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Post by pineapple on Sept 8, 2007 3:08:22 GMT -5
15-12, UH UH hit 0.143 in the 5th game!!!! What's the problem? the problem is, they must not show how good they are yet, not until they play nebraska. ;D
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Post by bucky415 on Sept 8, 2007 3:08:28 GMT -5
15-12 Hawaii in the fifth on a Houston kill, preventing mass panic in the islands. Still, not the kind of effort that UH fans wanted, I am sure. It has to be a disappointment for WSU, since they had the chance but couldn't get the win. Obviously, Hawaii has a lot of issues they need to address, but it is probably a good sign that Hittle came on offensively in the latter part of the match.
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Post by Wolfgang on Sept 8, 2007 3:10:01 GMT -5
Where was Hittle hitting from? Left, right, combos around the setter,...where?
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jabberwocky
Freshman
"Its not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. Woof woof"
Posts: 76
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Post by jabberwocky on Sept 8, 2007 3:10:20 GMT -5
Actually, Hawaii fans are thrilled with this win and the effort by the players.
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Post by Gorf on Sept 8, 2007 3:16:22 GMT -5
It was a good comeback win for Hawaii, however, the way things were going on livestats for Wichita State somewhere after the 2nd game and well before the end of the 3rd game the Shocker seemed to run out of energy and focus.
Plus they never seemed to be able to get either back except for periodic short durations of 1-3 point while allowing UH to many numerous runs on points of their own.
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Post by pineapple on Sept 8, 2007 3:21:07 GMT -5
Hey, Gorf, don't you have to get up early tomorrow for work?
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Post by vbuzz on Sept 8, 2007 3:22:41 GMT -5
They were frustrated by Hawaii's block, once Hawaii figured out their offense, the Shockers were really shut shutdown. Houston went on a rampage tonight, and surprisingly Hittle played really smart, made a few errors here and there...but was overall good in this match. Kaufman came in for Simmons after the 2nd set and just contributed immediately at the MB2 position tonight.
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jabberwocky
Freshman
"Its not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. Woof woof"
Posts: 76
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Post by jabberwocky on Sept 8, 2007 3:23:17 GMT -5
WS became tentative in the last games. There were rallys where they couldn't put the ball down and key points where hard hits were dug or block. You could tell it affected them.
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Post by pineapple on Sept 8, 2007 3:32:37 GMT -5
I think Dave and co. will ride Jamie Houston's arm this season, just like they rode Kim Willoughby's arm in 2001. That was not a good season for UH. Good for Kim W. but not good for UH. Boring team, too. I feel that once the setting gets up to competitive level- and I think it will- there will be more options. Kaufman is smart, quick and packs a cannon, Aneli is rapidly becoming a go to girl, Hittle has not reached her capacity yet. These three along with Houston will carry the team.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Sept 8, 2007 3:49:36 GMT -5
even though the scores for G1 and 2 were close, WSU was just playing on a different level ... then they came back down to earth after that. and HI started playing with a lot of emotion. is that what this team needs to win? to play with that sense of urgency?
HI's block AND floor defense came alive. HI also changed tactic serving -- less jump floaters and a lot of short serves into the congested areas of WSU's serve receive. (incidentally, a very simple, easy strategy to carry out. teams in the past have used this with great success against HI, b/c well, you're actually forcing the passers to have to move to the ball.)
kaufman made a big difference in the middle. she didn't end up hitting for a great percentage, but she posed such a threat that WSU's blockers had to respect her, and that really opened things up for the outside hitters -- that and brandt started setting Sanders more too.
Otineru plays with a lot of emotion -- HI really needs more of that. but she got tired at the end -- Dave, help her out a little with some subs, will ya?
the liberos had big nights -- Broussard edges Ka'aihue 34 digs to 30. a lot of long rallies. WSU is a tough serving team and plays great back row defense.
WSU just got tentative after the first two games. that and their big gun, Lungren, tired as well...
Houston had a monster night ... she and Lungren were players of the game.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Sept 8, 2007 3:50:50 GMT -5
Where was Hittle hitting from? Left, right, combos around the setter,...where? she played RS, but hit from almost every area of the court.
