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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Dec 5, 2012 15:10:20 GMT -5
Hartong, Uiato and Shoji earn All-West Region honorsBy Star-Advertiser staff POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 05, 2012 University of Hawaii outside hitter Emily Hartong and setter Mita Uiato were named to the AVCA All-West Region team and coach Dave Shoji was selected the Coach of the Year, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced Tuesday. Hartong, who earned her second all-region honor, was moved from middle to outside this year because "she had so much to contribute to the team offensively," Shoji said. "She was brand new to the position ... and she responded." Hartong led the Wahine (27-3), whose season ended Saturday in a five-set loss at Washington, with an average of 4.66 kills per set. "I don't think there's a question that she's among the top players in the country," Shoji said Tuesday. "(She was) physically overpowering at times. Just got better as the year went on." Uiato also got better as the season went on, Shoji said. "Any success that a hitter has is tied directly to the setter," he said. "There wasn't any doubt that Mita was able to put hitters in good position all the time. She played her best matches at the end of the year, which allowed us to have success." Shoji said Uiato worked hard to improve her blocking and defense. "That's where she really improved her game. Now, she's become a complete setter." Uiato earned her first all-region selection after being named to the All-Big West team. She finished second in the conference in assists (10.43). Hartong and Uiato are now eligible for All-America honors that will be announced next Wednesday. Shoji was named region coach of the year for the 10th time. He has 1,103 victories in his 38th year at Hawaii and needs four more to pass Andy Banachowski and become the winningest coach in his sport. "Any time a coach wins any kind of an award it's because his team does very, very well," Shoji said. "Give the credit to the players." 
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Post by sunsuphornsup on Dec 6, 2012 17:39:30 GMT -5
www.texassports.com/allaccess/?media=357138Not necessarily about the Wahine, but a nice video about the "Hawaiian Pipeline" of players on the Texas team and the aloha spirit. Can't wait for Texas to play Hawaii in 2013!
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Dec 6, 2012 19:03:10 GMT -5
www.texassports.com/allaccess/?media=357138Not necessarily about the Wahine, but a nice video about the "Hawaiian Pipeline" of players on the Texas team and the aloha spirit. Can't wait for Texas to play Hawaii in 2013! What kind of poppycock is this? lol.  |
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Post by sasa on Dec 6, 2012 19:23:55 GMT -5
Nice. Good to see our local girls doing well, and playing for a big time program like Texas.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Dec 13, 2012 14:53:00 GMT -5
UH's Hartong is first-team All-AmericanBy Ann Miller, The Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 13, 2012  STAR-ADVERTISER / 2012
Emily Hartong vows to have the Wahine in the final four next season.The American Volleyball Coaches Association confirmed on Wednesday what Santa Clara, Washington, the entire Big West Conference and Hawaii already knew. Rainbow Wahine junior Emily Hartong is one of the finest players in the country. Hartong earned an All-American promotion, getting named to the AVCA's first team after receiving second-team honors last year. In the interim, the Los Alamitos, Calif., native switched from the middle to the outside and put Hawaii on her right shoulder for much of the season. She ranks seventh nationally in kills (4.66 per set). In the NCAA tournament, that average ballooned to 5.88 and Hartong hit .318 — a spectacular percentage considering Santa Clara and Washington knew she would get the ball. "She's just an athlete," said UH coach Dave Shoji, who admits he vastly under-rated Hartong's potential when he recruited her. "She elevates; she has a great arm and she never gets tired. "She has never played outside before this year and she had a remarkable year. She never passed a ball in her life until this year and now she's on the money most nights." She helped the Wahine go unbeaten in their return to the Big West and construct a 20-match winning streak. That ended in Seattle 11 days ago when eighth-ranked Hawaii fell to fifth-ranked Washington in the NCAA tournament's second round. Hartong had 30 kills and 14 digs in that five-set match, which she called her team's finest in a roller-coaster season that ended 27-3. Today she is in Louisville,Ky.,where she will pick up her award at the AVCA All-America/Players of the Year banquet on Friday. She