Rainbows must bring 'A' game
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
|
|||
 |
|
||
| |||
|
|
||
If Rainbow Wahine volleyball took opening week as a pass/no-pass class the last four years the result would have been a tough call. Not this year.
After Hawai'i hammered Western Michigan, dug deep to knock Santa Clara out of the Top 25 and made ninth-ranked UCLA look as bad as the Bruins made 'Bows look the past few years, UH had much more than a passing grade last weekend.
Interestingly, players and coaches all gave their team a B-plus, with an asterisk defined as "definitely room for improvement."
The Rainbows need to improve now, particularly in the areas of discipline and blocking. As imposing as last week's opponents were, this week's field in the 22nd annual Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic is better:
Hawai'i sophomore Kanani Danielson had 54, and hit a phenomenal .408 — 100 points higher than Cutura and rather remarkable for any outside hitter, particularly one so small. Danielson practiced in the backrow yesterday, after spraining her left ankle Sunday. She returned to that match after five points and is expected to practice without restriction today.
The third-team All-American was breathtaking in her sophomore debut, adding 100 points to her attack percentage from last year and doubling her blocking numbers. She also received 51 passes without an error.
Senior Aneli Cubi-Otineru was even more versatile, averaging 3 kills and 3.5 digs, hitting nearly .300 and blasting 12 aces. She, Danielson and libero Liz Ka'aihue, who did not have an error in 76 receptions, provided nearly perfect passing — the rare phase of the game that did receive an "A" from the coaches — and often spectacular floor defense.
Teams gauge passing on a scale of 0 to 3, based on number of options the setter has after a pass. They shoot for around 2.2. Hawai'i averaged 2.4 last weekend and setter Dani Mafua transformed it into what UCLA coach Andy Banachowski characterized as a "ferocious" attack and UH associate coach Kari Ambrozich called "aggressive, not reckless."
Mafua, aside from the middle of the Santa Clara match when "I was getting yelled at left and right because of the decisions I made," isolated her hitters often. First-year starter Stephanie Ferrell, who fractured her ankle in April, found her confidence Sunday to rally out of a funk.
"Ferrell has an alter ego," UH associate coach Mike Sealy said. "She just became Ferrell again. She literally will bounce into a certain personality that doesn't allow her to compete and have fun. That player is not very good. When she allows herself to be who she is, she plays very well."
With UCLA, especially, keying on the middle, Amber Kaufman was held to one statistically brilliant night. Freshman Brittany Hewitt's game grew seemingly by the minute. By the end of the Invitational, Hewitt's two stuffs a set helped Hawai'i win the blocking battle with UCLA, one of the tallest teams in the country. Sealy still gave the block only a "generous B-minus."
Hewitt might have been the opening weekend's biggest surprise. The Rainbows' resilience and attention to detail might have been the most welcome. That attitude was the only other part of the game that earned an "A."
"The second night we got in a slump and were able to dig ourselves out of it," Mafua said. "In past seasons we were kind of infamous for throwing in the towel, getting mad at each other. We all kind of pushed ourselves into getting out of it."
NOTES
The Rainbow Wahine's No. 4 ranking is their highest in regular season since 2004, when they won their first 30 and rose to No. 1.
This is the only week of the season volleyball will be shown on Oceanic Cable Pay-Per-View (digital 255). All six tournament matches will be live. KFVE (5), which usually broadcasts the matches, will run free replays of Hawai'i matches the following days at 10 a.m.
Hawai'i was home to the top two crowds opening weekend, with the UCLA and Santa Clara matches ranking 1-2. The third largest came Saturday at Saint Louis, when top-ranked Penn State swept the Billikens in the final of the Active Ankle Challenge before 6,106. The ''Bows' attendance (tickets sold) is down 240 per match from last year, when it dropped below 6,000 for the first time since moving into Stan Sheriff Center the middle of 1994.
UC Irvine's Kari Pestolesi, daughter of former Rainbows Tom Pestolesi and Diane Sebastian, is the first Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week. The junior led the 22nd-ranked Anteaters to the championship of Nevada's Courtyard Marriott/Fairfield Invitational, where she was MVP. UCI upset then-No. 6 Cal and followed with wins over Connecticut and Nevada, Pestolesi collecting double-doubles in each match. She is the first Anteater to win the national honor.
Hawaiian Airlines will give away 500 snack mix packages tomorrow and Sunday and 500 luggage tags Saturday. Halftime prizes will be roundtrip airfare for two to Manila tomorrow, to Sydney Saturday and to Las Vegas Sunday.
