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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 6, 2012 15:58:14 GMT -5
Wahine take care of road businessBy Star-Advertiser staff POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 06, 2012 LAST UPDATED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 06, 2012 Cal Poly provided eighth-ranked Hawaii an ideal opportunity to work on its volleyball makeover Friday. The Rainbow Wahine dealt the Mustangs their 12th straight loss, 25-15, 25-17, 17-25, 25-19, before 488 at Mott Gymnasium in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Playing without Jane Croson — suspended indefinitely for a team violation — the Wahine (13-2, 6-0 Big West) got 20 kills from Emily Hartong and a double-double from Ashley Kastl (11 kills, 10 digs) to remain unbeaten in the Big West. Those were UH career highs for Kastl, a transfer from Arizona State. "I think Ashley, in Jane's place, had a really good night passing," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "She had one reception error, but she was pretty solid all night. She got some kills, played pretty good defense. It's hard to judge us after tonight, but obviously it's the way we've got to go and win without her (Croson)." Freshman Jade Vorster added 11 kills while hitting .500 and Kalei Adolpho, Hawaii's other first-year starter in the middle, was in on half Hawaii's 10 blocks. Punahou graduate Tai Manu-Olevao saw her first action, debuting late in the second set and burying her first collegiate kill in the third. She started on the right side the final two sets and results were mixed, with two kills, digs and blocks, but three hitting errors for a negative percentage. "Tai got some good minutes," Shoji insisted. "It was really nice to see her out there because she just needs game time and I plan to give it to her. She has to see action in these kinds of matches. In practice you can't simulate a game. She was very nervous, but she made some plays. We've just got to take a look." With Croson gone, Wahine setter Mita Uiato is the only returning starter in the same position as last year (Hartong played middle). Despite all the changes, UH was surprisingly efficient early, holding a conference opponent to fewer than 20 points for the seventh and eighth straight sets. It hit .367 in both the opening sets, taking big early leads and making them hold up. Five second-set stuffs left Cal Poly (1-15, 0-4) hitting just .129. But in the third, the Wahine passing took a siesta and they hit just .047. Cal Poly scored five of the first six points, weathered a UH run that put it ahead 14-12 and stuffed Hawaii's flailing offense down the stretch. The passing returned in the final set and an early five-point service run by Ginger Long proved to be the difference. ‘Iolani graduate Chelsea Hardin had eight kills for the Mustangs, but hit .000. Hawaii closes this trip tonight at UC Santa Barbara (9-10, 2-2), which swept Cal State Northridge on Friday. "Santa Barbara is a better team than Cal Poly," Shoji said, "but it's more about how we play most nights." The Wahine will spend about six hours in Santa Barbara, driving down this afternoon and heading straight to the gym. After the match they go to an airport hotel in Los Angeles before an early-morning flight home. The UCSB match will be streamed live at bigwest.tv and broadcast on KKEA 1420-AM at 4 p.m.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 7, 2012 13:46:31 GMT -5
Pass-happy Wahine sweep UCSBBy Barry Punzal / Special to the Star-Advertiser POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 07, 2012 SANTA BARBARA » Hawaii put together two efficient sets in sweeping UC Santa Barbara in a Big West volleyball match Saturday night at the Thunderdome. The No. 8-ranked Rainbow Wahine were on the money with their passing and dominated the Gauchos 25-13, 25-16, 25-21 to improve to 7-0 in the Big West and 14-2 overall. Opposite hitter Emily Hartong led the way with 16 kills and a .341 hitting percentage. Middles Kalei Adolpho (six kills, two solo blocks, five assists) and Jade Vorster (five kills, five assists) also played well. Holding an opponent under 20 points in two sets on its home court pleased Hartong. "That felt good," she said. "I thought we did a real good job of coming out right away." The Rainbow Wahine's pinpoint passing made it easy for setter Mita Uiato to dish anywhere she wanted. She finished with 28 assists. "I think our passers really stepped up," she said. "Aly (Longo) did a real good job and made our other passers feel really comfortable." "Our passing is something we work on every day and something that's not always there, but tonight it was," said coach Dave Shoji, who was back at his alma mater. "Ashley Kastl has been given more of a role as a passer and she's done really well the last two nights." Shoji wanted to see a better effort from his team in the third set against UCSB (9-11, 2-3). The Rainbow Wahine lost the third set during a four-set win at Cal Poly on Friday. "We wanted to see if we could close it off," Shoji said. "We won the same way last night and then we let Game 3 get away. So, tonight, I felt it was important for us to come out and make a statement in Game 3." A kill by Vorster in the middle gave Hawaii a 5-2 lead. The Rainbow Wahine then got a couple of kills from Hartong and another by Vorster during a 4-0 run to build a 12-6 advantage. Adolpho took over at the net as a blocker, posting two solos and combining with Tai Manu-Olevau for another rejection to increase the lead to 18-11. "Our blocking hasn't been as good as it should be, but tonight we did a good job of executing," said Hartong. The Rainbow Wahine appeared to be on their way to holding UCSB below 20 points in the third set, but the Gauchos were able to avoid the embarrassment by blocking for a point and scoring on a couple of errors and a kill by Jaylen Villanueva to make it 23-20. They got one more point before a Vorster block finished the match. UCSB was led by Leah Sully with 10 kills and Kara Sherrard with eight. The Gauchos were held to a team hitting percentage of .058. Punahou alumna Ali Santi had 25 assists. "Our offense wasn't very good tonight," said UCSB coach Kathy Gregory. "We're going to need to pick up the overall tempo of our game and work on our right-side defense." The Rainbow Wahine came out on fire and jumped all over UCSB in the first two sets. They went on a 7-0 run to open up an 18-8 lead in the first set as Uiato ran a finely tuned attack and fed her hitters mouth-watering sets. Hartong hit .500 and the team .323. Hawaii was so efficient it converted on 13 of 14 sideout opportunities. The second set was closer until Hawaii went on a 5-0 run to open a 20-14 lead. The highlight of the run was a sweet one-handed set by Uiato in the middle that Adolpho put away. "I've been kind of practicing it," Uiato said. "It doesn't work sometimes, but tonight it worked well." Of Uiato's efficient play, Shoji said, "Our setter can be like that and she needs to be like that for us to be good." They were good on Saturday night. 3 HAWAII
0 UCSB
NEXT UH vs. Cal State Northridge, 7 p.m. Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center. TV: OC Sports. Radio: 1420-AM.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 8, 2012 19:43:34 GMT -5
Circle of Honor gets 3 more legends
By Cindy Luis
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 08, 2012
For those reading the names of the three newest additions to the University of Hawaii Sports Circle of Honor, the selections will come as no surprise.