asked to come home before Saturday's national championship match. It would be too tough to watch. "We should be there, I know that we are good enough," Hartong said. "It will be different next year. We will be there." Mita Uiato, the Wahine's junior setter, earned honorable mention honors. She was second in the conference in assists, averaged 2.5 digs and, at 5-foot-8, was fourth on the team in blocks behind Hartong and middles Jade Vorster and Kalei Adolpho. "Mita had her best games at the end of the year," Shoji said. "She had her best decision-making, played her best defense and blocked her best at the end of the year." Shoji, who needs four victories to become the winningest coach in his sport, believes Hartong and Uiato both have "improvement left in their game," but that won't be their most compelling contribution next season. "The big thing they will bring is just that senior mentality," Shoji said. "This is it for them. They understand that and want to make it a special year." This season Hartong became the first Rainbow Wahine in six years to earn AVCA National Player of the Week (Oct. 30). She is the first Big West first-team All-American since Pacific's Jennifer Joines in 2003. "It's a huge honor," Hartong said. "I'm really thankful to get this far in my career. I'm very blessed. It's weird because when I made second team last year I was so happy. I looked at the players on the first team and thought how awesome that would be, they are such great players. It's weird to be one of those players others look up to."
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Dec 13, 2012 15:19:44 GMT -5
Top JUCO player commits to Hawaii
By Ann Miller, The Star-Advertiser
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 13, 2012
College of Southern Idaho announced that right-side hitter Keani Passi, a 5-foot-9 sophomore from Waianae, will play for Hawaii next season. Passi helped CSI to its 10th NJCAA national championship last month. She will pick up her AVCA Junior College Player of the Year honor at this week's final four in Louisville, Ky.
Passi led the Golden Eagles in kills and aces, collecting 12 of each is Southern Idaho's straight-set win over second-seeded Western Nebraska in the national final, where she was tournament MVP. For the season she averaged 3.79 kills (eighth nationally), hit .269 and served 62 aces — 12th in the NJCAA. The Pearl City graduate also averaged 2.47 digs and 0.74 blocks.
CSI, whose volunteer coach is former Rainbow Wahine Babes Kalulu, won its last 29 to finish 33-1.
Passi will join 5-10 setter Tayler Higgins (Punahou) and 6-4 hitter Nikki Taylor (Kaiser) in the Wahine's 2013 recruiting class.
Shoji to have a word — or two — with NCAA
UH coach Dave Shoji will spend Christmas in Germany watching sons Kawika and Erik play in their professional league. When he returns, he plans to push the NCAA Women's Volleyball Committee to do more research when it seeds teams for its 64-team tournament.
Shoji was irate when his 27-3 team did not receive a top-16 seed this season, despite a 20-match win streak and a win over Stanford, which held the No. 1 RPI most of the year.
"I want to ask the committee to look at other things, more along the lines of how basketball does it," Shoji said. "Other rankings and actually watching games to see if they can figure out who the legitimate teams are and who might not be."
A top-16 seed would have given the Rainbow Wahine, No. 17, the option of hosting a subregional. It has hosted just once the past nine years, and only after a hosting rule was initiated last year. Instead, eighth-ranked Hawaii traveled to Seattle and lost a five-set second round match to fifth-ranked Washington.
Shoji also wants to push the committee to "consider some alternatives to us hosting," if that is what is preventing his team from getting what he believes is a fair seed. The Wahine were seeded in the top 15 from 2004 to 2010 and traveled to subregionals each season. Last year, after the hosting rule was introduced by the Pac-12 and passed, it was 10th, hosted and made money on its subregional.
"I don't know what the problem is (with UH hosting) and I don't know if they'll ever give me a straight answer," Shoji said. "Members of the NCAA committee are not known for giving straight answers.
"I'm doing this on my own. I want to put several ideas in the committee's head, have them start thinking outside the box."
Attendance hit and miss
Nebraska and Kansas were the only subregional sites that drew more than 4,000 this year, both averaging under 4,150. Washington, which drew 3,709 to its match with Hawaii, was next at 3,649 and Penn State averaged about 3,500. USC, UCLA, Stanford and Florida State all averaged less than 1,000, with the defending NCAA champion Bruins drawing 1,490 fans combined to their two matches.
