WAHINE ADVANCE TO SWEET SIXTEEN Ninth-seeded Hawai`i will face the UCLA Bruins for the second time this season in the NCAA Regional Semifinals in Long Beach, Calif. The winner will face the winner of the top-seeded Long Beach State Northern Iowa match for the right to go to the Final Four in San Diego.
The Wahine reached the regionals by beating Washington State and Eastern Washington in the first and second rounds of the tournament in Pullman, Wash. UCLA advanced with sweeps of Penn and Penn State in State College, Pa.
Earlier this season, UCLA beat Hawai`i, 3-0, on Sept. 2 in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic championship match. Hawai`i has lost only two matches since its loss to the Bruins at home.
Long Beach State is hosting the regionals after beating San Diego State and San Diego in the first two rounds, while Northern Iowa advanced by beating Northern Illinois and Minnesota.
AGAINST THE FIELD Hawai`i, Nevada and San Jose State have a 17-16 (.515) combined record against the tournament field during the regular season. Hawai`i is 11-5. All of its losses are to teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, including second-seeded Nebraska and fourth-seeded USC. The Wahine posted wins over Utah, Kansas State, Cincinnati, Santa Clara (twice), San Diego State, San Jose State (three times) and Nevada (twice).
THE WAHINE VS. THE BRUINS Hawai`i advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinals for the 17th time. Last season, the Wahine defeated Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara in Regionals to advance to the NCAA Championships in Richmond, Va.
UCLA advanced to the Sweet Sixteen by snapping Penn States 24-match postseason home winning streak with a 30-11, 30-28, 30-18 win in the second round. The Nittany Lions had swept 22 of their 24 prior NCAA matches at home and had lost just two games in NCAA play at home. UCLA moves to 20-8 with the win.
The Wahine hold a slight 30-27 series advantage over the Bruins. Hawai`i and UCLA have met only once in the NCAA Tournament. The Wahine defeated the Bruins, 3-0, in 1983 to capture its second-straight title. The two teams met five times in the AIAW Tournament between 1974-1980 with UCLA taking four of the six matches.
LOOKING BACK Looking back at the last time the Rainbow Wahine faced the Bruins, Hawai`i fell to No. 7 UCLA 30-25, 30-25 and 30-24 in the final match of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic. Hawai`i drew 7,723 fans who watched the battle between the two ranked volleyball teams.
In the loss, Maja Gustin notched 13 kills and no errors on 18 attacks for a career-high .722 hitting percentage. Kim Willoughby (16 kills, 10 digs) and Tanja Nikolic (13 kills, 11 digs) also had double-doubles. Lauren Duggins (10 digs) and Melissa Villaroman (12 digs) also had career-high nights in digs.
UCLA was led by All-American Kristee Porter, who notched a match-high 25 kills and 14 digs. During the match, Porter reached the 2,000 kill plateau.
San Jose State and Nevada Fall in Palo Alto The third-seeded Stanford Cardinal eliminated two of the three WAC teams from postseason play. In Palo Alto, Calif., the Cardinal defeated Nevada in the first round and stopped San Jose State in the second round.
The Spartans advanced to the second round after a 3-2 win over No. 22 Santa Clara. San Jose State had not advanced past the first round since 1987. The Spartans avenged a, 3-0, early season loss to the Broncos.
Sophomore middle blocker Liz Hudson set a San Jose State school record for block assists in a season on match point against Santa Clara. Hudson ended the season with 134 block assists, breaking the old record of 128 set by Kim Hicks during the 1988 season. Hudson leads the Spartans in total blocks with 147, the third highest total in school history. Senior Brianna Blair also added her 10th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 13 digs.
In the Wolf Pack's, 3-0 loss to Stanford, Nevada was led by senior Suzanne Stonebarger who had seven kills and nine digs. The Cardinal held the Wolf Pack to a hitting percentage of .127.
The Cardinal move on to face Utah who advanced by defeating Texas Tech and Utah State.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT WAC teams are a combined 108-83 (.565) in the NCAA Tournament since 1981. Current WAC teams are a combined 56-33 (.629) in tournament play. Four of the current league teams have competed in the tournament, including Fresno State, Hawai`i, Nevada and San Jose State. Since the WAC began the sponsorship of women's athletics in 1990, WAC teams are 16-100 (.615) in the NCAA's. Since 1990, the WAC has had at least two teams compete in the NCAA Tournament every year except 1999. The three teams advancing to postseason are the most since six teams advanced in 1998.