But for the trio chosen, it does come as a surprise. Because Allen Allen, Kanoe Kamana'o Ka'aihue and Maureen O'Toole-Purcell competed for the honor, the love and the respect of their chosen sport, not for all the honors the All-Americans would ultimately achieve.
It was volleyball fame for both Allen and Kamana'o Ka'aihue, while swimmer O'Toole-Purcell carried the torch for women's water polo for decades until it finally became an Olympic sport.
They are the Class of 2012, the 31st for the Sports Circle of Honor, which was established in 1982. Their plaques will join those of 96 individuals and 10 teams hanging on the walls of the inner concourse of the Stan Sheriff Center.
The official induction is during Friday's Rainbow Wahine volleyball match against Cal State Northridge at the Sheriff Center. The three also will be introduced at Saturday's homecoming football game against New Mexico at Aloha Stadium.
"You think about the thousands and thousands of athletes who have represented UH all these years and I'm grateful to even be considered, let alone be chosen," said Allen, currently an assistant women's volleyball coach at Gonzaga. "It's such a small percentage … and it makes me feel even more special.
"But I didn't do it by myself. I had lot of people who helped make this happen from the time I first put on that UH uniform in 1986. The coaches, my teammates. If we didn't win as a program we wouldn't be talking about this."
Allen (1986-89) always will remain in the conversation of great UH men's volleyball players. The program's first three-time All-American, he helped the Rainbows attain their first No. 1 national ranking in 1989.
His senior night in Klum Gym was not only marked by his wearing the traditional Samoan lava lava but by his marks on the UH record book. The Castle High graduate was the program's leader in kills (1,483), kill average (4.83), kill attempts (3,151), block solos (112), digs (739), dig average (2.41) and single-match kills (38). Some 20 years later, he remains in the Top 10 of those career categories, including No. 1 in block solos.
Allen's teams never made it to the NCAA final four. Kamana'o Ka'aihue's did once, in 2003 when she was the Rainbow Wahine's first AVCA national freshman of the year.
As a four-year starter (2003-07), she led UH to a 122-16 overall record and became the program's second four-time All-American. The setter out of ‘Iolani School was the Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year and three-time WAC player of the year. She twice received the Joe Kearney Award given to the WAC's top athletes and was the 2007 Jack Bonham Award winner, considered UH's most prestigious student-athlete honor.
Kamana‘o Ka‘aihue remains the program's leader in assists (6,428) and No. 2 in digs (1,416).
As decorated as O'Toole-Purcell was as a swimmer at UH (1983-84) — a three-time All-American who helped set two UH relay records — it was in water polo that she made her mark years before Hawaii offered the sport.
She was named to the U.S. national team at the age of 17 and was selected to the inaugural FINA World Cup all-world team. She went on to be named the MVP of the World Championship six times, was the U.S. MVP 15 times and a four-time Sportswoman of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
At age 39, she came out of retirement to captain the U.S. Olympic team to a silver medal as the sport made its debut at the Sydney Games. She has been inducted into both the International Swimming and USA Water Polo halls of fame.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 8, 2012 20:30:28 GMT -5
Wahine outside hitter Hartong named Big West Player of the WeekBy Star-Advertiser staff POSTED: 11:35 a.m. HST, Oct 08, 2012 LAST UPDATED: 11:43 a.m. HST, Oct 08, 2012 FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARADVERTISER.COM UH Wahine's Emily Hartong hit past the block of UCLA Bruins' Megan Moenoa in the first set during the 2012 Verizon Volleyball Challenge in the Stan Sheriff Center last month.[/size] University of Hawaii outside hitter Emily Hartong was named Big West Conference Women's Volleyball Player of the Week today. It was the second player of the week selection for Hartong, a 6-2 hitter who averaged 5.14 kills, 2.86 digs and 0.71 blocks per set as the Rainbow Wahine knocked off Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara on the road. Hartong buried 36 kills over the two matches and hit .281 as the Wahine improved to 7-0 in the Big West.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 11, 2012 14:44:27 GMT -5
Wahine just keep winning
By Ann Miller, The Star-Advertiser
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 11, 2012
Based on all that has happened since eighth-ranked Hawaii and Cal State Northridge opened the Big West Conference volleyball season three weeks ago, no one knows what to expect when they play again Friday at Stan Sheriff Center.
