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Third-Seeded Hawai`i Travels to Green Bay for NCAA Regional Semifinals

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Third-Seeded Hawai`i Travels to Green Bay for NCAA Regional Semifinals


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    NEXT ROUND OPPONENTS Hawaii will be facing yet another Big Ten school. The Rainbow Wahine meet their second-straight Big Ten opponent in Wisconsin after beating Purdue in the NCAA Second Round. Hawaii is 30-4 (.882) against the Big Ten all-time, including a 1-1 record against Wisconsin. The last time the Rainbow Wahine and Badgers met, Hawaii defeated Wisconsin 3-0 on Sept. 4, 2003.

    If UH wins, they will either play Texas of the Big 12 or Stanford of the Pac-10. The Rainbow Wahine are 33-7 (.825) against the Big 12 all-time, including their first round victory over Colorado. Hawaii is 9-1 (.900) against Texas, but havent played the Longhorns since 1996. Against the Pac-10, Hawaii is 115-58 (.665), including a 3-0 record this season, beating Arizona, UCLA and California. The Rainbow Wahine have a storied history with the Cardinal, holding a 17-11 (.593) advantage. Last time, the Cardinal and the Rainbow Wahine locked horns, Hawaii won, 3-2 on Sept. 13, 2003.

    COMMON OPPONENTS Hawaii shares one opponent with the University of Wisconsin. Both the Rainbow Wahine and Badgers played Purdue. Wisconsin defeated Purdue, 3-1 and lost to the Boilermakers, 3-1 on Nov. 26.

    Stanford and Hawaii have shared several opponents. The Cardinal is 8-1 against teams that Hawaii has played. The Rainbow Wahine are 4-0 against these teams. Hawaii has wins over Pac-10 foes, UCLA and Arizona. Stanford was 4-0 against the Bruins and Wildcats. Stanford was 1-1 against California, while Hawaii was 1-0. Both teams have a win over Santa Clara and Utah State. Stanford also beat Nevada in five games.

    Texas is 4-0 against teams that Hawaii has played. The Longhorns have two wins over Hawaiis first-round opponent, Colorado. Texas also has wins over WAC foes Louisiana Tech and SMU. The Rainbow Wahine are 4-0 against these three schools with two wins over SMU.

    ON THE TUBE The NCAA Regional Final will be televised on CSTV nationwide with Bill Doleman (play-by-play) and Tammy Blackburn (color commentary) covering the match. CSTV is available as a part of the Oceanic Digital Sports Package on Ch. 247.

    HAWAIIS WATANABE BREAKS HAND Ashley Watanabe broke her hand in a pre-NCAA Tournament practice, and will be out for the remainder of the season. Watanabe was just seven digs shy of the school single-season record, held by Teee Williams (437) in 1988. Although she fell short of the dig record, the junior did break the digs per game record with a 4.22 average, besting Kim Willoughbys mark of 3.66 digs per game in 2001. The libero had a great WAC tournament, averaging 3.82 digs per game while adding seven aces, earning her all-tournament honors.

    AGAINST THE FIELD During the regular season, the three WAC teams have a record of 12-9 against the 64 teams in the tournament field. Nevada has a loss on Sept. 4 to No. 11 seed Stanford. They had a 1-1 record against the No. 10 seed Saint Marys. Hawaii defeated the Gaels, while Nevada fell to Saint Marys on Sept. 3. Hawaii also defeated the No. 15 seed UCLA. Ninth-seeded Arizona also fell victim to the undefeated Rainbow Wahine. Rice lost in five games to fourth-seeded Minnesota on Sept. 14 at the GlaxoSmithKline Carolina Classic.

    THE WAC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT WAC teams are a combined 116-91 (.560) in the NCAA Tournament since 1981. Current WAC teams are a combined 64-41 (.609) in tournament play. Four of the current league teams have competed in the tournament, including Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada and San Jose State. This was Rices first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Since the WAC began the sponsorship of womens athletics in 1990, WAC teams are 24-16 (.600) in the NCAAs. Since 1990, the WAC has had at least two teams compete in the NCAA Tournament every year except 1999 and 2003. In 2001 and 2002, three teams advanced to the postseason. That was the most since six teams advanced in 1998. Last year, Hawaii was the only WAC school to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

    HAWAII IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The Rainbow Wahine are playing in their 23nd tournament, missing only in 1992, and have compiled a 56-19 (.747) overall record. This is their ninth appearance as a WAC member, compiling a 25-8 (.758) mark. Hawaii has won the NCAA title three times: 1982, 1983 and 1987. The Rainbow Wahine finished second in 2000, 1998 and 1996. In 2002, Hawaii lost to Stanford in the semifinals in New Orleans, La. The Rainbow Wahine defeated Western Kentucky, Washington, North Carolina and Nebraska en route to their seventh Final Four appearance. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine had wins over Idaho and BYU in the early rounds. Hawaii defeated Illinois and Georgia Tech to reach the national semifinals. UH lost to Florida in the semifinals, 3-1.

