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Post by hwnstunner on Nov 13, 2006 1:20:29 GMT -5
1. I really, really hope New Mexico St. can keep what they have going. I don't know who they have signed for next year, or have on the bench but they lose a lot three very good seniors next season. NMSU has provided a legit threat for the Wahine. Other WAC teams, especially Nevada, have come close, but NMSU has really enlighted the UH fanbase and program. They are the first team to really have the altheticism, height, physicality, and talent that can take on the Wahine (atleast the past two seasons). This could become a very strong rivalry. I haven't heard such hype by the players for a WAC match --- ever.
2. NMSU reminds me a lot of Long Beach St. --- AND I LOVE IT. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it makes me happy. Shoot ... NMSU plays, looks, and even carries themsleves like Long Beach. I could totally picture players like Choi, Simpson, Borden, Torres, and Oguh in 49er uniforms. Honestly, even the "attitude" of NMSU reminds me of the Beach. They have a confidence, flirting with the lines of cockiness. Seeing a player like Oguh get a stuff and jump around, dance and make faces is awesome to watch. It really brings excitement for me as a fan. I loved the UH/LBSU rivalry because it pumped up the fans. Everyone wanted to send the Beach packin. I hope NMSU stays in the WAC for a long, long time.
3. Kamana'o, Thurlby, and Mason has GOT to be the MOST BEAUTIFUL senior class. I'm sorry if I bother any posters with this comment, but they are! Also very talented as well! ;D
4. I have finally accepted the fact that yes, KAMANA'O does look like Lilo. And seriously, what a career she has had ...
5. Gregory had a MONSTER night at the net. Eleven blocks, nine in the first two games. If there is ANY player who has come close to Bown as far as blocking capability, its Gregory. Her block really comes out when she plays against teams who can rip. NMSU has a bunch of hard hitters, so Gregory was able to put her block to good use. It's ALWAYS easier to block a team which takes honest, hard swings.
6. Houston and Mason aren't Willoughby and Kahumoku, but they are still fun to watch. Houston has the athletic and "pop" as Willoughby. Mason has the awareness and shot placement of Kahumoku. It's pretty crazy ... they really do resemble Willoughby and Kahumoku, but are just a notch and a half down. They make more errors and don't put the bal away as often, but they HAVE the potential to reach the level of Kim and Lily. I really hope they can reach it going post season.
7. The HAKA AND HULA DANCING? Impressive.
Hmmm .... I guess this all for now. I'll edit if anyting comes to mind.
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Post by Wolfgang on Nov 13, 2006 1:23:03 GMT -5
Edit the title to indicate it's a Hawaii thread.
Thanks, in advance.
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Post by pineapple on Nov 13, 2006 1:45:02 GMT -5
Houston and Mason aren't Willoughby and Kahumoku, but they are still fun to watch. Houston has the athletic and "pop" as Willoughby. Mason has the awareness and shot placement of Kahumoku. It's pretty crazy ... they really do resemble Willoughby and Kahumoku, but are just a notch and a half down. They make more errors and don't put the bal away as often, but they HAVE the potential to reach the level of Kim and Lily. I really hope they can reach it going post season. Houston has two more years to play. She will continue to grow. And possibly will impact like Willoughby in her senior year. |
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Post by bunnywailer on Nov 13, 2006 2:15:28 GMT -5
4. I have finally accepted the fact that yes, KAMANA'O does look like Lilo. And seriously, what a career she has had ... Ohana. Ohana means family. And family means no one gets left behind....or forgotten. ;D That's nothing. You shoulda seen the Haka Loogie I just did over here at my house. |
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Post by triasfan on Nov 13, 2006 2:18:39 GMT -5
The match was phenomenal!! You could really see the fire in their games, and with the exception of game three it just kept building and building.
I saw two very good things tonight among everything else that went well tonight...
1. The return of Kari's blocking. She'd been pretty quiet the past few matches in her blocking stats, which had begun to worry me a little. In order for Hawaii to really make a solid run during the postseason, we're going to need her blocking at the net. Eleven blocks, eight in the first two games, she really did look like Heather Bown out there.
2. Hawaii's ability to close games. In the three games Hawaii won they didn't let NMSU back in it, especially at the end and were able to close each game. That is a marked improvement over previous matches. They were able to sustain the fire and consistency in the first, second, and fourth games, something they were not able to do in Las Cruces.
Congratulations to Kanoe, Sarah, and Cayley. Each one of them played great tonight!!
