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CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat
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Arizona freshman Kristina Baum attempts a block during a UA match earlier this season at McKale Center.
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By James Kelley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tuesday October 14, 2003
Despite a Wildcat report yesterday that the Arizona volleyball team is set to play Oregon Saturday night, the match will actually take place Thursday in McKale Center.
Arizona (7-10, 1-6 Pacific 10 Conference) is scheduled to play Oregon (3-12, 0-7) on Thursday, followed by a Friday matchup against Oregon State (12-7, 2-5) and a Sunday match at the No. 2 Rainbow Wahine (17-1, 5-0 Western Athletic Conference) of Hawaii.
UA head coach Dave Rubio said that Arizona is playing Hawaii because the UH coaches have repeatedly asked the UA to come over.
The match is set to take place on the same weekend as two Pacific 10 Conference matches because the weekend was originally supposed to be set aside for the Wildcats' matchup with rival Arizona State on Wednesday, leaving plenty of time to make the trek across the Pacific to the island of Oahu. When the Ducks and Beavers were put on the schedule this week instead of ASU, Rubio had to get special permission to change the Wildcats matchup with Oregon from Saturday to Thursday.
Rainbows leading NCAA in average attendance
It took Rubio less than one second to think of Hawaii's national ranking in attendance last year ÷ first.
Rubio said he figured that the Rainbows averaged about 8,000 fans per match last year. This year they are averaging 7,215 in the 10,300-seat Stan Sheriff Center, which has hosted the 1998 men's Final Four and 1999 women's Final Four.
Rubio called the atmosphere there, "pretty awesome," having gone to the islands once in 1995.
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Mark It
Arizona vs. Oregon: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Arizona vs. Oregon State: Friday, 7 p.m.
McKale Center
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Weekend matches can be seen on TV, Webcasts
On Friday when the Wildcats host the Beavers, the match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net Arizona and aired via tape-delay Saturday on other FSN affiliates.
Sunday's Hawaii match will be shown on KFVE, the Honolulu WB affiliate. The match may also be aired via Webcast on KFVE's Web site ÷ 5thehometeam.com. The match will also be on Honolulu radio station KKEA, which can be heard on the mainland at the station's Web site ÷ kkea1420am.com.
Are the Wildcats ready to begin a new streak?
When the Wildcats dropped out of the rankings last month, it was the first time they had fallen out of the Top 25 since 1998 ÷ 83 polls in a row ÷ but last week's upset of then-No. 8 UCLA put the Wildcats back into contention to get back in the rankings.
In the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll, the UA received 17 votes, good for the equivalent of the No. 34 overall ranking. Hawaii remained at No. 2 while UCLA fell to No. 11.
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2003 Pac-10 standings
| California | 7-0 | 16-0 |
| USC | 7-0 | 16-0 |
| Stanford | 6-1 | 13-3 |
| UCLA | 5-2 | 13-3 |
| Washington | 4-4 | 13-4 |
| Washington State | 3-5 | 7-11 |
| Oregon State | 2-5 | 12-7 |
| Arizona | 1-6 | 7-10 |
| ASU | 1-6 | 6-10 |
| Oregon | 0-7 | 3-13 |
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Hawaii among nation's best in many categories
Not only are the Rainbow Wahine the No. 2 team in the country, having lost only to No. 1 Southern California, but the team's name is all over the NCAA's Division I statistical rankings, along with that of senior left side Kim Willoughby.
Willoughby leads the nation in kills per game with an average of 6.76, is ranked ninth in hitting percentage at .427 and is 15th in aces per game at 0.67. Two of her teammates are also listed in the rankings. Freshman setter Kanoe Kamanao is 14th in assists, averaging 13.2 per game, while senior middle hitter Lauren Duggins is19th in hitting at .403.
The Rainbows, as a team, are fifth in match winning percentage (.938), second in kills per game (18.08), fourth in hitting percentage (.343) and third in assists per game (16.58).
UA sophomore outside hitter Kim Glass is 15th in kills per game with an average of 5.43.
No one from Oregon or Oregon State is in the top 30 in any of the NCAA's statistical categories, nor are either of the teams.
Wildcats face fourth player of the week
For the fourth time in five weeks, the UA will be facing a reigning conference player of the week, this time in Hawaii senior left-side hitter Lily Kahumoku, the Western Athletic Conference's player of the week.
Kahumoku stepped up last week in the absence of fellow All-American Willoughby, who missed the Rainbows' matches at Boise State and UTEP with strep throat. Kahumoku averaged 4.83 kills per game, 3.33 digs per game and 1.33 blocks in the absence of Willoughby, who is expected to play against Arizona, according to the Ka Leo O Hawai`i, the UH newspaper.
Rainbow Wahine rule the WAC conference
The Rainbow Wahine are unbeatable against their WAC competition, currently holding a 70-match conference winning streak. Hawaii is 100-1 all-time against WAC teams, with its last loss coming against BYU in 1998. BYU left the WAC for the Mountain West Conference in 1999.
Ayers out for season, despite box score stats
Though the box score from the Arizona/UCLA match said sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Angie Ayers played in one game and had one assist, Rubio said she is still out for the season.
Ayers, who had 1.08 blocks per game average and was honorable mention freshman All-Pac-10 last year, went down with a knee injury in the summer and was lost for the season.
"She didn't even travel with us," Rubio said. "She can't physically play volleyball right now."
