No. 7 Rainbows remain unbeaten

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i looked every bit like the volleyball renovation project it is and little like the No. 7 ranking it has earned last night, and still was resilient enough to win.

Hawai'i's Susie Boogaard attacked the UC Irvine block of Ashlie Hain during last night's match in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Invitational. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Anteaters (7-1) also came into the match unbeaten and off to their best start in 23 years. For three games they looked as if they could be the first unranked team to beat UH in seven years. But the thrill-a-match 'Bows buried them in the end.

Before 5,588 at the Stan Sheriff Center Hawai'i, with six first-year starters, held off an opponent that starts seven upperclassmen. The 'Bows also had to battle themselves as they struggled with ballhandling early and UCI's quick offense for three games before wearing it down in the final game.

"Their passing really broke down. I was surprised," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They were passing so well for a long time and it just disappeared in Game 4."

That closing push, which has become a Rainbow Wahine constant, and enough offense from Susie Boogaard (21 kills), Alicia Arnott (19) and Victoria Prince (12), finally silenced UCI. Hawai'i also got 10 kills from freshman Juliana Sanders, who played fulltime the final two games after missing most of the first seven matches with a sprained ankle.

"She gave us some immediate offense, which we were sorely lacking in the middle of the match," Shoji said. "They were camped out on Victoria, and Susie and Arnott both had two blockers most of the night. Juliana just came in and did what we thought she could do."

Irvine was led by third-team All-American Kelly Wing, who had 22 kills but hit just .109 and had one kill in the last game.

Wing and some rugged UCI serving had Hawai'i flailing in Game 1, which was tied 11 times. Wing scored seven of her team's first 13 points. Her eighth kill helped Irvine tie it at 25 but that would be it as her last two swings, both from the back row, went into the net. The last came on game point, after Boogaard buried two of her five kills.

"At the beginning our passing wasn't too great," setter Kanoe Kamana'o said. "In the third and fourth it picked up a lot. Everyone played really crisp defense. It wasn't everyone standing around not being ready. That's what I felt I was doing at the beginning."

With the passing sending Kamana'o scrambling, the UH offense was reduced to Boogaard and Arnott on the outside in Game 2. They had 12 of Hawai'i's 16 kills, but needed 36 swings to do it. It wasn't enough as Wing and the remnants of the UCI offense shot UH down.

"We weren't playing good team defense and weren't blocking well," Shoji said. "But talking about it is one thing and actually executing is another. We knew what they were going to do but we couldn't physically stop it. That was frustrating because we talked about it all afternoon and they kept doing it to us."

Through all that, the 'Bows cut a 26-22 deficit to one point four times The Anteaters won when 6-foot-5 Dana Kurzbard (10 blocks) and Moanalua graduate Amanda Vazquez stuffed Arnott for the third time.

In Game 3, the Anteaters faded into a 20-13 deficit and never quite recovered, though they did tie it at 28. Sanders stopped the surge with a kill. Prince and Teisa Fotu stuffed game point.

Irvine coach Charlie Brande, Shoji's assistant in the early '80's, said his team couldn't come back from that final frustration.

"We are two similar teams," Brande said. "UH is very resilient. They just keep coming. Our team has grown the way it has because of that. This group of seniors was 4-19 when they were freshmen. Last year we were 24-10 and won our first (NCAA) tournament game."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.

Yesterday's WAC results

Washington def. Boise State 30-16, 30-18, 30-18. Oral Roberts def. Fresno State 30-25, 30-23, 25-30, 30-27. Eastern Kentucky def. Louisiana Tech 30-23, 30-28, 30-27. Mississippi State def. Louisiana Tech 30-16, 31-33, 19-30, 32-30, 16-14. Oregon State def. Nevada 30-27, 30-13, 30-17. Nevada def. Penn 30-28, 30-20, 30-18. Rice def. Loyola Marymount 30-23, 30-21, 30-28. Rice def. North Carolina 30-28, 30-22, 30-24. San Jose State def. Charlotte 30-21, 30-24, 30-23. Sacramento State def. San Jose State 30-20, 30-22, 30-20. LSU def. SMU 30-27, 30-22, 30-32, 30-17. Tulsa def. Charleston Southern 24-30, 30-17, 30-23, 30-17. Tulsa def. Grambling State 30-25, 30-16, 30-14.