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Post by w2l on Nov 13, 2006 3:01:24 GMT -5
NMSU reminds me a lot of Long Beach St. --- AND I LOVE IT. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it makes me happy. Shoot ... NMSU plays, looks, and even carries themsleves like Long Beach. I could totally picture players like Choi, Simpson, Borden, Torres, and Oguh in 49er uniforms. Honestly, even the "attitude" of NMSU reminds me of the Beach. They have a confidence, flirting with the lines of cockiness. Seeing a player like Oguh get a stuff and jump around, dance and make faces is awesome to watch. It really brings excitement for me as a fan. I loved the UH/LBSU rivalry because it pumped up the fans. Everyone wanted to send the Beach packin. I hope NMSU stays in the WAC for a long, long time. With the way things are now, I think Long Beach State should immitate New Mexico State. |
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Nov 13, 2006 3:13:41 GMT -5
Mike Jordan is real fun to watch -- there's a real strut to his step as he's protesting and complaining the calls. He's vocal and and has that classic scowl that all coaches should have when things simply aren't going well for your team. At one point there wasn't much he could do except watch -- there he was standing just a few feet off the sidelines, arms folded, holding a cup of water ... the camera panned to him for a long few seconds... the expression on his face priceless.
HI may have returned the favor to NMSU tonight. In Las Cruces, NMSU was the one to light a fire under HI's butts. You can bet that if these two teams square off for a 3rd time in Reno for the WAC Championship, that fire will be there for NMSU too.
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Post by aaronic on Nov 13, 2006 7:12:48 GMT -5
I honestly don't understand what the big hub-bub is.
I think yall are reading too much into this and the media...
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Post by beachman on Nov 13, 2006 8:13:16 GMT -5
NMSU reminds me a lot of Long Beach St. --- AND I LOVE IT. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it makes me happy. Shoot ... NMSU plays, looks, and even carries themsleves like Long Beach. I could totally picture players like Choi, Simpson, Borden, Torres, and Oguh in 49er uniforms. Honestly, even the "attitude" of NMSU reminds me of the Beach. They have a confidence, flirting with the lines of cockiness. Seeing a player like Oguh get a stuff and jump around, dance and make faces is awesome to watch. It really brings excitement for me as a fan. I loved the UH/LBSU rivalry because it pumped up the fans. Everyone wanted to send the Beach packin. I hope NMSU stays in the WAC for a long, long time. With the way things are now, I think Long Beach State should immitate New Mexico State. Why in the world would anyone want to go to school in Las Cruces, New Mexico? I really can't see them maintaining any kind of a top program there....facilities, weather, campus, climate, city, etc......that place is a hell hole! I wish them luck, but I can tell you that we are glad that they are out of the Big West.....horrible place to have to travel to, and I say that from personal experience......When God envisioned hell on earth he must have been thinking of Las Cruces NM  |
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Post by mbrooks on Nov 13, 2006 10:55:11 GMT -5
I will say this much -
That Stan Sheriff Center looked amazing. Is it a volleyball court only or do other sports play there? What I would give to have a facility like that here.
I did get to watch a bit of the Senior Nite - beautiful from what I saw.
I don't know who was on the court in our uniforms in games 1 and 2 but that definitely wasn't the team I'd been seeing all year. Game 3? Yeah - that's who we're used to.
As you all have said following the first match this year between us, you guys didn't see us in our full potential. The crowd was extremely effective against us - proof is in the service errors.
The pressure of the game, the crowd, the emotions...it bit us in the rear end.
And Beachman - we love Las Cruces just fine, thank you very much. I'll take our brand new facilities, our currently beautiful and sunny (no snow weather), amazing campus and wondeful city over any other place thank you very much.
