SEATTLE » Before this NCAA Volleyball Championship is over, the West Coast Conference really should give a shout out to the Big West.
If the WCC had not gone 16-6 against the teams in Hawaii’s conference, no way it would have six squads in the postseason. Only the Big Ten and Pac-12 have more (seven apiece).
The eighth-ranked Rainbow Wahine, unbeaten Big West champs, open the postseason Friday against Santa Clara, in Seattle. The result could vividly illustrate how far apart the conferences are.
The Broncos (21-10) finished fourth in the WCC. They went five sets with three middle-of-the-pack Big West teams, beating UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton and falling to Pacific.
The Wahine (26-2) fought off two match points in their first Big West match in 16 years. That was more than two months ago at Cal State Northridge. They won that in five and also went the distance in beating Fullerton, UC Irvine and Pacific (twice).
Clearly, little separates the two conferences and, realistically, Hawaii and Santa Clara.
"I think there are a lot of teams like Santa Clara in our conference," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "It’s a typical Big West team — a West Coast team with good ball control and scrappy players."
The scrappiest is Megan Anders, the Broncos’ only All-WCC player, with sophomore Taylor Milton honorable mention. The 6-foot-4 junior middle led her team in kills (3.02), hitting (.362) and was second in blocks (0.82). Her attack percentage was better than .500 in eight matches and she had 25 kills in an upset of then-16th-ranked Brigham Young, which is hosting a subregional this week.
Santa Clara plays two setters and, when its passing is precise, Alyssa Anderson and Anders are almost unstoppable, according their coach Jon Wallace.
NCAA DIVISION I SUBREGIONAL
At University of Washington
FRIDAY FIRST ROUND
>> No. 8 Hawaii (26-2) vs. Santa Clara (20-11), 3 p.m.
>> No. 5 Washington (23-6) vs. Central Arkansas (30-4), following first match
>> TV: All matches on OC Sports (Ch. 16)
>> Radio: Hawaii match on KKEA (1420-AM)
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"One of the things that makes us unique is our setter and middle connection is kind of amazing even for us to watch," Wallace said. "They find these angles and our middle attack has just clicked, like when Robyn (Ah Mow) and Angelica (Ljungquist) connected on everything back in the mid-90s — when Hawaii got to the final four by that connection alone. Robyn was able to find Angelica everywhere on the court."
This Hawaii team reminds Wallace of the Wahine’s bookend bashers of a decade ago — Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku.
"(Emily) Hartong and (Jane) Croson can control an entire match like Lily and Kim," he said. "Whenever you can set them the ball they’ll get you get good swings and over time good swings pay off.
"A good middle and right … it’s harder to find those kids. You can always find the left-side attack. Also, Hawaii has won its last how many straight (19)? So they have good confidence. They are going in believing they can win. Hawaii knows how to play in the tournament. Dave knows how to coach them, how to go through a conference that’s not as challenging and come out and make a final four."
Hawaii has done it before, but so has Santa Clara. Wallace worries about his passing and the three losses to end the regular season. He plays the 6-2 offense in part "to hide people we need to hide."
But the Anders-Anderson connection got his team going and the confidence it built has it back in the postseason for the first time in five years. Before that, Santa Clara made 10 straight NCAA appearances, reaching the final four in a magical 2005.
His team knows how to play in the postseason as well, and it knows what to do with a Big West opponent.
"Wally’s been around," said Shoji, who was coaching the UH men when Wallace played for UC Santa Barbara. "He’s been at Santa Clara a long time. He’s a good coach, a good guy."
If the WCC can get six teams in the NCAA tournament, Shoji thinks the Big West can too.
"It was looking like the WCC would get at least five teams and they snuck a sixth team in there," he said. "I kind of envision the Big West being like that next year. We’ll all be stronger next year. That’s encouraging that a mid-major conference can get six teams in there. That should be the goal of our coaches."
His last words to his team Tuesday, before it left for temperatures that have yet to hit 50 degrees, were short, sweet and cautionary.
"I don’t have anything," Shoji told the Wahine. "You guys are ready. You can’t worry about the second night too early. Santa Clara is a good team from a good conference."
A conference six times better than the Big West this season.
