WAC SENDS THREE TO NCAA TOURNAMENT For the second time in as many years, the Western Athletic Conference will send three teams to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. Hawaii (30-1) earned the tournament's No. 6 seed and will play at home. Both Fresno State (23-6) and Nevada (22-9) will play in California.
Hawaii will remain at home and face Western Kentucky in the first round. Western Kentucky is making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The winner will face the winner of the match between Washington and Colorado State. This regional is part of the Central Region and will take place Dec. 5-6.
The Wolf Pack, who had their second 22-win season since 1998, will travel to Palo Alto for the second-straight time. In the first round, Nevada will face Pacific. The two teams met in Stockton on Nov. 29 with Pacific winning, 3-1. The winner will take on the winner of the match between defending national champion and No. 2 seed Stanford and Sacramento State. Last year, Nevada faced Stanford in the first round. This is part of Pacific Regional and will take place Dec. 6-7.
Fresno State will remain closer to home, but have the daunting task of facing the No. 8 seed UC Santa Barbara. The winner of that match will take on the winner of California and Santa Clara. This is part of the West Regional and will take place Dec. 5-6.
AGAINST THE FIELD The three teams that are participating in the 2002 NCAA Tournament have a 19-13 (.594) combined record against the tournament field. Hawaii leads the way with a record of 12-1 with the only loss coming against former No. 1 Stanford. The Rainbow Wahine's wins include Ohio State, Utah and a pair of wins over Fresno State, Notre Dame and Cal Poly. Nevada is 4-7, including three losses to Hawaii and losses to Fresno State, Pacific, Cincinnati and Washington State. The Wolf Pack's wins came against Colorado State, Fresno State and Sacramento State. Fresno State is 3-5 with losses to Nevada, Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara. The Bulldogs captured wins over Nevada, Sacramento State and San Diego.
FIRST ROUND OPPONENTS In the first round, No. 6 seed Hawaii will take on Western Kentucky. This is the Lady Toppers first trip to the NCAA Tournament, but they have faced the host Rainbow Wahine. Hawaii holds a 2-0 record against the Lady Toppers, but the teams have not met since 1987. Western Kentucky enters the tournament with a 33-4 record and has the most wins in the country. The Lady Toppers have won 19-straight matches, including a perfect run through the regular season and conference tournament. The streak is the third-longest streak in the country. WKU earned an automatic bid by winning its first-ever Sun Belt Conference tournament with a 3-2 win over New Mexico State. The Lady Toppers are led by the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in Sara Noe and Defensive Player of the Year Tracy May.
Fresno State will take on UC Santa Barbara in the opening round. The Gauchos are the tournament's No. 8 seed. UCSB is one of four teams to advance to all 22 NCAA Tournaments along with Nebraska, Pacific and Stanford. Three of these teams are playing in regionals with WAC schools. The Gauchos, who won their first-ever outright Big West Conference Championship this season, enter the tournament with 28-2 overall record. Fresno State is 4-21-3 against UC Santa Barbara all time, including an early-season loss this year.
Nevada will face a familiar foe in Pacific in the first round. The Wolf Pack and the Tigers collided last week in Stockton with Pacific taking home a 3-1 win. Pacific is the alma mater of Nevada head coach Devin Scruggs. She was a starter on the 1990 team that advanced to the NCAA Finals. The Tigers are 18-12 this season. Pacific has faced all three teams in its region this season. Pacific has registered wins against Nevada and Sacramento State but lost to Stanford.
COMMON OPPONENTS Both Fresno State and Nevada have played similar opponents as their first round opponents. The Bulldogs and UC Santa Barbara have played three of the same opponents during the regular season. The Gauchos went 3-0 against Nicholls State, Air Force and Cal State Northridge, not dropping a game. The Bulldogs are 2-1 against those same teams, losing only to Cal State Northridge, 3-2 on Oct. 30.
