Coach Dave Shoji got to his feet, put his hands in the air and high-fived an assistant. Even after 41 seasons, reaching the NCAA regional final never gets old. ADVERTISING Coach Dave Shoji got to his feet, put his hands
Coach Dave Shoji got to his feet, put his hands in the air and high-fived an assistant. Even after 41 seasons, reaching the NCAA regional final never gets old.
Nikki Taylor smacked 18 kills and Hilo native Tai Manu-Olevao added 14 on Friday as the University of Hawaii swept two-time defending champion Penn State 25-22, 27-25, 25-16 in Des Moines, Iowa, extending the nation’s longest win streak to 24 matches.
“Quite an effort by our young women about midway through the first game,” Shoji said. “I thought that while we were playing them, I hope our kids believe that we can win this match and we did, they played their hearts out and I’m so proud of them.”
Advancing to the regional final for the first time since 2009, the Rainbow Wahine (27-1) will face second-seeded Minnesota, the Big Ten champion, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with a trip to the NCAA championships on the line. The match will be broadcast on ESPNU.
In a matchup of the nation’s two winningest coaches, Dave Shoji (1,179 wins) moved a victory closer to the Nittany Lions’ Russ Rose (1,189), and Hawaii beat Penn State for the first time in six tries.
“Well, it’s a win against Penn State not Russ Rose, they have had our number lately,” Shoji said. “I wish we could have played them earlier in his career because maybe we would have turned the table earlier, when you beat Penn state you have to feel good about that and we do.
“Russ is a great coach and he is continue to have great teams and we feel honored to be able to beat them.”
Hawaii waited two Penn State set points in the second game, and winners from Manu-Olevao and Olivia Magill gave the Wahine a 2-0 lead.
“Nikki reminded the team that we haven’t dropped Set 2 all year and I think that we got a little inspiration from that, we had several plays that we couldn’t convert,” Shoji said. “We made the plays when we had to and managed to steal Set 2.”
The third set wasn’t as close.
Hawaii used a pair of spurts to grab a 12-4 lead after Kalei Greeley’s second ace of the set, and two kills from Taylor kept seventh-seeded Penn State (28-6) from building any momentum. The Nittany Lions never got closer than six points, and UH and its fans celebrated when Aiyana Whitney’s shot went wide.
“It means a lot for our fans to be that seventh player,” Taylor said of the team’s support in Iowa. “Our fans are so loyal and so dedicated, and the thing that is so special about Hawaii fans is that know so much about volleyball.”
Seniors Tai-Olevao and Magill were on point as the Wahine hit .389. Tai-Olevao made only one error in hitting a robust .500, while Magill went errorless in 19 attempts, finishing with nine kills.
“Just feeling humble, enjoying the experience,” Manu-Olevao said.
Greeley added eight kills.
Whitney led Penn State with 10 kills, while Haleigh Washington and Megan Courtney each added nine kills. The Nittiany Lions hit .228.
“They had a lot more confidence,” Rose said. “We had some people who weren’t in the mindset to get things done.”
He added: “For us to have 11 hitting errors is an awful lot of hitting errors. We can’t have that many hitting errors and expect to win.”
Taylor, the Big West Player of the Year, posted five kills in the first set, and UH never trailed after scoring four points in a row to take a 12-11 lead.
The Golden Gophers (29-4) advanced by sweeping Illinois.
