Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
* Hawaii
Volleyball Battles No. 2 Hawai'i in Loss
10/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 26, 2002
HONOLULU - The Fresno State volleyball team entered the match without one of its starters but the Bulldogs didn't let a set back dash their hopes of playing a hard fought battle against the second-ranked Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine.
The Bulldogs, who lost senior outside hitter Christy Burnett to a turned ankle in practice earlier in the day, nearly pushed the Rainbow Wahine to a five-game match as Fresno State lost by four points or fewer in two of the three games played.
No. 2 Hawai'i, which came from behind in games one and three, notched a 30-28, 30-17 and 30-26 victory over Fresno State to improve to 19-0 overall and 7-0 in the Western Athletic Conference play.
Fresno State fell to 18-3 overall and 6-3 in the WAC while having its six-match win streak halted.
Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Fenton led the Bulldogs with 11 kills and hit .263 after committing one error in 38 chances. Senior libero Heather Farr tied for match-high honors in digs with 15.
UH was led by junior All-America outside hitters Kim Willoughby (24 kills, 15 digs) and Lily Kahumoku (18 kills, 12 digs).
In game one, Fresno State jetted out to leads of 7-3 and 8-4 over the Rainbow Wahine. With UH tying the game at 13-13, three more ties (14-14, 15-15, 16-16) took place before the Bulldogs resumed the lead at 17-16. Putting a three point difference between itself and Hawai'i in the later part of the game (21-18, 24-21, 26-23), Fresno State allowed UH to tie the game at 26. On a serving error, Fresno State was able to tie the game at 27. Hawai'i took its second lead of the game at 28-27 and Fresno State got back within one at 28-29. UH's Karin Lundqvist picked up her only kill of the game on the 30th point which handed the Rainbow Wahine their 40th consecutive game win. Fenton hit .545 (6-0-11) and was flawless from the floor for the Bulldogs.
Unlike game one, Hawai'i did not adjust to Fresno State after taking control of the game from the first serve. Keeping the Bulldogs hitting percentage at .000 (7-7-36), Hawai'i used the talented combination of Willoughby and Kahumoku, who combined for 13 of the team's 18 kills, as UH hit .429 (18-3-35). Fenton hit .231 (3-0-13).
In game three, Fresno State got out of the gate first with a 2-0 lead. The game would then be tied seven times before either team reached 10 points. The Rainbow Wahine took the lead at 10-9 but Fresno State hung around within four points of UH. The Bulldogs would fight back to get within one at 15-16, 16-17, 21-22 and 23-24. However, Hawai'i would close out the game with a 6-3 run as Willoughby paced the Rainbow Wahine with nine kills.
Overall, the blocks were even at seven but Hawai'i outhit (.296-.165), outdug (66-52) and totaled 13 more kills (60-37) in the final statistics. Hawai'i extends its WAC win streak to 58 consecutive matches and have won its last 42 straight games.
"We played a good match," head coach Lindy Vivas said. "We missed Christy but this was an opportunity for others to step up. Hawai'i is very solid because they have a hitter everywhere you look.
"I was pleased with our performance," Vivas added. "We wanted to win some games and be the spoiler. We put together a real good team effort and that's what I wanted."
Fresno State resumes road play next week when it travels to CS Northridge (Oct. 30) and San Jose State (Nov. 2).