Nevada and Pacific are both undefeated this season against common opponents. Nevada is 4-0 with wins over UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton, Sacramento State and Cal State Northridge. Pacific is 7-0 against those teams, facing UCR, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge twice in Big West play and Sacramento State once.
Hawaii and Western Kentucky played no common opponents this season.
HAWAII TAKES WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE The No. 2 University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (28-1) defeated the Nevada Wolf Pack (21-8) 30-19, 30-32, 30-13 and 30-23 in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship match in front of a crowd of 1,023 at the Virginia Street Gym, winning their third straight WAC Tournament title. The win gives the Wahine the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Lauren Duggins had an outstanding match with 15 kills and seven blocks while hitting a tournament-record .789. Kim Willoughby earned the tournament's MVP with a match-high 26 kills, while Lily Kahumoku had 19 kills and 13 digs. Nevada opened up their first lead of the match early in the second game, going up 4-2.
Nevada got another point on a Michelle More block before UH responded with a 5-1 run to tie the game at 9. Nevada pushed the lead back up to 13-9 and 17-13 before a Duggins kill and two aces by Kahumoku cut the Wolf Pack lead to 17-16. UN continued to lead until two Willoughby kills tied the game again at 19. It continued to be tight before a couple of aces by Maja Gustin put the Rainbow Wahine up 24-21, forcing another timeout by Scruggs. The Wolf Pack came back as kills by Laura Wooley and Cristine Harms tied the game again at 25 before the teams traded small runs to give Nevada game point at 29-28. Willoughby responded with two kills to give Hawai`i game point at 30-29, but a block and a UH hitting error ended game two 32-30.
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, Hawaii, 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 last two seasons three teams have advanced to postseason. This is the most since six teams advanced in 1998.
FRESNO STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT Fresno State makes its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1998 for its fourth overall appearance. In 1998, the Bulldogs lost to Arizona in the first round. Fresno State has also made appearances in 1984 and 1991. The Bulldogs hold an overall 2-3 NCAA Tournament record. This is WAC Coach of the Year Lindy Vivas' third trip to postseason with the Bulldogs. Fresno State (23-6) is having one of its most successful seasons in school history with its ninth 20-win season.
HAWAII IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT Hawaii is one of the nation's most successful NCAA Tournament teams. The Rainbow Wahine are playing in their 21st tournament, missing only in 1992, and have compiled a 46-17 (.730) overall record. This is their seventh appearance as a WAC member, compiling a 15-6 (.714) mark. Hawaii has won the NCAA title three times: 1982, 1983 and 1987. The Rainbow Wahine finished second in 2000, 1998 and 1996. In 2001, Hawaii lost to UCLA in the Region Semifinals in Long Beach, Calif. The Rainbow Wahine defeated Washington State in the first round and Eastern Washington in the second round in Pullman, Wash.
NEVADA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The Wolf Pack return to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history. Nevada made its first NCAA appearance in 1998 when the Wolf Pack traveled to Honolulu. Nevada fell in the first round to Miami of Ohio, 3-0. Last season, the Wolf Pack fell to eventual champion Stanford, 3-0, in Stanford University, Calif. Head coach Devin Scruggs has led Nevada to the NCAA Tournament three times in six seasons.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Hawai'i's Lauren Duggins has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week. This is the first career player of the week of the award for the junior. Teammates Lily Kahumoku and Kim Willoughby have both earned the honor twice this season.
The middle hitter from Fullerton, Calif., hit .528 as the Rainbow Wahine swept through Utah, defeating both BYU and No. 24 Utah, 3-0, to end the regular season. Against BYU, Duggins hit .615 and followed that feat with a .478 hitting performance against Utah. She is now hitting .408 this season to lead the WAC. In six games, Duggins averaged 3.50 kpg with 21 total kills.
The Rainbow Wahine enter the NCAA Tournament with a 30-1 record, losing only to Stanford, the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Hawai'i will host the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2000 season. The Rainbow Wahine will face Western Kentucky on Thursday, Dec. 5.
