Wahine wreck Louisiana Tech

Hawaii's final Western Athletic Conference volleyball match against Louisiana Tech on Thursday inspired only one final question: Would the sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine win before they were able to clear their bench?

Not even close.

UH coach Dave Shoji had his 14 healthy bodies in midway through a 25-11, 25-7, 25-15 sweep of the Techsters (9-21, 0-13 WAC).

Hawaii (25-1, 13-0) ran its winning streak to 20 and its regular-season conference streak to 54 — the longest active mark in the country. The Wahine have already clinched their 16th consecutive regular-season title and will be top seed in the WAC tournament, Nov. 21-23 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

They close their home schedule Saturday against second-place New Mexico State. Seniors Kanani Danielson, Alex Griffiths and Chanteal Satele will be honored.

Those introductions might be more dramatic than Thursday's 83-minute mashing in front of 4,364 at Stan Sheriff Center.

Fourteen Techsters played and they scored one more point than they got in Ruston, only because they won seven of the first eight points in the final set, when Shoji used just two starters in their regular positions.

His emphasis to his team was to focus on the future."We're playing and practicing for December," he said. "Each player has her own weaknesses to work on. That's where we focus, individually."

There are no goals to hold opponents below a certain number of points or keep a match under so many minutes, according to the Wahine. It isn't necessary.

"We all have our own goals and our main goal is to win," Griffiths said. "As long as we're executing and doing our job that's what really matters. We're not trying to be like, ‘Let's give them doughnut holes.' If we're taking care of our jobs we're OK with it. Which is usually a low number (for the opponent) and not a high one."

LaTech hung on through some great rallies — most of libero Stephany Salas' nine digs came at Kanani Danielson's expense — and it got seven kills from Marcella Braz. But only two Techsters hit for a positive percentage.

There were times they simply enjoyed the show too, grinning at their opponents and fans in their final visit to Manoa.

"They enjoyed the third game," said coach Matt Sonnichsen, whose team is 275th in the NCAA power ranking. "I was very frustrated with them in the second because I felt we became spectators, which happens when you have so many young kids in this environment. Nobody has this environment."

In contrast, UH treated this as a warmup for NMSU, December and beyond. The Wahine ripped kills at a .354 rate. They threw in 10 blocks, six by freshman Kalei Adolpho, and 42 digs.

Jane Croson, another freshman, was 8-for-10 in two sets. Sophomore reserves Kristiana Tuaniga and Kaela Goodman both had a career-high seven kills, hitting .545 and .400.

They more than made up for the loss of third-team All-American Brittany Hewitt in the middle. She didn't finish pregame practice and was sent home before the match with stomach problems.

She should be OK for the Aggies, who took UH to five sets in Las Cruces and are the last WAC team to beat Hawaii in the regular season — three years ago.

"The first time we played them our passing was really off early, it got us in trouble," Shoji said. "Then we had Game 4 and let it go. But they've got some weapons. Kelsey Brennan is a big right-sider who runs a slide that bothers us and their freshman outside (Meredith Hays) gets a bunch of kills every match.They've got a good libero and a good setter.

"We've got to block them. It usually comes down to serving and passing and whether you can run your offense or not."

Note

Coach Dave Shoji wished Michelle Waber well in Hawaii's official announcement of the departure of the outside hitter. Waber started for the Wahine last year, earning All-WAC freshman honors, and was redshirting this season.

"She's been a great teammate, a hard worker, and a good student-athlete," Shoji said. "I hope she finds a school she is comfortable at, and can realize some of her goals."

Waber, whose father is fighting cancer in California, told Shoji a few days ago that she was leaving the team and going home after the semester ends.

"I am really grateful for the opportunity I had here playing for the Rainbow Wahine," Waber said in a release. "I will definitely miss all the girls on the team and our amazing fans."