HAWAI`I IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT Hawai`i is one of the nation's most successful NCAA Tournament teams. The Rainbow Wahine are playing in their 20th tournament, missing only in 1992, and have compiled a 43-16 (.729) overall record. This is their sixth appearance as a WAC member, compiling a 15-5 (.750) mark. Hawai`i has won the NCAA title three times: 1982, 1983 and 1987. The Rainbow Wahine finished second in 1998 and 1996. Last season, Hawai`i lost to the eventual national champions Nebraska in the national semifinal match. Hawai`i defeated Davidson, Utah, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara en route to the final four.
COMMON OPPONENTS Hawai`i and UCLA have played four of the same teams: Michigan, USC, Washington State and Kansas State. The Wahine are 2-2 against the teams, while the Bruins are 4-2. The Bruins played conference foes Washington State and USC twice.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS Hawai`i sophomore Kim Willoughby broke the WAC single-season record for kills in a season against Fresno State with her 654th kill of the season in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament. She now has 815 total kills, heading into NCAA Regionals. Willoughby also averages 7.15 kpg. She is on pace to finish in the top five all-time in kills per game.
With her 35 kills against Eastern Washington, Willoughby recorded her seventh match with at least 30 kills. The sophomore set the record for kills in match earlier this season with 43 in a five-game match against San Jose State.
NATIONAL RECORDS Kim Willoughby is also nearing some national records. The middle blocker is currently fourth all-time in kills per game (7.15kpg). She is seventh in total kills with 815. The sophomore is 15 kills away from sixth and 18 kills away from fifth. Central Florida's Renata Menchikova (1995) is sixth with 830 kills, and George Washington's Svetlana Vtyurina (1992) holds the fifth spot with 833 kills.
WAC TOURNAMENT NOTES Several WAC tournament records were broken. UTEP's Ana Beatriz Fontes set a new WAC Tournament record with her seven service aces. The previous record was four. Hawai`i set the record for hitting percentage in a match by hitting .438 against Tulsa.
WAHINE TIED FOR FIRST IN THE NATION IN ASSISTS Hawai`i maintained its top spot in the nation in assists (16.06) last week (11/25). The Wahine are tied with Texas A&M. No WAC team has ever finished higher than third in assists (New Mexico, 1990). The Wahine also rank eighth in the country in kills (17.31 kpg) and 10th in hitting percentage (.301).
Kim Willoughby (Hawai`i) remains the national leader in kills (as of 11/25) with 7.08 kpg. The sophomore retains the top spot for the eighth-straight week. The highest any WAC player has finished nationally in kills is third when Brigham Young's Tea Nieminen averaged 5.22 kpg during the 1990 season.
Shauna McQuaid (FS) and Suzanne Stonebarger (Nevada) are also among the national leaders. McQuaid is now tied for 26th in blocks with 1.44 bpg. Stonebarger moved up to 24th in digs with an average of 3.95 dpg.
SINGLE SEASON LEADERS This season, several single season records have been broken. Hawai`i sophomore Kim Willoughby set new records for kills per game (7.15) and total kills 815. She also set the same record in WAC only matches with 7.19 kpg. She stands in third in total kills in WAC matches with 291.
UTEP's Jennifer Abbruzzese is 10th in digs per game in WAC matches with 4.10. Abbruzzese is also 10th in total service aces (25) and total digs (209)
Rice's Alison Broadfoot finished the season ranked fifth in service aces in WAC matches (0.60).
HAWAI`I BREAKS 100,000 mark For the seventh-straight season Hawai`i has passed the 100,000 mark in attendance. With three remaining home matches the Rainbow Wahine needed to draw 10,145 to reach 10,000. Hawai`i exceeded that mark ending the regular season drawing 104,222. The Wahine are the only team in the nation this season to surpass 100,000.
Hawai`i is averaging 6,514 fans in 16 home matches. The next closest school is Nebraska with an average of 4,528. The Rainbow Wahine own eight of the nation's top 10 attendance figures this season. Hawai`i set the WAC high for attendance in its last home match of the season when 7,836 fans watched the Wahine defeat Fresno State. The Hawai`i match with the Bulldogs was the 30th best in WAC history and third highest in the nation this season. The Rainbow Wahine drew 153,688 fans in 2000 and is the only program in the country to draw more than 100,000 for seven-consecutive years.
WINNING WAYS After starting the season 3-4, Hawai`i rebounded to win 24-straight matches before falling to No. 12 Pacific in a tough five-game match. The Rainbow Wahine started the season facing No. 1 Nebraska, No. 5 USC, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 20 Santa Clara and No. 22 Kansas State. Hawai`i is now 4-4 against ranked opponents with a 3-0 win over No. 22 UCSB at home. The Wahine has also defeated Big Ten foe Michigan. Hawai`i is in the midst of a 52-match WAC regular season winning streak that dates back to 1998.