The Matadors (13-6) had two serves for the match in the fifth set against the Rainbow Wahine in their Matadome. They could not convert and, after beating defending Big West champ Long Beach State, have also lost two of their last three to drop to 4-3 in conference. CSUN was swept by UC Santa Barbara last Friday.
Since escaping Northridge and Cal State Fullerton opening week, Hawaii (14-2) has rolled to a 7-0 Big West start, dominating everybody else, including the 49ers and Gauchos. UH won last week without all-conference hitter Jane Croson, suspended indefinitely for breaking undisclosed team rules.
Setter Mita Uiato is now the only returning starter from last year at the same position. Freshman Tai Manu-Olevao, just activated last week, will probably start on the right side Friday. Second-team All-American Emily Hartong has moved from the middle to the left. She averaged more than five kills a set last week, taking 96 swings in Croson's absence and providing 40 percent of the offense.
"I thought the players handled everything really well last week," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They are still focused, they still want to be good. They want Jane back, but they understand how things have to go and definitely are prepared to go on without her if that's the case."
If Northridge plays as well as it did last time against Hawaii, they might need her. Croson had a match-high 18 kills against the Matadors, who were up 14-12 in the fifth and held the Wahine 100 points below their Big West-best .268 hitting percentage. CSUN ranks 21st nationally in blocking and its attack is balanced. ‘Iolani graduate Mahina Haina — who practiced with most of the Wahine over the summer — is second on the team in kills and one of five Matadors averaging two-plus a set.
But, like every other Big West team, Northridge has also proven it is vulnerable. Its RPI dropped from 70 to 91 this week. Even with its road sweep, the Wahine fell five spots to No. 26 because Cal Poly's power rating is so low (217). UH is the only Big West team in the top 40, but Pacific (41), Long Beach (54), Santa Barbara (78) and CSUN are all in the Top 100.
That is a level up from last year in the Western Athletic Conference, whose best-rated team now is New Mexico State at No. 96.
Still, it's hard to see Hawaii's RPI improving before the NCAA tournament bracket is announced Nov. 25. Its wins over Saint Mary's (47), San Francisco (51) and Stanford — now No. 1 in the RPI — will help. Losses to UCLA (4) and Cal (35) are not as painful as they were, but moving up against Big West competition will be almost as tough as it was in the WAC. A loss all but ends the long shot of hosting a subregional.
"If you are not playing well you are going to get beat in this conference," Shoji said. "Our RPI is not going down much. We're at the mercy of other teams winning or losing. We've got to hope our preseason teams win most of their games."
NOTES
» UH coach Dave Shoji is 10 wins short of 1,100 for his career. Former UCLA coach Andy Banachowski holds the NCAA record for women with 1,106 victories.
» UH's conference winning streak of 62 is the longest active streak in the country.
» The Wahine are in the top two of every major Big West statistic with the notable exceptions of aces and digs, where they rank 198th in the country. They are 23rd nationally in hitting (.268), with Kalei Adolpho (.361), Jade Vorster (.333) and Emily Hartong (.274) among the top eight in the conference. They are 30th in blocking (2.67). Hartong's 4.27 kps ranks 25th nationally.
» Through its first 11 home matches, Hawaii leads the country in attendance, averaging 6,748 — 2,258 more than No. 2 Nebraska and 66 fewer than what the Wahine drew last year. They have led the nation in attendance every year since moving into the Stan Sheriff Center in 1994.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 12, 2012 14:47:06 GMT -5
Longo brings stability to UHBy Ann Miller, The Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 12, 2012 LAST UPDATED: 07:18 a.m. HST, Oct 12, 2012 Bruce Asato Hawaii's Alyssa Longo digs a ball in the third set of the Idaho vs Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center last month.Few colleges are as isolated as Penn State and Hawaii, a fact Rainbow Wahine volleyball transfer Ali Longo has come to know all too well. State College is what folks around the world envision as the ultimate American college town, from its in-your-face football stadium to its creamery and perfectly plowed winter streets. Some people never leave the "campus," which is essentially all of University Park, Pa. Longo was the Nittany Lions' libero her first two years of college. Tonight, the transfer will start at libero for eighth-ranked Hawaii — an ocean away from anything, void of major professional sports and proud to chase its Rainbows, Rainbow Wahine, Rainbow Warriors …basically, whatever Rainbow is winning at the moment, no matter what it is called. A year ago, PSU's Happy Valley imploded. This week the focus of the implosion, 68-year-old former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, was essentially sentenced to life in prison for a child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame and sanctions to Penn State and led to legendary coach Joe Paterno's fall from grace. Students, athletes, faculty and an entire town will never be the same. "It was hard," Longo said. "You could definitely tell around campus there was a big damper. Everyone was sad and you could feel it. People would walk around and you could tell everyone was hurt by what was going on. There was media everywhere so it was a pain in the butt. You learned to deal with it, but you know it's not something you have to deal with normally as a student. Mostly, it was just sad." Longo, who is from Colorado, characterized her transfer from one highly ranked program to another as "a financial decision." Her boyfriend, Jace Olsen, left the Nittany Lions' men's team and is now on the Hawaii roster. If he has half the impact Longo has had, men's coach Charlie Wade will be ecstatic. "She's taken the strain off the coaching staff," Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "We were always worried about that position. She's not perfect, but she just gives you a lot of confidence in that position. We don't stress about her or anything she's doing. …Overall we know what we have is very solid. That's what she's given me, and the team is confident that our libero is a solid player." It took Longo about "two weeks of open gym" to feel comfortable with her new teammates. Her aggressiveness and volume grew by the day. She picked up Hawaii's ball-control style — dramatically different