Regional crowds last weekend ranged from an average of 9,168 at Omaha to 4,005 at Texas, 3,404 at Purdue and 1,658 at Cal.
When the Wahine hosted the subregional last year they averaged 8,200 and sold out (10,300) the regional semifinal the following week.
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Post by dd2000 on Dec 13, 2012 17:01:51 GMT -5
Does anyone know much about this transfer? Seems a little short for the position. This makes me wonder about the 6'4" true freshman. Is this JUCO transfer on scholarship or a walk on?
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Post by 5100 on Dec 13, 2012 17:07:04 GMT -5
Walk-on.
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Post by 5100 on Dec 13, 2012 17:14:19 GMT -5
"She has never played outside before this year and she had a remarkable year. She never passed a ball in her life until this year and now she's on the money most nights." Did she not play several matches as an OH in 2010, splitting time with Michelle Waber? Last year, she played all three front row hitting positions and started several matches on the right. |
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Post by sasa on Dec 13, 2012 17:30:11 GMT -5
Nice little write up on Hartong. She, along with Croson and Uiato, are quite special, in that they seem very humble inspite of their talent, and gracious with their fans. I'm hoping for a big year for them next year to end Emily and Mita's college careers!
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Post by Psychopotamus on Dec 13, 2012 18:16:55 GMT -5
The quote from Hartong ("We will be there next year") gave me chills. I can't wait for next year, to see what this team does with no "next season" mentality. I got the feeling watching it that it was in the back of some player's minds, and the Wahine managed to overachieve in what was really supposed to be a rebuilding year.
I wonder about the timing of Shoji talking to the NCAA. The offer to be seeded and sent away seems like a good one that may have earned them a seed this year, but with what Hawaii has returning I think it should be all but a lock to host the first two rounds next year. Why give the NCAA an option to seed Hawaii and send them to the mainland?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 18:22:38 GMT -5
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Dec 13, 2012 18:28:32 GMT -5
The quote from Hartong ("We will be there next year") gave me chills. I can't wait for next year, to see what this team does with no "next season" mentality. I got the feeling watching it that it was in the back of some player's minds, and the Wahine managed to overachieve in what was really supposed to be a rebuilding year. I wonder about the timing of Shoji talking to the NCAA. The offer to be seeded and sent away seems like a good one that may have earned them a seed this year, but with what Hawaii has returning I think it should be all but a lock to host the first two rounds next year. Why give the NCAA an option to seed Hawaii and send them to the mainland? We don't know yet Hawaii's full schedule, and whether it will be enough in terms of RPI or to warrant seeding (in spite of who Hawaii has returning). Hawaii could very well end up on the bubble again. And if it comes down to simple geography, then Hawaii could be on the short end of the stick again. That said -- I'm willing to see if this goes anywhere. I'm not holding my breath though. It's nearing the end of Shoji's career, and I'm wondering if he has that "now or never" thought. He can try to trigger some change now ... if not, then it will never be done. His successor certainly may not have the clout to bring it about. |
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Dec 13, 2012 18:32:28 GMT -5
"She has never played outside before this year and she had a remarkable year. She never passed a ball in her life until this year and now she's on the money most nights." Did she not play several matches as an OH in 2010, splitting time with Michelle Waber? Last year, she played all three front row hitting positions and started several matches on the right. yeah, i thought about that too. could be that shoji means this is the first time hartong is playing outside hitter on a full-time basis. her first 2 years, she seemed to be playing the position as spot duty (i.e., Kanani was out sick for a match, or as part of an experimental lineup in the 3rd set of a sweep). |
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Dec 14, 2012 0:38:08 GMT -5
I am a big Emily Hartong fan. She is a humble, no drama player who shows up every game night and plays hard. I am happy for her. This Wahine team was special and I look forward to seeing Hartong, Uiato, Croson and company on the court for Hawaii next season.
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