Updated at 7:23 p.m., Friday, December 1, 2006
UH volleyball cruises in NCAA, plays Saturday at 5 p.m.
Advertiser Staff
Led by Jamie Houston, Kanoe Kamana'o, and a dominant block, 12th-ranked University of Hawaii breezed past Oregon Friday in the first round of the NCAA Championship in Long Beach, Calif.Houston had 15 kills, Kamana'o 33 assists, and UH outblocked Oregon, 20-3, as the Rainbow Wahine cruised to a 30-17, 30-17, 30-18 victory.
"Everyone had a great match. It would be hard to pinpoint one person," Kamana'o said on K5's telecast after the match.
The Rainbow Wahine are 27-5. The Ducks finished their season 17-12.
On Saturday, UH will play Long Beach State.
Saturday's match will be telecast on K5, starting at 5 p.m. It will be retelecast at 10:30 p.m.
Should the Rainbow Wahine win on Saturday, they will return home to play in the Honolulu Regional.
UH dominated at the net with Kari Gregory leading the way with 7.5 blocks. Houston added three solo blocks.
Sarah Mason recorded eight kills while Juliana Sanders and Gregory added seven kills apiece. Jayme Lee had 12 digs.
"We prepared so much for this game, we watched film, knew their tendencies," Kamana'o said.
In the first game, UH hit .333 (12 kills, 3 errors, 27 attempts) compared to Oregon's .000 (10 kills and 10 errors).
In the second, UH hit .286 while Oregon hit .000 again.
In Game 3, UH hit .276 to Oregon's minus .028.
