Rainbow Wahine win one for Shoji
Advertiser Staff
Third-ranked Hawai'i stuffed San Jose State's upset plans last night, winning their Western Athletic Conference volleyball match, 33-31, 30-21, 26-30, 30-20, at Spartan Gym.
Hawai'i (19-0, 9-0 WAC) stifled SJSU with a season-high 19 roofs. Starting middles Kari Gregory (8) and Victoria Prince (7) out-blocked the entire San Jose team. Alicia Arnott hammered a match-high 23 kills.
The Rainbow Wahine go for their 100th consecutive victory over a conference opponent tomorrow at Boise State. The match will be broadcast live by KKEA (1420 AM) beginning at 11:15 a.m. HST.
Hawai'i will again be without head coach Dave Shoji, who stayed home because his father, Kobe, is in the hospital. Associate Charlie Wade is filling in. He found his new responsibilities a challenge last night.
So were the Spartans.
"I never thought we were going to lose the match but it was a little sketchy because San Jose is a good team," Wade said. "I think (SJSU coach) Craig Choate gets more out of his players than any other team in the conference. By this time of the year they are always very solid and functional. ... They don't make a lot of errors and they play their tails off."
The Rainbow Wahine matched that intensity, though captain Melody Eckmier said Shoji's absence was felt.
"Dave is a big part of our team and it's a different feeling out there," Eckmier said. "Not a bad feeling. Charlie has done this before in spring tournaments. He's very inspirational and motivational. He knows how to fire people up. He does his job well.
"Obviously we miss Dave, but he's doing what he needs to do. We respect that. It's like something is missing, but we understand and we're dealing with it."
The Rainbows trailed at the beginning of each game, as they have much of this season. They dealt with that as well.
A 10-4 surge put them up 24-22 in Game 1. It was tied eight more times, with the Spartans fighting off three game points. Prince and Kanoe Kamana'o finally ended it with a block.
Hawai'i outscored San Jose 11-3 to end Game 2, with Prince serving the final five points. The end again came on a roof, by Arnott and Gregory.
The Spartans held on in Game 3, but couldn't overcome UH in the fourth. The 'Bows outscored SJSU 15-2 to grab a 27-17 advantage. Susie Boogaard ended the night with her 18th kill, to go with 18 digs.
San Jose State (14-8, 5-4) got 32 digs from sophomore libero Jessie Shull. Freshman Jennifer Senftleben had a team-high 14 kills and was the only SJSU hitter to hit above .171.
NOTES
Dave Shoji didn't remember missing a match before this week, but he missed two back in the 1980s. Then-assistant Dean Nowack coached and his record is 2-0.