    REGIONAL SITES SET This season the NCAA Division I Womens Volleyball Regional sites were preset. The first sight is the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Ky., along with the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn.; Bank America Arena in Seattle, Wash., and the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis. Louisville, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin-Green Bay are the hosts for regionals, which will be held December 9-12.

    THREE TEAMS ADVANCE TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP For the first time since 2002, three WAC teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Rice and Nevada join the No. 3 seed Hawaii in the 2004 NCAA Volleyball Championship. The Rainbow Wahine, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, will travel to Fort Collins, Colo., and take on the University of Colorado in the first round. Nevada will face Wichita State in Lincoln, Neb. Rice will stay instate and face Michigan in Austin, Texas.

    This is the Owls first NCAA appearance since joining the WAC. Rice won the WAC's Eastern Division and head into the NCAA Tournament with a 25-4 record. Nevada (21-9) is making its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament also advancing in 1998, 2001 and 2002.

    Hawaii advanced to the Final Four last season and are making their 24th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. For only the second time in school history, the Rainbow Wahine enter postseason undefeated (28-0). Although UH was awarded the top seed in the Green Bay Regional, they will not host the first and second rounds for the first time since 2001, when the team was shipped to Pullman, Wash., as the top seed in the subregional.

    NEVADA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT The Wolf Pack returned to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history. With the loss to Wichita State, the Wolf Pack are 0-4 in the tournament. Nevada made its first NCAA appearance in 1998 traveling to Honolulu. Nevada fell in the first round to Miami of Ohio, 3-0. In 2001, the Wolf Pack fell to eventual champion Stanford, 3-0. In 2002, Nevada lost to Pacific in five games. Head coach Devin Scruggs has led Nevada to the NCAA Tournament four times in eight seasons.

    RICE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT With a 3-1 loss to Michigan in the first round, Rice is now 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament. This was the programs second national post-season tournament appearance. In 1995, the Owls competed in the National Invitational Volleyball Championships when the NCAA Championship included 32 teams in the field. The NCAA bracket expanded to include 48 teams in 1997, then expanded in 1998 to the current 64 team format. This is head coach Genny Volpes first season as the helm of the Owl program.

    RICES HOBAN EARN ACADEMIC AWARDS After earning third-team honors in 2003, Rice senior Catherine DuPont garnered a spot on the first team of the 2004 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America University Division Women's Volleyball Team as Selected by CoSIDA, the organization announced. DuPont, a St. Petersburg, Fla. native, has helped the Owls to their first ever NCAA championship berth this season. She carries a 3.95 grade point average with the double major of kinesiology and psychology

    HAWAII WINS FIFTH-STRAIGHT TOURNAMENT TITLE No. 2 Hawaii won its fifth-straight WAC Tournament title with a 30-21, 28-30, 30-22 and 30-27 win over Nevada in Virginia Street Gym in Reno, Nev.

    Victoria Prince continued her amazing tournament with 16 kills, seven digs, two aces and a .577 hitting percentage. Prince finished the tournament hitting .657, earning the WAC Tournament's MVP. Susie Boogaard added 19 kills and 10 digs while Alicia Arnott had 17 kills, 11 digs and six blocks. Tara Hittle added 14 kills and a .310 hitting percentage while Ashley Watanabe broke the WAC Tournament record with five aces and 11 digs.

    HAWAII HAS NATIONS LONGEST CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK AND ENTERS POSTSEASON UNDEFEATED Hawaii finished the regular season undefeated for just the second time. The Rainbow Wahine are the 14th team to enter the NCAA Tournament with an undefeated record in the tournaments 24 years of existence. Hawaii entered the 1995 NCAAs undefeated at 29-0, but fell to Michigan State in the Regional Finals in five-games.

    With Floridas loss to Tennessee on Nov, 14, Hawaii has the longest conference winning streak (91), along with the longest overall win streak (28) and the longest home winning streak (38). The Gators had 145-match regular season winning streak (an NCAA record), snapped by the Lady Vols, 3-2.

    NCAA LEADERS Hawaii setter Kanoe Kamana`o is 12th in the country in assists per game (13.67 apg), while Rices Kristina Hoban is 20th (13.19 apg), Rices Tessa Kuykendall is up to fifth in blocks per game (1.74 bpg). Hawaii transfer Victoria Prince is 13th (1.62 bpg), while Boise States Heather Malaschak is 15th (1.59 bpg). Prince is now fifth, hitting .421. Tulsas Joyce Silva was 15th in kills per game (5.22 kpg), Nevadas Salaia Salave`a is 28th (4.93 kpg). Tulsas Kassiana Urnau is 14th in aces per game (0.60 sapg).