from Penn State's receive-and-rip formula — quickly. The staff has given her control of the back row. "Where people stand and receive serve," Shoji says. "We outlined things for her, but she can feel how the game is going. She can bring somebody in or out of the formation. She is in charge of that. If she feels somebody is struggling she can push them out and bring somebody else in. She can do that before we have to call timeout and do it." The stability Longo has brought to the court is palpable. Unfortunately, the campus around her is again under siege. The "Wonder Blunder" and its aftershocks dog Manoa as the Wahine pursue their annual chase of a fifth national title. Longo has been there, done that. This is nowhere near what she went through a year ago, when coach Russ Rose brought PSU together early on and told the players to "still represent the school the best way possible and show people there is light at the end of the tunnel." Shoji says there is "no question" he would have done the same under the circumstances, but his players have not seemed bothered by their school's recent problems. There have been no meetings. "It wasn't the same magnitude, but we're certainly going through some tough times at UH," Shoji said. "I would tell my players the only thing we can do is to do our job as well as we can do it. Nothing is in our control except the way we play volleyball and how we conduct ourselves as people. Try to be the best person you can be, represent the university and work hard to do the best we can in volleyball, too." Longo describes Manoa's problems simply, as "not so much of a distraction." "You read about it, but it's not something that stays with you," she explains. "It was a big deal when it happened, it got kind of blown up and now it's kind of blown off for our team." The focus tonight is on Northridge, which had two match points against Hawaii last time they played. It is also on replacing UH sophomore Jane Croson, suspended indefinitely last week for breaking undisclosed team rules. "It's always tough, whether you lose someone to injuries or team rules or whatever," Longo said. "But we talked about it and Jane is still supporting us 100 percent. It's just different. We need to pick up a couple areas where she was super strong. We talked about picking up our game and getting through it and playing well when she can't play." "Distractions" — major, minor and everything in between — are just another part of college, it seems. UH VS. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
» When: 7 p.m. today » Where: Stan Sheriff Center
» TV: OC Sports, Ch. 16
» Radio: 1420-AM
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 13, 2012 17:21:34 GMT -5
Wahine wear 'em downBy Ann Miller, The Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 13, 2012 LAST UPDATED: 03:00 a.m. HST, Oct 13, 2012 BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Ashley Kastl hits through the block of Cal State Northridge including Cieana Stinson in the second set of the Cal State Northridge vs Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center.With a tenacity that often overwhelmed its volleyball talent Friday, eighth-ranked Hawaii held off Cal State Northridge for the second time in three weeks. The Rainbow Wahine won their eighth straight Big West match, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20, behind another big night from Emily Hartong and a timely breakout performance from freshman Tai Manu-Olevao, who was redshirting last time these teams played. Northridge had two match points against the Wahine (15-2, 8-0 Big West) three weeks ago. UH escaped that night in California. This time the escape came quicker, as the Wahine showed a composure that compensated for the loss of one of their best players and a "sloppiness" that had coach Dave Shoji steaming. "I think they have magnets in their hands," Shoji said, referring to CSUN's 18 stuffs. "We hit into the block about 100 times. I'm just not happy with any phase of our game right now, although it was probably our best passing night of the year. That's about it. We didn't block, we hit for a poor percentage. We just made a bunch of sloppy plays." It was Hawaii's third match without Jane Croson, still suspended indefinitely for breaking team rules. She sat on the UH bench and — along with 5,733 at Stan Sheriff Center — watched Hartong bury 21 kills while her teammates played their supporting roles with more guts than grace. Manu-Olevao was activated last week to help make up for the loss of Croson, who plays a major part in nearly every phase of Hawaii's game. Manu-Olevao had three kills in a part-time role on the road, and one more in the first set Friday, which she started. In the second, she went off early, burying four of the Wahine's first six kills. She finished the night with 11. "My teammates work very, very hard to get me that set," Manu-Olevao said. "That's my motivation — to put it down for them." More than just the kills, the threat the freshman created gave the Matadors (13-7, 4-4) one more thing to think about. It was one too many for a team whose offense kept disappearing, and has now lost three of its past four. "We're a very good serve-block-defensive team," said Northridge coach Jeff Stork. "Obviously tonight 18 blocks is a lot against a very good offensive team. But the thing we need to do better consistently is to put the ball to the floor attacking. That's probably the biggest difference in tonight's match — Hawaii was putting the ball to the floor and we weren't." CSUN hit just .127 and did not have anyone with more than eight kills. Its greatest attribute was that block and libero Cindy Ortiz, who had a remarkable 31 digs. The Wahine, with an assist from CSUN, nearly made up for an awful start with five straight points that cut their deficit to 22-21 in the opening set. A missed serve and two stuffs gave the Matadors the game despite an offense that had just one kill in the final 11 serves. CSUN's offense went away again in the second half of Set 2, which Hawaii won with Manu-Olevao's start and a 13-4 closing surge. "I didn't know what to expect," Shoji said. "This is a lot different than practice. Tai was nervous out there, but she is so athletic I think she got by. She was attacking the ball at a high point and got a lot of nice, crisp kills." Manu-Olevao and Hartong each had six kills in Set 2 and the Wahine hitting percentage doubled to .270. Meanwhile, the Matadors' percentage dropped 170 points, to .111. In the final 19 serves, they had four kills and five hitting errors. After nine ties in Set 3, the Wahine finally found some separation at 20-16 on Hartong's 16th and 17th kills and her third stuff. CSUN scored the next two points and, after a UH timeout, Hawaii got its final five kills from middles Jade Vorster and Kalei Adolpho. That seemed to silence the Matadors' erratic attack for good. By the time they got their first kill of the fourth set, Hawaii was ahead 12-7 and its advantage never got below four again. "We've got more talent than they do," Shoji said. "They just make you play hard; they play good defense. But in the end we are just bigger. We were supposed to win that match. …We've got more talent than they do." 3 HAWAII