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Post by Aikea on Nov 13, 2006 11:43:19 GMT -5
I will say this much - That Stan Sheriff Center looked amazing. Is it a volleyball court only or do other sports play there? What I would give to have a facility like that here. Basketball is played there as well. |
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Post by Aikea on Nov 13, 2006 11:45:22 GMT -5
starbulletin.com/2006/11/13/sports/story01.html Seniors celebrate their night with win Hawaii defeats New Mexico State before honoring Kamana'o, Mason and Thurlby By Cindy Luis cluis@starbulletin.com Could they have asked for anything more? Next Up at Boise St., Wednesday A dominating performance for most of the 2 hours and 1 minute. A season-high crowd of 7,207 (8,611 tickets issued) that was uncharacteristically hostile toward an opponent. Or, in the words of senior setter Kanoe Kamana'o, "plenty selective cheering." It was a perfect night of celebration for Hawaii's three seniors, who enjoyed a 30-16, 30-18, 24-30, 30-23 victory over new-found nemesis New Mexico State even more than being buried under the post-match leis or the Warriors football players performing the haka after Game 2. The 14th-ranked Rainbow Wahine more than avenged their first Western Athletic Conference loss in eight years, turning the 20th-ranked Aggies from title contenders into pretenders. Hawaii (21-5, 13-1) all but clinched its 11th straight WAC regular-season championship last night, stepping over New Mexico State (29-2, 12-2) to get back atop the conference standings. The Wahine finish the regular season on the road this week at Boise State on Wednesday and Idaho on Friday before spending Thanksgiving week in Reno, Nev., at the WAC Tournament. "This was a pretty big win for us," Kamana'o said. "We'll use this to carry on to Boise and Idaho and then the WAC tournament. And I'm pretty sure we'll face this team (NMSU) again." Kamana'o became the 21st setter to reach at least 6,000 assists in NCAA history when connecting with junior Jamie Houston for a 20-13 lead in Game 4. Houston finished with a match-high 24 kills to go with 15 digs. Senior hitter Sarah Mason had a near 20-20 night (20 kills, match-high 19 digs) to go with four service aces. The Wahine outblocked the Aggies 15-11, with junior middle Kari Gregory in on 11, and freshman hitter Amber Kaufman six. "I'm so proud of how our younger players stepped up tonight," senior reserve setter Cayley Thurlby said. "It was a great night with a lot of emotion. I'm thankful we were able to stay focused with so much riding on the match." Thurlby served the first aloha ball at 29-22. Hawaii needed two more swings to end it -- appropriately enough, one for each senior -- with Mason getting the party started with her 20th kill. "Revenge tastes so good right now," Mason said. "We scouted them well, did everything we needed to do. "We played a hell of a match, but we can only hang onto this moment for so long. We have a long way to go, have a lot of work ahead of us, but we will be back." For the Wahine to have a return visit home, they'd either have to host an NCAA tournament first-round match or -- if sent on the road for the first two rounds -- make it back for the regional semifinal that will be held at the Stan Sheriff Center. It's a long road back, Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "I told the team that we couldn't get too high if we won or too low if we lost. We've got a lot bigger games in our future. This is big for now, big tonight for senior night because we didn't want to lose. But it's one of three or four big matches we'll have over the next few weeks." New Mexico State finishes out at home with Fresno State and San Jose State before heading to Reno. The Aggies know they'll have to do a better job at serving (19 errors) and getting the ball to their junior middles earlier and more often than they did last night if they want to beat Hawaii in the anticipated title match next week. Middle Kim Oguh finished with nine kills but had just two after Game 2, while middle Amber Simpson had seven. The two came into the week as the top two hitters in the WAC percentage-wise, at .400-plus, but Oguh climbed out of negative percentage to finish at .240 and Simpson was at .091. Alice Borden led the Aggies with 11 kills. "I'm very disappointed in our lack of competitive fire," NMSU coach Mike Jordan said. "We were not emotionally ready to play. Hawaii had a lot to do with what was going wrong for us -- they served well, blocked well. "After Game 2, it was more than just making adjustments, it was about getting into the fight. I thought we could get a chance to go to five again, but Hawaii passed a lot better here than at our place and when they're in system they can beat anyone." This was the first time in four meetings that the outcome wasn't decided by a Game 5. Hawaii won twice last season, and New Mexico State won last month in Las Cruces.
