Box Score Box Score
NEW ORLEANS - The No. 2 University of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine (34-2) fell to the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal (32-4) 25-30, 27-30 and 24-30 in the NCAA Tournament national semifinal at the New Orleans Arena Thursday.
All-American Kim Willoughby had a good match in her home state, knocking in a match-high 22 kills, 11 digs and four blocks. Fellow All-American Lily Kahumoku added 10 kills and 14 digs while Melissa Villaroman continued their stellar play with 17 digs in the back row. Maja Gustin also came up big at the net with eight blocks and six kills.
Stanford opened up the match with three straight points before UH got the lead at 4-3 on the strength of a Willoughby's serve. The Cardinal then worked to open their biggest lead of the game at 15-11 for the media timeout. Stanford continued to roll, pushing the score to 19-13 to force a timeout by UH coach Dave Shoji. The Hawai`i deficit stayed at six before a quick 3-0 capped by a Willoughby ace cut it to 21-18. Stanford got the lead back to four at 25-21 but another 3-0 run by the Rainbow Wahine cut the difference to one at 25-24, forcing Stanford coach John Dunning to use his second timeout of the game. The Cardinal then responded with a 5-1 run to take the first game 30-25. Willoughby ended the game with an amazing 10 kills and five digs.
Logan Tom opened up game two with a kill before UH went on a 4-1 run to go up 4-2. Hawai`i would keep their two point lead until a 3-0 run by the Cardinal put them up 7-6. The game stayed tight with Stanford up 11-10 but a quick 4-0 run, capped by two big blocks by Gustin and Willoughby, put UH up 14-11 to force a Dunning timeout. The Rainbow Wahine kept it rolling out of the break, pushing their lead to 17-12 before a big 4-1 run by the Cardinal cut the deficit to 19-17. Stanford was able to get the difference down to one point before a couple of Willoughby kills forced Dunnings' last timeout at 23-20. Hawai`i again jumped out 26-24 but SU rattled off a 6-1 run to win the second game 30-27. Hawai`i wasn't ready to end their season just yet though, as they jumped out to leads of 2-0 and 7-3, forcing a Stanford timeout. Out of the timeout, SU would jump on a 4-0 run to tie the game at seven. The teams would go back and forth before Tom reeled off two straight aces to put the Cardinal up 12-10. The Rainbow Wahine would keep it tight, tying the game at 23, but a 7-1 run by Stanford ended the game at 30-24.
All-American Logan Tom led the Cardinal with 13 kills and a match-high 21 digs while Ogonna Nnamani added 15 kills and five blocks. Sara McGee also played well with 10 kills and five blocks.
The loss ended UH's season and the careers of three great players in Jennifer Carey, Margaret Vakasausau and Hedder Ilustre. Carey finishes her career fourth in UH history in assists (3, 540) and an amazing 122-12 record with the team. Vakasausau finished fifth in UH history with 2,661 assists and was a two-time all-conference performer. Ilustre, who came to the program just two years ago, finished with 510 digs and was named all conference in 2001.
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