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Post by LanaiBoy on Sept 8, 2007 3:51:51 GMT -5
Just back from the game. Actually I would have been happy even if Hawaii had lost. I think Hawaii played fairly well in the first two games. It was just that the connections between Brandt and the middles were horrible. No middle attack so Wichita State stacked the outsides. When Brandt started to connect with Sanders and Kaufman the match was over. Wichita State could not match the devastating two-pronged attack of Houston and Otineru, who both had over 20 kills. I love the fact that Jayme Lee is the serving specialist. I remember only about 2 serving errors she has made all year, including one tonight. The other Wahine have been making slews of serving errors. Also Lee is getting more reliable in the back row, with many pretty passes. Maybe we have to live with Hittle's low hitting percentage. She is a good passer and has tremendous range. She did okay in blocking too, at least tonight. Wichita State is a good team. They have a good libero and good overall team defense, particularly their block. You have to give them credit for making it difficult for Hawaii to score. When two good teams meet, there is a tendency towards low hitting percentages. That is to be expected. I think slowly Hawaii is becoming a solid and cohesive team. I am getting more and more optimistic with each match played.
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Post by 2 cents on Sept 8, 2007 3:52:34 GMT -5
WSU had too many service errors. Live stats doesn't give a total but I think it was in the high teens. Maybe 20.
WSU looked pretty tired in games 4/5. Hawaii's short serve really kept them out of system. blocks really picked up in games 3/4/5
Hawaii played pretty good floor defense- lots of digs- especially games 3/4/5. hitting % was poor- lots of swings but the touches off the block and digs kept them in the game. It was reminiscent of the good old days- not much offense but nothing touches the floor on Hawaii's side of the net.
Houston was on- 27 kills 11 digs 4 blocks
Kaufman was a bright spot- played middle- 9 total blocks- nice slide
Cubi-Otineru really kept WSU off balanced. 22 kills. amazing shots off the block - I don't know how she does it
Hittle does look more comfortable playing opposite. Good defense- 5 blocks 15 digs also 11 kills.
Kaaihue was super
Bottom line- Hawaii played with HEART tonight. Even at 0-2, they looked confident.
Good win-
Congrats Ladies! We're proud of you!
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Post by lazybones on Sept 8, 2007 3:57:25 GMT -5
Just got home from the SSC. Games 1 and 2 were simply horrible. In game 1, the SSC was filled with groan after groan by the fans whenever there was a bad set to the middle hitters. By the end of game 2, the 4,000 or so people who showed up to the SSC were deathly silent.
I'm not sure what the game plan was after game 3 started. One thing I noticed though was that Hawaii seemed to be serving shorter after the halftime break. They did particularly well whenever Lee was subbed in to serve. The middles really stepped up their block in game 3 as well, though I'm guessing (key word) some of this was because of bad passing on WSU's side of the court.
Once Brandt got her connection with the Sanders going, the momentum shifted (if I remember correctly she didn't get her second kill down until very late in game 2). Also, Kaufman awed the SSC crowd with her 8 block assists and 1 block solo (she had a single block assist in game 2 (Shoji didn't sub her in until the score was 26-23 WSU) and a single block assist in game 5; the rest of her blocks came in games 3 and 4).
Amanda Simmons looked kind of tentative while she was in. Although she only had five sets, she had a few "freshman mistakes." As for Brandt, she ran a much cleaner offense after halftime, but it seems to me that she still needs a little practice learning when to set the middles. In games 1 and 2, whenever she set Gregory or Sanders, there would almost always be a double block waiting for the kill. I swear one time in game 2, there were two blockers on one of the middle attackers even before Brandt set the ball.
(I'm not a volleyball expert so please don't take anything I say seriously.)
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Post by ACE on Sept 8, 2007 3:58:15 GMT -5
The best thing about Otineru so far is that her height. So much is placed on height and power, but for someone under 6' she plays with a big heart and hits freaken smart!!...but for someone under 6' she packs a punch...she had some kills that in the replay I only noticed it wasn't a full swing.
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