Other nominees included: Salaia Salavea, Nevada; Rebeca Pazo, Rice and Stephanie Pascucci, San Jose State.
HAWAII SWEEPS SAN JOSE STATE TO ADVANCE TO FIFTH FINAL The top-seeded University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (27-1) defeated the fourth seeded San Jose State Spartans (14-15) 30-24, 30-25 and 30-24 in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament at the Virginia Street Gym, advancing to their fifth straight WAC tournament final.
Kim Willoughby led the way for Hawaii with 25 kills, eight digs and two aces. Lily Kahumoku added 12 kills, a match-high 15 digs and four blocks while Maja Gustin had 10 kills and a tournament record .625 hitting percentage. Duggins also came up big at the net with six blocks, while Hedder Ilustre and Melissa Villaroman played well in the back row with 13 and 11 digs, respectively.
San Jose State again started out well in the second game, jumping out to a 8-6 lead early on. But Kahumoku then responded with two kills and block in a 4-0 Hawaii run that forced a SJSU timeout. Willoughby came out of the timeout on fire, scoring all six of the remaining Rainbow Wahine points, one block and five kills, to give UH the 30-25 game two victory. Willoughby had 14 kills in the second game alone.
Stephanie Pascucci and Kimberly Noble led the way for the Spartans with 11 kills apiece. Liz Hudson had a great all-around match with eight kills, two aces, 13 digs and three blocks while hitting a team-high .333. Libero Janine Haldi led the way for the Spartans in the back row with 14 digs.
2002 All-Tournament Team
Whitney Arena, Fresno State
Lily Kahumoku, Hawaii
Jennifer Carey, Hawaii
Rebeca Pazo, Rice
*Jill Couwenhoven, Nevada
Lindsey Rule, San Jose State
*Lauren Duggins, Hawai'i
Salaia Salavea, Nevada
Kristen Fenton, Fresno State
*Kim Willoughby, Hawaii
Carrie Hartt, Fresno State
Laura Wooley, Nevada
MVP: *Kim Willoughby, Hawaii
*2001 Tournament Team
TOURNAMENT RECORDS TOPPLE Several tournament records fell at the WAC Tournament. Tournament champion Hawaii was involved in all of the records. Junior Maja Gustin set the record for hitting percentage in a match, hitting .625 in a three-game win over San Jose State on Nov. 23. The previous record was .484 by Jessica Zehr of Wyoming in 1996.
In the Rainbow Wahine's match with Louisiana Tech, six records were broken. Hawaii set the record for team hitting percentage (.495) against the Lady Techsters on Nov. 22. Louisiana Tech had the fewest kills (27), attempts (92), digs (25) and blocks (2). The Hawaii defense also held Louisiana Tech to a .065 hitting percentage.
SINGLE-SEASON LEADERS This season, several single season records have been broken. Hawaii junior Kim Willoughby continues her record setting ways. She broke the record for aces per game with 0.75. The previous record was 0.71 held by San Diego State's Gracie Schutt (1990). Last year, she set the records for kills per game (7.20) and total kills 850.
UTEP's Sarah Davis took advantage of the new Libero position setting the record for digs per game (5.34) and total digs (267) in WAC matches. The previous digs per game record was 4.65 dpg held by Wyoming's Jai Bruno (1991). SMU's Kristen Peterson, also a Libero, broke the record for digs per game in all matches. Peterson ended the season averaging 4.38 dpg, breaking the old record of 4.29 held by Fresno State Diana Nalbandian (1997).
NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS WAC teams faced at least 21 teams that participated in last years NCAA Tournament. Hawaii so far this season has played the most (6), including San Diego State, UCLA, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Colorado and defending national champion Stanford. San Jose State faced four teams, including Stanford. Fresno State was next (3) along with Nevada (5), Rice (2), SMU (1) and UTEP (1). So far this season, the WAC is 95-56 (.629) against non conference opponents. So far this season, the WAC is 6-3 against teams ranked in the top 25. Hawaii leads the way with a 4-1 record with wins over No. 9 Ohio State, No. 7 UCLA and No. 20 Colorado. Hawaii still has No. 6 Stanford on the schedule at home on Nov. 10. Hawaii fell to No. 4 Stanford at home on Nov. 10. Nevada upset then-No. 23 BYU and then No. 25 Colorado State. On. Nov. 27, Hawaii defeated No. 24 Utah
HAWAII PASSES 100,000 IN ATTENDANCE Hawaii had a strong final home weekend with three matches over 7,500 fans a match. The Rainbow Wahine ended the regular season drawing 146,001 in 20 home matches this season. Last season, Hawaii ended the season drawing 104,222. The Rainbow Wahine came just short of topping their 2000 attendance of 153,688
Hawaii also holds eight of the top 10 attendance figures this season, including the top spot with 10,252 fans in the loss to Stanford on Nov. 10. In the season opener, 9,495 fans saw Hawaii defeat Ohio State. Against UCLA (9/2), Hawaii drew 8,604 for the second spot, and the match with Washington (9/7) took third, drawing 7,365. On the road, the Rainbow Wahine are also drawing a crowd. During the last week of the regular season both Fresno State and San Jose State drew season-high crowds for their matches with the Hawaii.
Top 10 National Attendance
School Avg. MP Total
1. Hawai'i 7,300 20 146,001
2. Nebraska 4,415 14 61,808
3. Wisconsin 3,643 15 54,644
4. Florida 2,520 14 35,281
5. Minnesota 2,406 18 43,310
6. Penn St. 2,267 16 36,274
7. Arizona 2,178 13 26,142
8. Illinois St. 2,069 15 31,036
9. Stanford 2,036 14 28,500
10. LBSU 1,963 17 33,363
WEST LEADS EAST In the second year that the WAC has had divisional play for volleyball, the Western Division holds a dominating record over its Eastern Division foes. The West, led by Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada, have won 19 of 26 matches this season. Last season at this point, the West had won 19 of 25. Both the Rainbow Wahine and the Bulldogs have won all five matches against Eastern Division foes. Nevada is 4-1 against the East. Rice captured two interdivisional wins, defeating Nevada and Boise State. The Mustangs are the only Eastern Division squad earn at least two wins against the West.
AROUND THE COURT News and notes from around the league: Fresno State is coming off one of its most successful seasons in school history.
Posting its ninth 20-win season and tying for the third-most wins in the programs history, head coach Lindy Vivas is directing the Bulldogs to their sixth postseason appearance under her tutelage. She was also named WAC Coach of the Year for the third time overall ... Hawaii middle hitter Lauren Duggins played well last week, hitting .615 with eight kills against BYU on Nov. 26, then hitting .478 with 13 kills, seven digs and eight blocks against Utah Nov. 27.
The junior is now hitting .408 on the season, averaging 2.53 kpg and 1.36
bpg on the year ... Nevada is making back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament for the first time and its third appearance in five years.
Head coach Devin Scruggs has led the Wolf Pack to all three of their NCAA Tournament appearances, 1998, 2001 and 2002. The 2002 team tied the school record for wins with its 22nd Saturday night over Southwest Missouri State. The 1998 team was the first to win 22 games going 22-8 following a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament. The 1998 team was the first Nevada womens team to post 20 or more wins in a season and the 2002 squad is the second ... Despite losing their final three matches of the 2002 season, Rice secured its 13th winning season in school history, finishing with an 18-16 overall record. Sophomore Rebeca Pazo rewrote the record books this season, finishing the year with 562 kills, the second-best single-season in Rice history. Her two-year career total now stands at 970, the 10th best mark in school history. In her final match of the year, the 2002 first team all-WAC selection hit .397, behind a career-best 35 kills and 73 swings. Her 35 kills is the second-best single-match ever at Rice. Her 1,373 attempts in 2002 is the third-most in a single season, while her 382 digs this year is the fourth-best single season mark.