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WAHINE VOLLEYBALL

Rainbow Wahine make quick work of LaTech

STORY SUMMARY | READ THE FULL STORY

The unofficial over-under was 84 ... as in minutes it would take No. 6 Hawaii to win its 12th straight volleyball match.

Although the Rainbow Wahine came in under -- at 76 minutes -- it felt longer as they needed about an hour to shake off some rust that had set in after nearly two weeks without a match.


Helped by instant energy injected by redshirt freshman hitter Stephanie Ferrell in Set 2, Hawaii finished off Louisiana Tech last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.


Led by Jamie Houston's 10 kills and eight from Ferrell, the Wahine swept the Lady Techsters 25-15, 25-19, 25-9. It was the fifth consecutive sweep for Hawaii, which improved to 6-0 in Western Athletic Conference play.


KC Clayton had a team-high six kills for LaTech (2-12, 0-6), losing its 17th straight WAC match dating back to last season.


Hawaii next hosts New Mexico State (10-7, 5-1) tomorrow at 5 p.m.

— Cindy Luis



FULL STORY >>

By Cindy Luis

POSTED: 02:30 a.m. HST, Oct 11, 2008

(Page 1 of 2) | Single Page View

First match in nearly two weeks.

First home match in nearly three.

HAWAII 3
LATECH 0

 
NEXT UP
vs. NMSU tomorrow

There was a bit of rust to be flaked off. As well as some lethargy.

It took until nearly the middle of Set 2 for No. 6 Hawaii to find some energy and enthusiasm when hosting Louisiana Tech at the Stan Sheriff Center. And even then it came in bursts.

But it did come, particularly at the end of the 76-minute match.

A turnstile crowd of 4,807 (6,480 tickets) saw the Rainbow Wahine extend their winning streak to 12 via a 25-15, 25-19, 25-9 victory over the Lady Techsters. Hawaii got 10 kills from senior hitter Jamie Houston and a near-perfect night from Stephanie Ferrell to improve to 13-2 overall, 6-0 in Western Athletic Conference play.

KC Clayton led LaTech (2-12, 0-6) with six kills.

The Wahine now go from the bottom team in the conference to the one that they have had the most problems with: New Mexico State (10-7, 5-1) at 5 p.m. tomorrow. It was just two weeks ago that Hawaii swept the Aggies for the first time since 1993.

"I think we bruised their egos a bit," Ferrell said of last month's match at New Mexico State. "We think they'll come out stronger.

"Tonight, it was hard not to play down, to be able to play up to our level. Tomorrow, it will be hard to play down when (the Aggies) are pushing the tempo."

The speed of last night's match was slow, until Ferrell replaced freshman hitter Kanani Herring in Set 2. The Wahine broke an 8-8 tie with a 4-0 run, highlighted by two kills from Ferrell.

Hawaii pulled away at 20-12 only to have the Lady Techsters close to 23-19 with what Wahine setter Dani Mafua described as rat-a-tat balls. Ferrell's four kills gave Hawaii set point and the Wahine took a 2-0 lead on a block of Lindsay Armstrong by Amber Kaufman and Jessica Keefe.

It was 1-1 in Set 3 and then it was basically over. Hawaii's outside hitters continued to pound open-look kills. Ferrell's lone error of the night came when a serve by Aneli Cubi-Otineru that appeared to be an ace was returned; Ferrell jumped early on her tip and "it was my bad," she said, hitting .778 for the match.

"Ferrell plays with a lot of energy," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "She definitely brings some pace to our game. She's a young player who makes things happen all the time.

"I was hoping we could look and play a little sharper going into this next match. We weren't sharp handling that first pass. I hope we can play up to our abilities Sunday."

Shoji said he sat Herring early in Set 2 because the freshman didn't appear to be moving well. Herring played in the front row for the first time since spraining her ankle two weeks ago.

About the only thing of note last night was Tara Hittle climbing up the UH career dig chart. With four digs last night, the senior libero has 1,139, passing Suzanne Eagye (1,138) for fourth place, four behind Teee Williams (1,143).

