key might be this weekend's showing at Pacific's Bankers Classic.
Rice has never been in the NCAA Tournament. Nevada went in 1998, 2001 and 2002. The Pack is 12-3 since September, with all its losses coming against Hawai'i — twice in five games. Nevada coach Devin Scruggs is 0-14 against the 'Bows, and never beat them in Hawai'i when she played for Pacific.
The Rainbow Wahine are scheduled to play in next year's Bankers Classic, but the WAC is discussing moving its tournament to the same weekend because it will play a double round-robin in 2005.
The updated list of Hawai'i's streaks reads 198 (wins over unranked opponents), 106 (wins over WAC opponents), 11 (conference titles), 10 (WAC titles) and five (WAC championships). Since the WAC Tournament was revived, the 'Bows have won it all four years, with a 36-3 game score.
Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.