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Post by beachman on Nov 13, 2006 11:46:35 GMT -5
I will say this much - That Stan Sheriff Center looked amazing. Is it a volleyball court only or do other sports play there? What I would give to have a facility like that here. I did get to watch a bit of the Senior Nite - beautiful from what I saw. I don't know who was on the court in our uniforms in games 1 and 2 but that definitely wasn't the team I'd been seeing all year. Game 3? Yeah - that's who we're used to. As you all have said following the first match this year between us, you guys didn't see us in our full potential. The crowd was extremely effective against us - proof is in the service errors. The pressure of the game, the crowd, the emotions...it bit us in the rear end. And Beachman - we love Las Cruces just fine, thank you very much. I'll take our brand new facilities, our currently beautiful and sunny (no snow weather), amazing campus and wondeful city over any other place thank you very much. Yeah Brooks, I lived nearby in El Paso for about 6 months while stationed at Ft. Bliss....had to go to Las Cruces weekly....you obviously ain't lived anywhere else in your short life.....I'll take our weather here in LB any time to anything that you have there! 80's for the past week, with more in store.....no wind blowing half of the year, no sand storms, no unbearable heat, or at least very little of it.....enjoy Las Cruces cause you obviously don't know better And your facilities and campus suck in comparison to what we enjoy at LBS!! ;D |
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Post by Aikea on Nov 13, 2006 11:49:32 GMT -5
Pictures of senior night at the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Nov/13/sp/photos.htmlwww.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061113/SPORTS0203/611130338/1032/SPORTSUH bids farewell to seniors with big win By Ann Miller Advertiser Staff Writer Just when New Mexico State thought it was safe to soar into Hawai'i's elevated Western Athletic Conference volleyball space, the Rainbow Wahine reached out and squashed the Aggies like bugs. The 14th-ranked Rainbows (21-5) achieved payback and the inside lane to the regular-season WAC title last night by stopping 20th-ranked NMSU, 30-16, 30-18, 24-30, 30-23. The teams had come into the match tied for first at 12-1. Both have two matches remaining in the regular season. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 7,207 saw exactly what it asked for — loudly. It watched the 'Bows avenge a loss in Las Cruces a month ago, which ended their NCAA-record 132-match, eight-year winning streak against WAC opponents. Then, that huge Sunday afternoon crowd sat silently to honor seniors Kanoe Kamana'o, Cayley Thurlby and Sarah Mason. Senior Night festivities started with a hula that immediately brought tears to Kamana'o's eyes, while many in "No Better Setter" shirts cried with her. Kamana'o, a three-time All-American, became the 21st player in NCAA history to surpass 6,000 assists last night. Last night, she and Thurlby — the UH captains — and Mason, who came up a dig short of a rare 20-20 (20 kills, 19 digs), led their younger teammates on an assault of the team that has tried so hard to take their WAC dominance away this season. Game 1 was utter dominance for Hawai'i. Fans booed every NMSU (29-2) serve and the UH crowd was absolutely into the gravity of the volleyball moment from introductions. After the first of five Aggie serving errors in Game 1, the 'Bows began to do a slow burn and scorched NMSU in the process. Kamana'o served six straight to take them to a 10-3 advantage and force the Aggies to take their first timeout. It was 20-10 when they took their second, and Kamana'o was serving knucklers again while Jamie Houston (24 kills), Kari Gregory (a career-high 11 blocks) and freshman Amber Kaufman (six stuffs) buried everything in the front row. Mason aced the game's final two points. The Rainbows were everywhere, with Gregory taking part in all six first-game stuffs, Mason and Houston burying five kills each and libero Jayme Lee anchoring a floor defense that kept three Aggie hitters at .000 — or worse. That broke NMSU's streak of 26 straight games won. In Game 2, the Rainbow Wahine hit .306, got three more roofs — two by Gregory — and seven more missed New Mexico State serves. UH led from 4-3, put it away when Kamana'o served five straight and finished it on three consecutive Aggie mistakes. "I told my players after Game 2 that emotionally I was disappointed in what I was seeing and I expected more," NMSU coach Mike Jordan said. During the break before Game 3, members of the football team did their haka in the middle of the court. The Rainbow Wahine came out early to scream with the crowd. All the emotion colliding on one night seemed to put them over the edge. Their passing began to break apart. After eight ties, New Mexico State — suddenly unstoppable offensively — went on two long runs to pull ahead 19-11 behind Alice Borden and Kim Oguh. The only serious threat UH put up came way too late, when it fought off three game points with its only two blocks of the game. Hawai'i has never lost to a WAC team here, where it holds a 90-match winning streak against conference opponents. And Mason and Houston were carving up the Aggie block, while Gregory was putting up a huge roof that held the NMSU middles — both among the top 20 nationally in hitting percentage — to a combined .170. "When Game 3 was going on I thought maybe we can get in a fifth game again," Jordan said. "But Game 4 started off and we missed a couple serves early again." Even UH coach Dave Shoji wasn't worried. His team scored six in a row with Kamana'o serving to go up 9-3 and sailed in. "I was hoping we could play like we did in Games 1 and 2 again," Shoji said. "I didn't see any reason we couldn't. They were not doing anything different. They did serve tougher, but I thought we passed well tonight when we moved our feet. I just didn't see them turning the match completely around at that point." Particularly not on Senior Night. "It was kinda shocking that it was me, that this day was here," Kamana'o said. "I'm usually the one watching. This was me, being the one. It's a fun, memorable thing for us." |
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Post by mbrooks on Nov 13, 2006 11:59:12 GMT -5
I really don't feel like getting into it with you today. You have your opinion and I have mine. And yes, I have lived quite a few places in my lifetime. Sadly, you're a prime example of why I wonder why I ever get involved with message boards. This is about VOLLEYBALL - not why you think my town sucks.
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