vs
1 CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
KEY: Despite "sloppy" play, UH outlasts the Matadors
NEXT: Hawaii vs. UC Davis, 7 p.m. Thursday, OC Sports (Ch. 16)BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Jade Vorster hit .304 and had 10 kills for the Wahine, who remained unbeaten in the Big West.BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Emily Maeda passes the ball after a serve in the Cal State Northridge vs Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center.BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Jade Vorster hits through the block of Cal State Northridge's Sam Kaul in the second set of the Cal State Northridge vs Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center. BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Emily Hartong hits one from the back row for a point in the first set of the Cal State Northridge vs Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center.BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Emily Maeda passes the ball after a serve in the Cal State Northridge vs Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center.BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Emily Maeda passes the ball after a serve in the Cal State Northridge vs Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center. BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Tai Manu-Olevao hits one through the block of Cal State Northridge's Mahina Haina in the Cal State Northridge vs Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 17, 2012 11:26:27 GMT -5
Rainbow Wahine have a need for more speedBy Ann Miller, The Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 17, 2012 DARRELL MIHO / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER Hawaii volleyball coach Dave Shoji wants the Rainbow Wahine to work on speeding up the offense in preparation for the postseason.October is not over, one of its best players is still out and its first Big West Conference season in 17 years has not hit the halfway mark, but ninth-ranked Hawaii is starting to focus on the volleyball postseason. Practice is all about slamming serves and speeding up the offense — two aspects the Rainbow Wahine (15-2) did poorly in their eighth straight Big West win last week over Cal State Northridge. This week, they put their 63-match conference winning streak on the line Thursday against UC Davis (10-10) and Saturday against Pacific (16-4). Both matches begin at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. Davis and UOP are part of the five-team, three-loss logjam behind Hawaii. After squeezing out five-set wins in two of their first three matches back in the Big West, the Wahine have separated themselves from a field that is otherwise remarkably balanced — and beating on each other with little rhyme, reason or regard for the conference's plummeting power ranking. "We're not really focusing on the other team now. We've got a three-game lead, so we're going to win the conference. I don't think there is any doubt about that," UH coach Dave Shoji said in an uncharacteristically brazen moment. "We have bigger problems than that. That's the focus right now." For the first time in two weeks, the most serious problem is not sophomore Jane Croson's suspension for breaking undisclosed team rules. Shoji told the team the end of her "indefinite" suspension is in sight. "There is a plan in place that will allow her to come back," Shoji said. "I'd rather not say when. If everything goes well, she'll be back with the team soon." Meanwhile, Hawaii is working on an attack that can make a dent in its NCAA tournament opposition six weeks from now. "We're working on some things that we feel we need to do against a big, Pac-12 kind of team," Shoji says. "We know we'll have to play somebody big and talented maybe as early as the first round. Our goal is to speed up things. We're going to make some mistakes now with our offense, trying to speed it up. … You might call it high-risk, but that's the way we have to play if we're going to beat anybody in the playoffs." Pacific was 33rd in the NCAA's first power ranking two weeks ago, second only to Hawaii (21) in the Big West. The Wahine are No. 22 this week, while the Tigers have dropped to 53rd. One of UOP's losses came at Davis, whose RPI has fallen to 132 despite the presence of Victoria Lee, who leads the Big West in blocking, and Allison Whitson, sixth in kills. The Tigers are coming off a five-set loss to UC Santa Barbara, a match that featured 204 digs — 26 by Kamehameha graduate and UOP libero Koala Matsuoka. Pacific is ranked third nationally in digs, at 18.53 per set; Hawaii is 206th, at 14.35. RAINBOW WAHINE VOLLEYBALL>> What: Big West Conference >> Where: Stan Sheriff Center >> When: Thursday and Saturday, 7 p.m., >> Who: No. 9 Hawaii (15-2, 8-0) vs. UC Davis (10-10, 4-3) and Pacific (16-4, 4-3) >> TV: OC Sports (Ch. 16) on Thursday, and pay-per-view (Ch. 255) Saturday >> Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM Notes» Fullerton's Kayla Neto is the Big West Player of the Week after her double-double helped the Titans beat Long Beach State for the first time in 30 years, a span of 59 matches. The 49ers have suspended starting middle Alma Serna for "personal reasons" and are listing her as inactive. » Hawaii's match at Long Beach on Oct. 26 will be broadcast live on FSN Prime Ticket (Ch. 228). It will begin at 4 p.m. in Hawaii and is the first match covered as part of a new television deal brokered between the Big West and Fox Sports. » UH coach Dave Shoji has 1,091 wins. He needs 16 to pass former UCLA coach Andy Banachowski as the winningest women's volleyball coach in NCAA Division I history. The Wahine would have to reach the final four for Shoji to break the record this season. » UH leads the nation in average attendance at 6,793. Nebraska, the next-best school in average attendance, is 2,373 behind.
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Post by SAITPookela on Oct 17, 2012 14:07:59 GMT -5
^
The most substantive article to date.
It would appear as though Shoji becomes the most winningest coach EVER, then, this early Christmas huh?!
