Surging Hawai'i plays at sinking Nevada
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Tenth-ranked Hawai'i comes into its Western Athletic Conference match tonight at Nevada's Virginia Street Gym on a volleyball high. The Wolf Pack is sinking painfully into the middle of the WAC pack. The Rainbow Wahine's focus is to not lose sight of Nevada as it falls.
Less than three weeks ago the Wolf Pack, which took UH to five games twice last season, came to Hawai'i unbeaten in the WAC and on a nine-match winning streak. The 'Bows gave up only 40 points in their most one-sided victory since rally-scoring started in 2001.
Nevada won its next two matches, but all-WAC middle Salaia Salave'a suffered a severe (grade 2) ankle sprain in the Utah State match. The Wolf Pack (13-8, 7-3 WAC) has gone five games in every match since, holding on to win over UNLV then falling at San Jose and Fresno State, where it had four match points.
Now Nevada is pestered by probables: Salave'a will probably play tonight, but probably not in the front row. Karly Sipherd, Teal Ericson and Christine Harms are also hurt, but will probably start.
"I spent half the morning in the training room and physical therapy office," Nevada coach Devin Scruggs said yesterday. "With Salaia not in, the others take more swings and they were already kinda broken."
Even the postseason has been reduced to a probable. The Wolf Pack's only NCAA hope now is to win the WAC Tournament, with chances of an at-large selection probably gone.
The Wolf Pack is looking for a breakthrough tonight. Hawai'i (15-6, 9-0) — enjoying nine-match, 21-game winning streaks — hopes to simply break away. UH coach Dave Shoji believes his team is "about as good as we can be right now."
He traces the renaissance to Sarah Mason solidifying a place in the starting lineup at New Mexico State. Now recovered from the ankle injury she suffered in the season-opener, and unaffected by her fall last Saturday, Mason is hitting nearly .400 and averaging five kills a game in WAC matches.
"When we put Mason in, that's what we thought all along was our best lineup and everything kind of fell in place," Shoji said. "To get the most out of all our people, we thought Mason had to be in there."
Then again, it could just be a WAC mirage. Hawai'i has won its last 115 against conference foes, and hasn't played a ranked team since getting hammered twice by second-ranked Washington more than a month ago.
"It's like this every year," Shoji admitted. "It's hard to measure our progress. We dominated Nevada at home. I hope we can dominate them this time. That should tell us how we're doing."
Nevada, in surprisingly good emotional shape according to Scruggs, counts its hopes on four fingers:
"They (the Rainbow Wahine) have no reason to think we can even give them a match based on the first time," Scruggs admitted. "It can't be worse this time, absolutely can't be worse. The only way to go is up. We will certainly be better than that.
"We're looking more to last year than two weeks ago. We're virtually the same team. We'll try to forget two weeks ago."
NOTES
Tonight's match will be broadcast live on Sports Radio (1420 AM). Saturday's match at Fresno State will be joined in progress if it is still going after the station's postgame football show. There will be volleyball reports during the UH-Fresno State football game, which begins at 1 p.m.
A torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee has ended the season for Stanford freshman Cynthia Barboza, who is leading the Pac-10 in kills. Barboza was an alternate on the 2004 USA Women's Olympic team.
Hawai'i setter Kanoe Kamana'o ranks seventh nationally in assists (13.75 per game) and is also averaging nearly three digs and one block a game. She needs 52 assists to catch Cheri Boyer and 61 to catch Olympian Robyn Ah Mow on the UH career list. Kamana'o is 385 behind No. 1 Martina Cincerova (4,637).
Hawai'i freshman Nickie Thomas missed last week's home matches to go home to Texas for her grandmother's funeral.
Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.
