Boogaard, Arnott an early-season hit
| Chart: UH volleyball statistics |
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
They are not Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku, volleyball All-Americans of final-fours past, but Susie Boogaard and Alicia Arnott are precisely what the Rainbow Wahine need in this year of massive renovation.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Boogaard and Arnott have seized the sport's most prominent hitting position (left side) and instantly made it their own as sixth-ranked Hawai'i ripped through its first eight matches.
Left-side hitters Susie Boogaard, far left, and Alicia Arnott, center, are both averaging 3.91 kills per game for sixth-ranked Hawai'i.
Fulltime starters for the first time in their collegiate life, Boogaard and Arnott have embraced opportunity with a passion and come through with stunning proficiency.
"If they didn't surprise me," UH coach Dave Shoji says, "then we'd have a few losses."
While Willoughby and Kahumoku could make the game look ridiculously simple, "Susie and Alicia have to work really hard to get kills," Shoji says, "and they have been working hard."
Aside from a love for the beach, easy-going attitudes and a willingness to work until it
hurts, Boogaard and Arnott are nothing alike.
WHO: No. 6 Hawai'i (8-0) vs. Pepperdine (2-5) WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center WHEN: 7 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday ALUMNAE EXHIBITION: 5 p.m. Saturday TV/RADIO: Live on KFVE (5)/KKEA (1420 AM) TICKETS: $16 lower level and $13 (adults), $9 (seniors 65-older), $6 (students 4-18) and $3 (UH students) upper level s $3
Boogaard, in her third year, was a junior club MVP in California, complete with a personal trainer. She passes in every Hawai'i rotation, places the ball all over the court at various velocities and, according to Arnott, is "more technically sound." Boogaard has also shown a level of sophistication that allows her to shed slumps mid-match, a rare gift that probably decided the UCLA match two weeks ago.
Rainbow Wahine Volleyball
Arnott, a sophomore from Hilo, comes from a family more famous for its water exploits; great uncle Tom paddled with Duke Kahanamoku. She graduated from La Pietra in Honolulu with a good national reputation and an "awesome armswing," in Boogaard's words. Arnott doesn't pass, but covers lots of court, has a team-high 12 aces and never lets the last play hurt the next.
Neither is surprised at the Rainbow Wahine's rise from the ashes of last year's graduating class of seven. They, along with this year's teammates, realized the next few years would be their legacy. Eight matches in, they're loving it.
"This was their intent," associate coach Charlie Wade says. "This is what they have been working for. They expect to continue to be successful. They embraced the opportunity to step in and play for a program that's very high profile and has a very high level of expectations and success. The way they look at it is, now it's my turn."
Boogaard and Arnott are the first to admit they will never be Willoughby and Kahumoku. They took parts of their games, but mostly they worked to improve what they already possessed, confident they could play the right role in a more balanced attack.
Both hit the weight room, ran 16 consecutive 100-meter sprints in the allotted time, enhanced their strengths, added new elements and took on tons of new responsibilities, as did all their teammates.
"We came into this season knowing if we're going to perform then our team's going to perform," Boogaard says. "We just give it everything we have."
Who can doubt them now? Their numbers are eerily similar, starting with a team-high 3.91 kills per game. They each have 129 kills and 17 stuffs and are five digs apart. And, both have shown a penchant for playing best at the end of matches, while opponents wear down.
None of this is a surprise. Arnott and Boogaard insist they have felt comfortable — and exceptionally confident — in their radically new volleyball environment since the first moment of practice.
"They didn't expect to fill Kim and Lily's shoes," Shoji says. "They just needed to be their own player and contribute in their own way, and hopefully someone else would pick up some slack. Neither one is going to average six kills a game, or even five. They knew that.
"They didn't feel any pressure to get all those kills and we were not expecting it of them. But we knew they had to have good seasons for us to be successful."
How does eight-and-oh sound?
"So far I don't think Alicia and I are letting our team down by not being Kim and Lily," Boogaard says. "They were awesome volleyball players. They have skills neither of us are ever going to have. We're just different. Completely different people, completely different volleyball."
And so far, very similar results.
NOTES:
College Sports Television (CSTV) is now available on Oceanic Time Warner's Digital Sports Package. It can be found at 247 on the digital box. Saturday's match against Pepperdine will be broadcast the following day as part of the Sunday Night Spikes AVCA Match of the Week Series.
Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.