The CSUN game suggested to me that passing/defense is marquee in the staff's mind. They did wonderfully in that dept. The up-tempoed offense comes next. Hawai'i over UofOR (in the Berkeley Regional) for KY...I'd pack my bags already. :-) --- Alma should never have rendezvoused outside of her Waikiki hotel to begin with...
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 18, 2012 21:43:44 GMT -5
A Real GemWahine coaches believe as Tai Manu-Olevao gets more playing time, her raw athleticism will become polished to the point where she can really shineBy Ann Miller, The Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 18, 2012 Bruce Asato / basato@staradvertiser.com Tai Manu-Olevao had a breakout game against Cal State Northridge, putting down 11 kills, second most on the team.A college coach walked into a Punahou volleyball match a few years ago and offered an enlightening admission. "We all come to Punahou's matches and say we're here to watch this junior or that senior," she said. "But really, we're all here to watch her." The coach pointed at Tai Manu-Olevao, then just a volleyball child, an underclassman who had yet to win a state championship, only played front row and had no real perception of the possibilities of her exceptional athleticism. She knew one thing for sure, however. As a seventh-grader, Manu-Olevao saw the Rainbow Wahine play on TV. "And I just knew I had to be here," Manu-Olevao recalled. "There were these strong individuals, volleyball players and athletes that did wonderful things on the court and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to push myself to be like Robyn Ah Mow and Kim Willoughby. They were crazy." Fast forward to the beginning of this month. The 6-foot Manu-Olevao, a force in practice but seemingly serene in the acceptance of red-shirting her first year at Hawaii, is approached by coach Dave Shoji. It is eight weeks into the season and Jane Croson has been suspended for breaking team rules. He wants to activate Manu-Olevao and take her on the next trip. Today. "The coaching staff has wanted her activated from Day 1," Shoji said. "I was holding out, but with Jane out we had to go with her. And there's no reason to have her as a reserve. She's earned some playing time, so we thought why not throw her in. She has played like we know she can play." She came home from that first trip with three kills and a zero hitting percentage in two forgettable part-time performances. "I remember everything about it, remember just shaking," Manu-Olevao said. "I was so nervous. In my head I was telling myself, ‘Don't mess up, don't mess up' and it showed in my play." But Shoji and his staff were adamant. They started her Friday against Cal State Northridge. She got one kill in the first set. In the space of the next 10 serves, before a comforting home crowd, Manu-Olevao gave a spectacular glimpse at what is possible. She buried four straight swings with the Matadors wondering what hit them. She would finish with 11 kills, second to Emily Hartong. "I felt like I wasn't contributing enough," Manu-Olevao shrugged. "I wanted to help out instead of just being quiet and taking up space out there." Potential had suddenly transformed itself into reality. No matter what happens tonight against UC Davis or Saturday while hosting Pacific — or beyond — Hawaii now knows what is possible. "She's got a live arm and she can block," Shoji said. "She is just an athlete out there. Obviously, the more athletes you have out there the better chance you have. She's smooth, a fast-twitch kind of player. She doesn't have Hartong's arm, but her athleticism is such that she's attacking from a high position so she gets away with some stuff a lot of players can't." Shoji became aware of Manu-Olevao when she started at Punahou. He got "really, really" serious when her high school coaches, and club coach Luis Ramirez, bolstered her ballhandling and told him she wanted to stay home. Now he sees her as a "shut-down right-side blocker" capable of a couple kills a set, at least — for now. "Tai wasn't the polished high school All-American," Shoji said. "She's worked very hard to be a good volleyball player. Back in ninth or 10th grade she wasn't skilled. She was an athlete, but she was not skilled." Now, with Croson apparently coming back from suspension, Manu-Olevao knows her skill set must multiply so she can stay on the floor. She wants to make up for the half-season she missed. Her collegiate challenges began with the switch to 6 a.m. practices and "24/7 volleyball." She has moved past the "redshirt mindset" and started to realize she belongs. It is time for "the athlete" to acquire more skills. "I want to play better than Friday," Manu-Olevao said. "Focus on playing, not getting frustrated, just playing my game. If I think about what everybody else wants for me I won't do good. I just need to think about the team." That has been the best part all along. "Getting to play with these phenomenal athletes like Emily and Jane, that's been fun for me," the freshman said. "And feeling like I can play at that level." WAHINE VOLLEYBALLBig West Conference >> Where: Stan Sheriff Center >> Today: 7 p.m., No. 9 Hawaii (15-2, 8-0) vs. UC Davis (10-10, 4-3) >> Saturday: 7 p.m., Hawaii vs. Pacific (16-4, 4-3) >> TV: Live tonight on OC Sports (Ch. 16). Pay-per-view (Oceanic digital channel 255) Saturday >> Radio: Live on KKEA, 1420-AM
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Post by Courtside5 on Oct 18, 2012 23:12:02 GMT -5
Hopefully Tai will play well tonight and all the butterflies are gone.
