Top-seed Hawai`i defeated No. 5 Fresno State 30-18, 30-25 and 30-18 in the WAC volleyball tournament semifinals at the Event Center on Saturday night.With the win, the Wahine improved to 25-4, while Fresno State fell to 14-10.
For Hawai`i, sophomore outside hitter Kim Willoughby led all hitters with 26 kills, raising her season total to 661 and breaking the WAC record for kills in a season. The old record of 653 was set by Tea Nieminen of BYU in 1990. Willoughby added 17 digs and hit .429 for the match. Maja Gustin also helped the Wahine cause with 16 kills and a .414 hitting percentage while Jen Carey had a solid performance with eight kills, eight assists and six digs while hitting .583.
For the Bulldogs, middle blocker Shauna McQuaid contributed 13 kills and four blocks while Whitney Arena dished out 28 assists.
In in the second match of the night, San Jose State swept Nevada 30-23, 30-18 and 30-26 to advance to its first WAC championship match ever. The Spartans will face Hawai`i on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.San Jose State improved to 22-6, while Nevada fell to 17-7 and will await possible selection to the NCAA tournament field.
For the Spartans, outside hitter Briana Blair and middle blocker Liz Hudson combined for 26 kills and no errors, hitting .571 and .714,
respectively. Senior setter Savannah Smith added 43 assists.
For Nevada, Michelle More led the Wolf Pack with 15 kills. Suzanne Stonebarger added eight kills and 17 digs.
First serve for the 2001 WAC Championship match is 1:00 p.m. (PT).