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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, October 19, 2009

Rainbow Wahine sweep past Louisiana Tech


Advertiser Staff

A match after Saturday’s grand celebration and nearly a week after they were scheduled to play, third-ranked Hawai‘i pummeled Louisiana Tech tonight in a Western Athletic Conference volleyball match.

Before a season-low Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,841, the Rainbow Wahine (17-2, 8-0 WAC) won their 13th straight, 25-12, 25-8, 25-17. During the streak, Hawai‘i has dropped just two sets.
UH coach Dave Shoji got his 1,001st victory in a match originally scheduled for last Wednesday. The Techsters (12-12, 2-6) had to postpone when bad weather prevented them from making the trip.
It was Hawai‘i’s most one-sided victory of the season. LaTech scored three fewer points against UH than San Jose State, and four fewer than it did in Ruston 18 days earlier.
After two sets, Rainbows Amber Kaufman, Aneli Cubi-Otineru and Kanani Danielson all had eight kills — Kaufman needing just eight swings. Danielson, who had a match-high 11 kills, was the only UH starter who played the entire match.
When Jayme Lee came in with UH up 14-6 in Set 2, she was the 12th Rainbow Wahine to play. Ultimately 13 ‘Bows played. Reserve Alexis Forsythe stuffed six balls in the final two sets.
Louisiana Tech never quit, but could never keep up. In the opening set, Cubi-Otineru went 6-for-9 and hit .667, while the Techsters were 6-for-32 and hit .031.
It would have been worse. Bulgarian sophomore Nataliya Panova was 5-for-8, while the rest of the Techsters combined for one kill and negative .125 hitting.
Panova had just one more kill as the ‘Bows never had a dropoff. They scored the final eight points of the second set, with Dani Mafua serving and LaTech smothered into negative .143 hitting.
After LaTech led early in Set 3, the UH reserves took over behind Forsyth and Catherine Fowler.
The Rainbows play a non-conference match against Brigham Young-Hawai‘i Friday at 7 p.m. That will be preceeded by the alumnae exhibition, which starts a 5 p.m., and followed by another celebration in honor of Dave Shoji’s 1,000th victory.
There will be a parade of alumnae, videos, speeches and performances by former Rainbow Wahine Raeceen Woolford — Miss Hawai‘i — and Hedder Ilustre.