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Post by madonna on Oct 18, 2012 23:50:19 GMT -5
The first time I saw Tai play, I do believe she was a Freshman playing on the Varsity team and I was impressed with her.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 19, 2012 15:17:08 GMT -5
Wahine win in 4By Ann Miller, The Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 19, 2012 FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Tai Manu-Olevao, left, and Kalei Adolpho went up for a block in the first set Thursday night. After spending the week focused on the volleyball postseason, ninth-ranked Hawaii went out against UC Davis on Thursday and played a bunch of points like it hadn't started the preseason yet. After two hours of Jekyll-and-Hyde volleyball, quantity won out over a lack of quality as 16 Rainbow Wahine combined to beat the Aggies 23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-16. UH (16-2) took all 3,724 at the Stan Sheriff Center along for the ride. It is 9-0 in the Big West going into Saturday's match against Pacific, which fell in five at Cal State Northridge on Thursday. The Wahine are riding an NCAA-best 64-match conference winning streak. That meant nothing to Davis (10-11, 4-4) in the teams' first meeting. UCD's serving found huge holes in the opening set and, with UH junior Emily Hartong suffering through a rare slump and Jane Croson still under suspension and on the bench, the Aggies held on. The momentum shifted dramatically in Set 2, along with Hawaii's passing. It hit .441 behind Ashley Kastl and freshman Tai Manu-Olevao. Kastl had her finest night as a Wahine, collecting a season-high 17 digs to go with 11 kills and a .455 hitting percentage — 260 points over her average. "Ashley showed what she can do," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "I know she's a good player. She averaged almost four kills a game last year in the Pac-12 so she can get kills and it's showing." It has been awhile coming for Kastl, clearly frustrated the first half of the season. "I've been working really hard," the junior said. "After last week's game I was just like, I have to upgrade my offense. I need to get better." Manu-Olevao contributed nine kills on .348 hitting in her second start. They gave Hawaii just enough offense until Hartong could find her form. She finished with a match-high 18 kills, going 12-for-22 in the final two sets. "Her timing was a little off, but once she got her rhythm she was terrific," Shoji said of Hartong. "We're trying to go fast and she's not comfortable with that yet." By the middle of the third set, Shoji had already used 15 players, subbing for both starting middles and getting great rotations from Stephanie Hagins and Kristiana Tuaniga. They had to because Davis was not going away. It blew to a 7-2 advantage in the third before Manu-Olevao, Hartong and a host of subs brought UH back. Hawaii took its first lead at 19-18 and outscored UCD 12-5 in the end, with Hartong going for seven kills in the set. UH hit .353 in the third, despite needing 10 serves to get its first kill. "We just have such a deep bench," Kastl said. "There are so many people that contribute at practice, people who grind and bust their butts to do the best they can. Those people that don't get in the matches sometimes, you don't realize how hard they work. They're the ones that are making us better." Shoji was happy with his team's tenacity and more impressed with the Aggies — in their seventh year as a Division I program — than their coach, Jamie Holmes, sounded. "I thought the defensive efforts by both teams were really hit and miss," said Holmes, who starts three seniors and five upperclassmen. "More miss on our side than Hawaii's side. But on both sides I thought the defensive effort could have been better, and not just the effort but the mental side of the game." Davis got 13 kills apiece from Allison Whitson and Devon Damello, who dropped a flurry of offspeed kills in huge pukas on the UH side. On the bright side for the Wahine, they pulled their hitting percentage up to .341 for the match, after a paltry .171 in the opening set. Kastl and Manu-Olevao had just one error apiece and UH hit over .400 in Sets 2 and 4. "Davis played well," Shoji said. "They are really scrappy, dug a ton of balls and we had trouble stopping their offense, so it was a tough match for us. But our team just hung in there and did get into kind of a rhythm." 3 Hawaii 1 UC Davis
Next: UH vs. Pacific, 7 p.m. Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center
TV: PPV, Ch. 255
Radio: 1420-AM
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 21, 2012 14:33:42 GMT -5
Wahine rally past gritty PacificBy Ann Miller, The Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 21, 2012 LAST UPDATED: 01:34 a.m. HST, Oct 21, 2012 BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii's Jade Vorster hit past the block attempt of Pacific's Jennifer Sanders in the second set Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.In a weird, woeful and ultimately wonderful volleyball match for ninth-ranked Hawaii, it got hammered early then hammered back Saturday to hand Pacific its third consecutive five-set loss. The Rainbow Wahine weathered a torrid Tigers start to win, 14-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-14, 15-11, before 5,944 at Stan Sheriff Center. The Big West victory took 2 hours, 19 minutes and stretched UH's NCAA-best conference winning streak to 65. An hour into it, it appeared that streak — built over more than four years — would be history. Pacific was playing all but flawlessly, out-hitting Hawaii by 300 points and finding offense from every inch of the court. They made the Wahine look awful up until what would be one of many Emily Maeda service runs that cut their second-set deficit to 22-21. The Tigers would finish the set off tentatively. They had already lost their swagger. "I don't know what's going on over there," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "I thought they played great. They couldn't keep up what they were doing. No one hits 40 percent, which they were doing. I thought, if they keep that up we were done. We couldn't stop them." And then the Wahine could — with a huge assist from Pacific (16-6, 4-5), which got big games from three freshmen. Hawaii ran away with the third and fourth sets, scoring in bunches with Maeda and Ginger Long serving and a rejuvenated Emily Hartong again leading the attack. Hartong got huge assists offensively and defensively from freshman Jade Vorster, who had a career-high 13 kills, tied a career high with eight blocks and hit .650, and transfer Ashley Kastl, who had her second double-double in a row (11 kills, 15 digs). Everybody else — Shoji used 14 players — did precisely what they had to, at least in the final