Hawaii def. Louisiana Tech

25-15, 25-19, 25-9
Lady Techsters (2-12, 0-6 WAC)

g k e att pct d bs ba pts
Jones 3 4 2 12 .167 2 0 1 2.5
Fritz 3 0 4 8 -.500 2 0 0 -2.0
Clayton 3 6 1 12 .417 1 1 2 8.0
Bin 3 1 2 6 -.167 0 1 0 0
Crowder 3 3 3 12 .000 1 0 0 3.0
Alexander 3 0 0 0 .000 2 0 0 0
Bolonhini 3 0 0 0 .000 3 0 0 -2.0
Artim 3 0 0 1 .000 2 0 0 0
Armstrong 2 0 2 4 -.500 1 0 1 0.5
Stanley 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Kolunija 3 5 4 13 .077 2 0 0 4.0
Totals 3 19 18 68 .015 2 0 0 14.0

 
Rainbow Wahine (13-2, 6-0 WAC)

g k e att pct d bs ba pts
Kaufman 3 4 0 6 .667 3 0 4 5.0
Herring 2 1 0 4 .250 1 0 0 0
Houston 3 10 4 20 .300 0 0 1 8.5
Thomas 2 4 2 11 .182 0 0 0 4.0
Mafua 3 1 0 2 .500 7 0 1 1.0
Cubi-Otineru 3 7 2 12 .417 4 0 0 5.0
Ferrell 2 8 1 9 .778 3 1 0 9.0
Hittle 3 0 0 0 .000 4 0 0 0
Keefe 2 1 0 4 .250 0 0 3 2.5
Kaaihue 2 0 0 0 .000 3 0 0 0
Brandt 2 0 0 0 .000 2 0 0 0
Fowler 1 2 0 2 1.000 0 0 1 2.5
Lee 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Totals 3 38 9 70 .414 27 1 10 37.5

 
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills + blocks + aces - service errors)

Aces -- Louisiana Tech (1): Fritz. Hawaii (5): Mafua 2, Kaufman, Cubi-Otineru, Hittle. Assists -- Louisiana Tech (15): Bin 12, jones 2, Armstrong. Hawaii (38): Mafua 29, Brandt 5, Hittle 3, Cubi-Otineru. T --1:16. Officials -- Kent Kitade, Ernie Ho. A -- 4,807.

WAC standings


W L Pct. GB All
Hawaii
6 0 1.000 -- 13-2
New Mexico St. 5 1 .833 1/2 10-7
Idaho
4 2 .666 2 11-6
San Jose St.
4 4 .500 3 8-10
Utah State
3 3 .500 3 5-12
Nevada
2 4 .333 4 7-9
Fresno St.
2 4 .333 4 5-10
Boise St.
2 4 .333 4 5-11
Louisiana Tech 0 5 .000 5 1/2 2-11

 
Yesterday
Hawaii def. Louisiana Tech 25-15, 25-19, 25-9
Today
Nevada at Fresno State
San Jose State at Idaho
Utah State at Boise State
Tomorrow
New Mexico State at Hawaii, 5 p.m.

First match in nearly two weeks.

First home match in nearly three.

HAWAII 3
LATECH 0

 
NEXT UP
vs. NMSU tomorrow
There was a bit of rust to be flaked off. As well as some lethargy.

It took until nearly the middle of Set 2 for No. 6 Hawaii to find some energy and enthusiasm when hosting Louisiana Tech at the Stan Sheriff Center. And even then it came in bursts.

But it did come, particularly at the end of the 76-minute match.

A turnstile crowd of 4,807 (6,480 tickets) saw the Rainbow Wahine extend their winning streak to 12 via a 25-15, 25-19, 25-9 victory over the Lady Techsters. Hawaii got 10 kills from senior hitter Jamie Houston and a near-perfect night from Stephanie Ferrell to improve to 13-2 overall, 6-0 in Western Athletic Conference play.

KC Clayton led LaTech (2-12, 0-6) with six kills.

The Wahine now go from the bottom team in the conference to the one that they have had the most problems with: New Mexico State (10-7, 5-1) at 5 p.m. tomorrow. It was just two weeks ago that Hawaii swept the Aggies for the first time since 1993.

"I think we bruised their egos a bit," Ferrell said of last month's match at New Mexico State. "We think they'll come out stronger.

"Tonight, it was hard not to play down, to be able to play up to our level. Tomorrow, it will be hard to play down when (the Aggies) are pushing the tempo."

The speed of last night's match was slow, until Ferrell replaced freshman hitter Kanani Herring in Set 2. The Wahine broke an 8-8 tie with a 4-0 run, highlighted by two kills from Ferrell.

Hawaii pulled away at 20-12 only to have the Lady Techsters close to 23-19 with what Wahine setter Dani Mafua described as rat-a-tat balls. Ferrell's four kills gave Hawaii set point and the Wahine took a 2-0 lead on a block of Lindsay Armstrong by Amber Kaufman and Jessica Keefe.

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MIKE BURLEY / MBURLEY@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Amber Kaufman and Kanani Herring leaped to make a block during last night's sweep of Louisiana Tech.





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