bHAWAI`I FALLS to UCLA IN NCAA REGIONAL SEMIFINAL Ninth-seeded Hawai`i fell to eighth-seeded UCLA, 30-25, 30-28, 22-30, 30-22 in Long Beach, Calif., in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Volleyball Championship. Sophomore middle blocker Kim Willoughby led the Wahine with 35 kills and 13 digs. She ended the year with 850 kills and a 7.20 kpg average. Both of those marks rank fourth in single-season NCAA history. Maja Gustin added 16 kills for the Wahine, while Margaret Vakasausau had 46 assists and 13 digs. Defensively, Lauren Duggins had 16 digs, while Melissa Villaroman added 12 digs to give Hawai`i 80 digs overall. Hawaii ended the season 29-6 after advancing to the NCAA regionals for the fourth-straight season.
WAHINE ADVANCE TO SWEET SIXTEEN Ninth-seeded Hawai`i faced the UCLA Bruins for the second time in 2001 in the NCAA Regional Semifinals in Long Beach, Calif. The Wahine reached 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 Pennsylvania and Penn State in State College, Penn. Earlier this season, UCLA beat Hawai`i, 3-0, on Sept. 2 in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic championship match. Hawai`i lost only two matches since its loss to the Bruins at home.
AGAINST THE FIELD Hawai`i, Nevada and San Jose State had a 17-16 (.515) combined record against the tournament field during the regular season. Hawai`i was 11-5. All of its losses were 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. In 2000, 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 moved to 20-8 with the win.
Entering the regional match against UCLA, the Wahine held a slight 30-27 series advantage over the Bruins. Hawai`i and UCLA 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 at the last time the Rainbow Wahine faced the Bruins, Hawai`i fell to then No. 7 UCLA 30-25, 30-25 and 30-24 in the final match of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic on Sept. 2, 2001. 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 then sNo. 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 led 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.
WILLOUGHBY NAMED TO ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS Hawai`i outside hitter Kim Willoughby earned both ASICS/Volleyball Magazine and AVCA first team All-American honors. The sophomore was the lone representative for the WAC. Willoughby has remained busy since the conclusion of the volleyball season. She has joined the Wahine basketball team.
THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT WAC teams are a combined 108-84 (.563) 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 16-11 (.592) 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 played in their 20th tournament, missing only in 1992, and have compiled a 43-17 (.717) overall record. This was their sixth appearance as a WAC member, compiling a 15-6 (.714) mark. Hawai`i has won the NCAA title three times: 1982, 1983 and 1987. The Rainbow Wahine finished second in 2000, 1998 and 1996. In 2000, 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.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS Hawai`i sophomore Kim Willoughby broke the WAC single-season record for kills against Fresno State with her 654th kill of the season in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament. She ended 2001 with 850 total kills. Willoughby also averaged 7.20 kpg. Willoughby finished fourth in NCAA history in kills and kills per game in a single season.
With her 35 kills against UCLA in NCAA Regionals, Willoughby recorded her eighth 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.
WAHINE SECOND IN THE NATION IN ASSISTS Hawai`i ended the season second in the nation in assists (16.06). The Wahine finished behind Texas A&M. It was the highest finish by a WAC team. No team has ever finished higher than third in assists (New Mexico, 1990). The Wahine also ranked eighth in the country in kills (17.31 kpg) and 10th in hitting percentage (.301).
Kim Willoughby (Hawai`i) ended the season the national leader in kills with 7.08 kpg. The sophomore held the top spot for nine-straight weeks. 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) were also among the national leaders. McQuaid tied for 26th in blocks with 1.44 bpg, Stonebarger ranked 24th in digs with an average of 3.95 dpg.
SINGLE SEASON LEADERS This season, several single season records were 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 was 10th in digs per game in WAC matches with 4.10. Abbruzzese was 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).
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.
HAWAI`I CAPTURES SECOND WAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP Hawaii earned the Western Athletic Conference automatic bid by winning the first WAC Tournament since 1998, defeating third-seeded San Jose State, 3-0. The Rainbow Wahine won the last WAC Tournament, defeating Brigham Young in five. Hawaii won by game scores of 30-22, 30-27, 30-22. San Jose State with wins over SMU and Nevada, the Spartans advanced to its first WAC Tournament Championship match.
IN THE POLLS Hawai`i was the only WAC team to be ranked in both the USA Today/AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls. Hawai`i was ranked No. 13 in both the USA Today/AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls.
San Jose State bolted in the USA Today/AVCA final poll after defeating Santa Clara and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This is the first time that the Spartans have ended their season nationally ranked since its No. 11 finish in 1990. The Spartans ended the season ranked No. 24.
HAWAI`I BREAKS 100,000 MARK For the seventh-straight season Hawai`i passed the 100,000 mark in attendance, ending the regular season drawing 104,222 fans. The Wahine were the only team in the nation this season to surpass 100,000.
Hawai`i averaged 6,514 fans in 16 home matches. The next closest school is Nebraska with an average of 4,528. The Rainbow Wahine owned 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 past 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 was 4-4 against ranked opponents with a 3-0 win over No. 22 UCSB at home. The Wahine also defeated Big Ten foe Michigan. Hawai`i finished teh season with a 52-match WAC regular season winning streak that dates back to 1998.
IMPROVEMENTS Nevada showed the most improvement in the WAC in 2001. The Wolf Pack ended the 2000 season with a 13-14 record. Nevada ended 2001 with a 17-8 record and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. In the Eastern Division, Rice ended last season with a mark of 17-16 and finished this season with a much improved 17-9 record.