WAC experiments
with formats

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

The Western Athletic Conference will try new formats this women's volleyball season for both league play and the postseason tournament.

Each of the 16 teams is scheduled to play home and away matches within its division, with the two matches against the designated crossover rival being optional. Because of the strong connection between Hawaii and Las Vegas, the matches between the Pacific Division Wahine and Mountain Division Lady Rebels are still on the schedule.

"I think it's good for us to keep the rivalry," UNLV coach Deitre Collins, a former Wahine All-American, said during Monday's WAC conference call. "We want to draw on the big Hawaii backing living here (in Las Vegas). It's a chance to play against a good team and get better.

"I think the competition is good for us and it's even better that it doesn't count (in the WAC standings)."

The matches count on the overall records, however. Both UH-UNLV matches set regular-season WAC marks with 1,251 attending the match in Las Vegas and 9,723 fans in Honolulu.

The WAC Volleyball Tournament returns to the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nov. 24-28. The format seeding teams has been discarded, replaced by one in which the top two teams in each division will receive first-round byes and the Nos. 3-6 teams from each division will play first-round matches on Nov. 24.

Unlike last year, there is a day off between the Nov. 26 semifinals and championship match on Nov. 28.

HAWAII PIPELINE: UNLV will have a Hawaii look to its team. The Lady Rebels have four island products on their roster: sophomore returnee Erica Enfield and freshmen Justine Kamelamela (Maryknoll), Anna Ramos (Kamehameha) and Cobey Shoji (Punahou), the latter the daughter of UH coach Dave Shoji.

"We have four Hawaii girls and I hope the pipeline will continue to work," Collins said.

UP CLOSE: Preseason WAC favorite Brigham Young had a chance to see what the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the country look like at last weekend's NACWAA Cup at Stanford.

The eighth-ranked Cougars lost to No. 2 Penn State in four games, then watched the Nittany Lions upend top-ranked defending NCAA champion Stanford in straight sets. BYU coach Elaine Michaelis was impressed.

"The competition was very good and Penn State is very strong this year," said Michaelis. "They looked very polished and mature for this time of year.

"What it told us is that our conference is going to be very competitive with the best in the country this year."

GETTING BIGGER: The NCAA women's volleyball tournament will expand from 48 to 56 teams this season, good news for several of the WAC teams that felt snubbed when invitations went out last year.

Bubble teams that didn't make the field last December were Fresno State (22-10), Utah (20-12), UTEP (19-10) and New Mexico (18-11).

"Hopefully by expanding to 56, the NCAA will look deeper into our conference," Fresno State coach Lindy Vivas said. "I hope that's what it will mean."

INJURY UPDATE: Hawaii is not the only team to have been hit by preseason injuries.

Utah sophomore hitter Brooke Barton is lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Jamie Young, the Utes' senior hitter, required surgery after breaking her nose and likely will wear a protective mask this season.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: When asked how the loss of five seniors will affect Hawaii this season, Lindy Vivas, a Punahou graduate, replied: "Historically, it doesn't matter who they graduate. They always come back strong. Overall, the program has been so good."