    NEVADA AND RICE FALL IN THE FIRST ROUND The University of Nevada(21-10) volleyball team had its season come to an end falling in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Lincoln, Neb., 3-0 to Wichita State (25-5). The Shockers swept the Wolf Pack by scores of 30-16, 30-24, and 30-20. Salave`a finished the night with a team high nine kills. Setter Tristin Adams had a match high 33 assists. Libero Christine Harms had seven digs in the match. WSU hit .327 and Nevada hit just .123 in the match. Both teams finished with eight blocks with Kellie Burton and Salave`a finishing with four each for the Pack. Nevada had 10 service errors in the match and no aces while WSU served up eight aces. Sara Younes accounted for six of the Shockers aces on the night.

    In its first-ever NCAA championship appearance, the Rice volleyball team fell to Michigan 31-29, 24-30, 30-23, 30-20 on Friday in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Volleyball Championships in Austin despite six players hitting double-figure kills. The loss ends the Owls phenomenal season at 25-5 for a school record .833 winning percentage. Senior Rebeca Pazo led the balanced Rice attack with 14 kills to go along with a team-high 15 digs. Senior Lindsey Carter and sophomore Tessa Kuykendall each posted 12 kills, and senior Rebecca Kainz added 11. Juniors Kristina Hoban and Olaya Pazo finished out the scoring with 10 each.

    SAN JOSE STATES SHULL SMASHES WAC RECORDS Sophomore libero Jessie Shull had a record 42 digs for the San Jose State volleyball team, but the Spartans fell in four games to Fresno State, 30-27, 30-28, 22-30, 34-32, on Nov. 3 in a WAC match at The Event Center.

    Shulls 42 digs breaks the old San Jose State match record of 38 set by Lisa Ice against Hawaii in 1986 and against Cal Poly in 1986. Shull also broke the WAC single match record of 38 set by Suzanne Stonebarger against the Spartans during the 2000 season.

    Shull also leads the WAC in digs with 561 which is a new WAC record. The previous record was Fresno States Tricia Tuley who had 535 digs in 1995. She averaged, 5.34 per game which is a WAC record. She set the WAC matches only record for digs in a season with 287. She has 1,031 career digs after recording her 1000th digs at Hawaii on Nov. 12.

    STRONG SEASONS With its 13-0 WAC season, Hawaii has now finished undefeated in the league eight times. The Rainbow Wahine are the final undefeated team in the nation at 28-0. Last season, the Rainbow Wahine lost the second match of the season and then won 35-straight matches before falling to Florida in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. Rices 12-1 WAC record is its best league record. In 2001, the Owls were the Eastern Division Champions with a 10-3 record. The Owls have now won the Eastern Division three of the last four seasons. The 25 wins is the most for the Owls since joining the WAC.

    AGAINST THE BEST Hawaii leads the way this season against ranked teams. The Rainbow Wahine are 5-0 against teams that were ranked at the time of the match. On Nov. 24, the Rainbow Wahine defeated No. 19 Utah, 3-1. Hawaii has wins over No. 17 Arizona, No. 17 Santa Clara, No. 3 UCLA and No. 14 California. The WAC is 6-5 (.545) against non-conference ranked teams. Three teams have losses to teams in the top 10. Rice lost in five games to No. 1 Minnesota, while defeating No. 20 LMU. Nevada also went the distance with then No. 6-Stanford. Boise State lost to then-No. 3 Washington.

    PACKING THE STANDS Hawaii packed the stands this season. The Rainbow Wahine have already drew 121,292 fans in 17 matches for an average 7,135. Hawaii also had eight of the top 10 attended games, including the second highest attendance of the season when 9,875 saw Hawaii defeat Western Division rival Nevada in five games on Nov. 13. There were also 8,656 fans that saw the Rainbow Wahine defeat Pepperdine.The highest attended match this season is the 10,921 that saw Minnesota defeat Illinois on Oct. 16. There were 8,048 fans saw Hawaii defeat Fresno State.

    WELCOME TO THE WAC Next season, Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State will join the WAC. Both Idaho and New Mexico State advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Vandals lost to Hawaii in Honolulu in the first round. New Mexico State lost to BYU in the first round. The Aggies were a perfect 15-0 in the Sun Belt in 2003.

    This season, New Mexico State was 30-3, 15-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Aggies won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. NMSU has defeated future league partner UTEP, 3-0. The other Aggies, Utah State, was 9-18, 5-13 in the Big West. The Idaho Vandals was 17-13 so far this season, 9-9 in the Big West Conference.

    Both New Mexico State and Idaho lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.