Photos: UH vs. Florida International sand volleyball
It was one play, one dig, but one heck of a game-changer.
Hawaii’s No. 3 duo of Jane Croson and Ashley Kastl was trailing 16-15 in Set 2 of their sand doubles match with Florida International’s Emily Podschweit and Tina Toghyani on Friday morning at the Queen’s Beach Sandbox.
Kastl, her left ankle heavily taped after rolling it in Wednesday’s indoor practice, lunged for Toghyani’s dying duck of a serve. Kastl got to the ball before the cool sand did, with her dig — one of her nine — finding an open spot on the other side of the net, tying it at 16.
The play sparked a 4-0 run that included two consecutive aces by Kastl, and the Rainbow Wahine pair went on to complete the 21-16, 21-19 sweep. It would prove to be the deciding match in the best-of-five AVCA contest, with No. 5 Hawaii edging No. 8 Florida International 3-2.
Croson and Kastl gave the Rainbow Wahine (1-0) their only win of the second set of matches played Friday. Hawaii won at Nos. 4 and 5 in the first round, and had a 3-0 lead in the dual match with the Golden Panthers before FIU (1-3) finished off the morning with wins at Nos. 1 and 2.
"A point is a point — sometimes it happens like that," said Kastl, who finished with five kills, including the match-ender. "But regardless of what happens, you have to adjust and get ready for the next ball.
"It was our first real match together and Jane did a really good job at keeping me calm. She has so much experience and kept telling me, ‘Don’t worry. We’re going to get this back. If we do our jobs, we’ll be OK.’ "
Many were surprised that Croson, a sand volleyball All-American last year, and Kastl, in her first sand tournament, weren’t at No. 1. Instead, they were at No. 3, behind No. 1 Ginger Long-Katie Spieler and No. 2 Natasha Bell-Tai Manu-Olevao.
The question posed by some of the estimated crowd of 150 was if Wahine coach Scott Wong hadn’t switched the order in order to give Croson and Kastl an easier opponent so as to save them for Friday night’s indoor exhibition with Texas Tech. Wong, also the associate head coach for the UH indoor team, said he wouldn’t play the system like that.
"That didn’t come into play," Wong said. "All of our teams are so close to each other.
"I’m very happy with the outcome. As a coach you want to win every match, win every point. FIU has played a lot already and this was our first match. I’m pleased with the win."
Rita Buck-Crockett, a 1984 Olympian indoors and world champion on the beach coaching FIU’s program in its first season, said she would have preferred the score to be reversed "but we also came here for the experience."
"I think our No. 1 and 2 teams can play with anyone in the country. We have a good lineup and we have some name players, too."
One of those is 6-foot-3 Kate Stepanova, who is playing as a graduate student and teaming with 6-foot junior Ksenia Sukhareva at No. 1. Stepanova played both indoors and sand for Florida State last season, finishing third with Jace Pardon at last year’s inaugural AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball Championships as the Seminoles also finished third as a team.
Stepanova had 10 kills and 12 digs, and Sukhareva had nine kills and four aces in the 21-16, 21-13 sweep of Long and Spieler. The 5-11 Long was the best blocker of the day, finishing with three to go with five kills and four aces, while the 5-5 Spieler had eight digs, seven kills and four aces.
Sophomore transfer Ku‘ulei Zalopany finished with a match-high 18 kills to go with 13 digs, while Ali Longo and Croson each had nine aces. Longo, who plays libero indoors, teamed with sand-only sophomore Karlee Riggs (13 kills) for a 21-11, 21-17 win at No. 4 over Camila Rosado and Elly Citron.
"I thought we worked well together for our first match together," Riggs said. "Her background as a setter and libero, and the way she plays defense, and me at the net is a good combination.
"I get to watch her tonight (Friday’s indoor exhibition) and come back and play tomorrow."
Hawaii finishes its home season today with a round-robin tournament against FIU, Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade at the Queen’s Beach Sandbox. Play begins at 8 a.m. and is expected to finish around 5 p.m.
Hawaii 3, Florida International 2
1. Kate Stepanova/Ksenia Sukhareva (FIU) def. Ginger Long/Katie Spieler, 21-16, 21-13.
2. Jessica Gehrke/Maryna Samoday (FIU) def. Natasha Bell/Tai Manu-Olevao, 21-15, 21-18
3. Jane Croson/Ashley Kastl (UH) def. Emily Podschweit/Tina Toghyani, 21-16, 21-19
4. Alyssa Longo/Karlee Riggs (UH) def. Camila Rosado/Elly Citron, 21-11, 21-17
5. Ku’ulei Zalopany/Olivia Urban (UH) def. Jessica Mendoza/Laura Duffy, 21-17, 21-12
