Updated at 9:33 p.m., Sunday, November 11, 2007
Utah State sweeps to WAC upset of Rainbow Wahine
Advertiser Staff
Utah State gathered itself and its courage in the midst of a first-game surge and held on tight to upset 10th-ranked Hawai'i 30-28, 31-29, 30-27, tonight. The loss in the final regular-season Western Athletic Conference volleyball match prevented the Rainbow Wahine (21-5, 15-1) from going unbeaten for the 10th time in 12 years as a WAC member.The Aggies' victory earned them the third seed and for this week's WAC Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M. Utah State goes into the tournament 17-12 — 11-5 in the WAC — after starting its season 2-6.
It was USU's first win over Hawai'i since 1981 and the first time any WAC team has ever beaten the 'Bows in Manoa. It was watched by 4,638 at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Rainbows bolted to a 20-12 advantage in Game 1 when the Aggies struggled to serve and pass. When USU figured that out, its serves put pressure on Hawai'i and it caught up in a rush.
A 12-2 surge put Utah State up 24-22. UH would tie it three more times — the last at 28 — but never led again. After struggling early, Amanda Nielson collected nine of her team's 15 kills, including the final five.
Hawai'i went into the second game with a .128 hitting percentage and almost no rhythm. After Stephanie Brandt served seven in a row to put the 'Bows up early, they fell back into a bad place and the Aggies roared to a 20-16 advantage.
Freshman Dani Mafua came in for Brandt at setter and slowly the Rainbows collected themserlves, behind the offense of Aneli Cubi-Otineru and Tara Hittle. They pulled ahead 23-21 and the game was tied five times before Hawai'i got a serve for the game at 29-28. Nielson's kill eraseed it and, after Hittle hit out, Nielson's 13th kill of the night put Utah State up two games to none.
The Aggies refused to back off in Game 3. They led 14-8 and weathered a few mini Rainbow rallies until Hawai'i pulled ahead 25-23 on an ace by Liz Ka'aihue. USU called time and won seven of the last nine points. It got the last three on a block, a backrow attacking violation by Jamie Houston and Melissa Osterloh's ninth kill off an errant UH pass.
Otineru had 16 kills for Hawai'i, but Houston finished with just 10 and hit .029. The Rainbows hit .174 as a team, to Utah State's .297. The Aggies also outblocked UH, 13 1/2 to 6.
Hawai'i plays its first-round WAC Tournament match Thursday at 11:30 a.m. HST. The top-seeded Rainbows will take on the winner of the day's first match between ninth-seeded Louisiana Tech and eighth-seeded Boise State.
The Rainbow Wahine play their final home matches Nov. 20 and 21 against Loyola Marymount. Both matches begin at 7 p.m., The Wednesday match will be Senior Night, honoring Caroline Blood, Raeceen Woolford, Kari Gregory and Juliana Sanders.