three sets. The Wahine took the lead for good in the final set at 5-4. They stretched it to 9-6 behind Vorster. Hartong and Kastl closed it out after a controversial net call gave UOP one last gasp at 12-9. Tigers coach Greg Gibbons felt the tide turning at the end of the second set, taking both timeouts late despite a three-point lead. "There were some things they (the Wahine) were doing," he said. "They started to turn up their game, had more of a sense of urgency. And we started making unforced errors and playing a little timid, which you obviously can't. We played hard, but Hawaii did some really good things. They definitely started to attack the ball and move it around a little more." The Wahine fell in the opening set for the third straight match, scoring a season-worst 14 points. After cutting an early deficit to one, UH lost 10 of the last 11 points as the Tigers hit .483. Hawaii hit 400-plus points less, only because Vorster went 4-for-5. Her teammates combined for just four more kills and hit negative .077. The Tigers remained on a remarkable roll through almost the entire second set. In the opener, it was Jennifer Sanders (6-for-7) who broke loose. In Set 2, freshman Kat Schulz went off along with the UOP block, which stuffed five more balls against a UH attack in disarray. The Wahine fell behind by as many as six (18-12) before they finally put together some semblance of a rally, with the help of the Tigers' first signs of vulnerability. With Hawaii's offense still in neutral — when it wasn't in reverse — UOP called its first timeout still leading 20-17. It called its last with a 22-19 advantage, made only its second hitting error on the next point and watched Maeda's ace drop to make it a one-point game. The Tigers won a defensive battle to end the 4-0 run, but a ballhandling error made it 23-22. At that stage, the Wahine ran out of rally. The ball fell through backup setter Monica Stauber's hands and Hartong hit the antenna on set point, dropping her hitting percentage to zero. But instead of riding momentum into the break, the Tigers looked glum. They hit negative .029 in the third, spraying more errors (nine) than kills (eight). It got worse in the fourth, with Long serving nine in a row as the Wahine began to grab the confidence UOP let get away. 3 Hawaii
2 Pacific
Next: Hawaii vs. Long Beach State, 7 p.m. Friday in Long Beach, Calif.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Oct 25, 2012 14:54:47 GMT -5
Croson practicesBy Ann Miller, The Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 25, 2012 Jamm Aquino / jaquino@staradvertiser.com Hawaii's Jane Croson won't play this weekend, but her return is inching closer.As ninth-ranked Hawaii leaves on its third volleyball road trip it is still without one of its best players — Jane Croson remains on suspension, but it is no longer "indefinite" — and with the NCAA's best current conference winning streak (65). If the Rainbow Wahine come home with that record intact, after matches this weekend at Long Beach State and UC Irvine, Croson could rejoin them to try to add to it. "She is back at practice and she has got a few obligations to meet," UH coach Dave Shoji says. "If everything goes well she could be activated next week." Her presence has already been felt. At Tuesday's early morning practice Croson played for the "B" side, which won nearly every scrimmage against the starters. The drills were designed to give the reserves an advantage, but Croson's impact was still compelling. She has been out, for breaking unspecified team rules, more than three weeks. It didn't look like she had missed a beat "If that's the case next week," Shoji said, "she'll start." In her absence, the Wahine (17-2, 10-0 Big West) have moved up to No. 18 in the NCAA power ranking — closer to hosting a NCAA subregional — and have had to search even deeper to find themselves, and stability. While setter Mita Uiato and defenders Ali Longo and Emily Maeda have been remarkably consistent all season, their teammates have taken turns watching each other's backs. The revamped middle continues to have dramatic highs and lows. Freshman hitter Tai Manu-Olevao was activated after Croson's suspension and provided a huge boost against Cal State Northridge and UC Davis. When she struggled in Saturday's five-set win over Pacific, Kaela Goodman was extremely effective. "Kaela plays well in practice, she just hasn't been able to duplicate that in games," Shoji said of the junior. "She hits for a high percentage in practice, but has only done that occasionally in games, not consistently. We'll see how it goes this weekend." The most eye-popping difference with Croson out has been transfer Ashley Kastl's emergence. Forced to play all six rotations, she has helped stabilize the passing and put up three double-doubles, with 11 kills and 10-plus digs in each. Last week, Kastl also found an efficiency that has eluded her, hitting nearly .300 to raise her percentage to more than .200. Second-team All-American Emily Hartong, who moved from the middle to outside this year, continues to lead the conference — and is 17th nationally — in kills, but she had to rally after poor starts the past two matches. As a group, Hawaii has started slowly and lost the opening set in its past three, all at home. If that happens at Walter Pyramid Friday or Crawford Hall Saturday, its Big West blitz could end. Shoji also knows his team dominated the 49ers (11-9, 6-3) and Anteaters (9-14, 4-5) a month ago, outhitting them 3-to-1 and keeping both under 20 points. That often leads to letdowns the second time around. Long Beach's lineup has gone through more changes than Hawaii's this year. It lost a setter and all-region middle to injury before the season. Now Delainey Aigner-Swesey, the 49ers' leading hitter, is out for the rest of the year with a hand injury. Starting middle Alma Serna has been suspended indefinitely. Still, the Beach keeps winning. The defending conference champion is alone in second and has won four of five since leaving Hawaii, sweeping Irvine last week despite getting down 22-20 in all three sets. Both road matches begin at 4 p.m. Hawaii time. Friday's will be telecast live on FSN Prime Ticket (channel 228). Both will be broadcast live on 1420-AM and streamed live at bigwest.tv. NOTES» Hawaii remains first nationally in attendance with an average of 6,749 — 2,329 more than No. 2 Nebraska. » Dave Shoji is now seven short of 1,100 wins in his career. He needs 14 to pass Andy Banachowski and become the winningest coach in Division I women's volleyball history. » Of the nine conference matches last week, five went five sets. Cal Poly got its first two BWC wins, going the distance in both, to end a 15-match losing streak that was longest in school history.
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