Post by gobows on Nov 22, 2006 17:04:48 GMT -5
Posted on: Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Houston tops WAC fantasy teams
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
RENO, Nev. — In virtual volleyball, any Rainbow Wahine can be yours if you are a Western Athletic Conference coach — with one All-America exception. The mythical game goes like this:
Going into the WAC Tournament, which starts today, you haven't beat 12th-ranked Hawai'i in a decade or so, maybe never. Or, in the case of 21st-ranked New Mexico State, 40 days and nights.
In Fantasy Volleyball, each coach gets to put one Rainbow Wahine on their team. You can keep all your players, but you cannot have Hawai'i setter Kanoe Kamana'o, the three-time WAC Player of the Year, just to keep it interesting.
Who would they take? If virtual volleyball was reality, Hawai'i would have few players left. And the Rainbows have been running on fumes in the depth department since lose three starters to season-ending injuries.
As the top-seeded 'Bows (23-5, 15-1) start the postseason tonight against the winner of this morning's (7:30 a.m. HST) play-in match between ninth-seeded Louisiana Tech and eighth-seeded Fresno State, Cayley Thurlby is the first sub off the bench at four positions. There are no other scholarship players left.
That scenario narrows the search for fantasy players, and still WAC coaches are all over the position chart with picks.
Craig Choate, coach of perpetually height-challenged San Jose State, chose immediately: "Juliana Sanders, because she's a dominant middle blocker," Choate said. "She can hit and block and she's just very nice."
Nevada coach Devin Scruggs recruited Sanders out of Castle High School, has always liked her style and has little depth in the middle. At first, Sanders was also her choice — or as she put it, "Door No. 1."
"Obviously (Jamie) Houston is unbelievable," Scruggs said. "She'd be pretty fun to coach. But our greatest needs might be in the middle. I recruited Juliana. She moves well, I think she's a good athlete."
A moment later, Scruggs decided "no deal" and went to Door No. 2.
Houston, at 5 1/2 kills a game — fifth in the NCAA, can erase a lot of errors.
"When you have such a dominant hitter, it doesn't matter if you're not passing," Scruggs said. "You just throw the ball outside and jump over everybody. It's like when Kim Willoughby was playing (for UH). When they weren't passing well, you'd go, 'Oh shoot, she's going to get the ball again.' "
Scruggs is not alone. The sophomore was a popular choice for reasons beyond her monstrous kill numbers.
New Mexico State coach Mike Jordan first asked if the injured Rainbow Wahine — Tara Hittle, Jessica Keefe and Nickie Thomas — were in the mix. Then he thought about Sanders and Kari Gregory in the middle: "I like our middles a lot," he said. "But I sure like Hawai'i's a lot."
Finally, he focused on hitters.
"We are one really good outside hitter away from being a fantastic team," Jordan said. "I'd take any one of their outside hitters. You see the explosiveness in Jamie Houston and it's hard not to get excited. Hittle's all-around game is tough to pass up and (Sarah) Mason does a lot of good things, too. She can play antenna to antenna. But if I've got to take just one, then it's Houston. She's got the most eligibility. That's my reasoning."
First-year Utah State coach Grayson DuBose also chose Houston.
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanon went in the opposite direction. Instead of taking a terminator, she wanted someone who could keep the ball in play — libero Jayme Lee, a freshman walk-on out of Hawai'i Baptist Academy.
"I think she does a great job," Buchanon said. "She digs a bunch of balls."
Coincidentally, Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji started in on liberos when he got his shot at picking players off other teams. He took two liberos — Jessie Shull from San Jose State and Krystal Torres from New Mexico State — and NMSU setter Jackie Choi.
"If she could come in after Kanoe," Shoji said, "that would be great."
Then he chose attackers that gave the 'Bows' particular problems: New Mexico State's Alice Borden and Kim Oguh, and Boise State's Cameron Flunder.
Not that he would take one if given a chance. When your team rises to its 12th consecutive regular-season championship despite all Hawai'i has been through, there is the matter of loyalty. Even in Fantasy Volleyball.
Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.