Final 4 set
Penn State def. Stanford, 22-25, 25-22, 28-26, 18-25, 15-11
Wisconsin def. Purdue, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21
Texas def. Nebraska, 25-19, 25-23, 25-23. match ended on Nebraska serving error
Washington holds off two match points to win Set 5 17-15
UW def. USC, 26-28, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 17-15
COMMENTS
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go Texas !!
go USC !!
Why do they always have to refer to Tennant as captain who the hell cares if she was the captain ?
In watching these matches it is so easy to see the reasons why we are not on TV today.
Best match so far Stanford/Penn State.
Looks like Texas will top Neb.
Go Huskies !
Biggest problems for Nebraska tonight is no production from the right side and no answers for Webster.
Ekerman also unstoppable.
Does anyone know any VB friendly bars That won’t mind showing the volleyball games on TV?
impressed with the way texas swept nebraska. does not look like the same team hawaii started out
beating… (sigh).
yes, LC Captain Tennant does sound a little pretentious. well, more than a little…
Wawa, you can watch the final game at this link http://www.myrtv.eu/channel9.html
The dude on ESPNU thinks Tennant’s first name is Captain.
Watching those teams play, one can only wonder why UH is 2 steps behind on their level of play. Yes, Hawaii beat Texas in both teams first game of the season but the difference is the progress and the coaching….definitely coaching played a tremendous part in Texas’s ability to progress as the season went whereas Hawaii…well….typical Hawaii…..like I said before, it would have been an embarrassment had Hawaii gone to the regional….Im not a Wahine hater….I used to go to all their volleyball games and am very close to Tita, Eleneki et. co. but geezus, the game has really passed our coach and like the Texas football coach, its time to step down and let somebody come in and bring in new blood, strategies, etc…and recruits…..I know I have been critical of Shoji, at times, but even I admit he did a tremendous job with the program but, like Mack Brown, of Texas, its time to move on and let somebody come in with and invigorate the program to the glory it once had. Im tired of reading about the national championships that Shoji won which was more than 20 yrs. ago….his body of work of winning championships is what counts in the present tense.
That freshman RS for USC is unbelievable.
The Captain is speaking.
#11. Shoji will retire when he’s ready, besides Ben Jay is already on the record as saying that Norm Chow can be coach for as long as he wants. If he says that about Norm Chow, someone who actually deserves to be fired, well then Shoji is certainly on his own timetable as far as retirement is concerned.
The fact is Shoji is still probably better than any coach Hawaii could get to come here.
Anyway looks like round up the usual suspects in the final four. Penn State vs. Texas again for the championship.
LC, what does that have to do with volleyball? and you have recorded proof that this happened don’t you? i seriously doubt it.
and hossana, i have been going to Wahine VB games since Klum Gym time. it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why those teams are ahead of UH. its not coaching. its talent. its no coincidence that the final eight teams were all BCS schools. by your reasoning, all those eight coaches are better than Shoji. really?? i doubt it. switch the talent and i would bet money that Dave wins at least a couple more NCs by now. you think that a new coach will be able to bring in top ten players? sure, if they are one of those big name coaches at the top schools like Rose or Haley. the chances of one of them coming to Hawaii is zero. they would be giving up too much. it would be foolish for them to make such a move.
the fact is, Hawaii will probably never win another national championship again. the deck is stacked against teams like UH, San Diego and BYU. but you know what, i’m fine with that. the BCS teams are not going to let the smaller teams win another NC and there is nothing we can do about it, Dave Shoji or no Dave Shoji. as long as Dave is coaching, the fans will come out. he’s earned the right to retire on his own terms.
I really dislike the AD, for saying things like that, Chow is horrible , anyway,
bad day for me, all the teams I wanted to win lost except for Texas, and UGH UW is back in the final four before the wahine are., I can not stand them and their pompous coach, I hope Penn State beats them like a pulp.
What a nail biter UW v USC… WOO HUSKIES!! “GO DAWGS!!” After watching some of these matches for regionals, i know its a broken record (just leaving my 2cents), UH (or Big West teams) don’t really have the stamina as these other players from these stronger conferences produce. I will forever be a wahine fan, but hopefully, one day soon…We’ll have that Kahumoku, Willoughby, Kamanao, Tano, Gustin, Villaroman starting line up again.
Round up the usual suspects, as they say: Seed 1/Texas [Big 12] won the Nebraska regional over a Big Ten school, Seed 2/Penn State [Big Ten] won the Kentucky regional over a Pac-12 school, and Seed 3/Washington [Pac-12] won the Southern California regional over another Pac-12 school. In short, BCS teams rule: All-BCS quarterfinals,
All-BCS semifinals, and All-BCS final.
But if the NCAA Volleyball [Selection] Committee thinks it can pat itself on the back, I say not so fast. Look who else made it to the Final Four: Seed 12/Wisconsin. And how did they get there? Round 1: Beat unseeded Milwaukee. Round 2: Beat unseeded California. Round 3: Beat unseeded Florida St. And Round 4/Quarterfinals: Beat unseeded Purdue.
So what happened to Seed 4/Missouri [SEC], Seed 5/Florida [SEC], Seed 11/Hawai’i [Big West], Seed 15/Kentucky [SEC], and Seed 16/Duke [ACC]? None of these NCAA Volleyball Committee-annointed teams made it out of their subregional.
~~ UPCOMING RED-LETTER DATES (unconfirmed) ~~
Senior CLASS Award to the Outstanding Senior NCAA D1 Student-Athlete of the Year in Women’s Volleyball (presented sometime this week)
Wednesday, Dec. 18 = D1 Women’s Volleyball All-America Teams
Thursday, Dec. 19 = Semifinals: Seed 1/Texas vs. Seed 12/Wisconsin
Seed 3/Washington vs. Seed 2/Penn State
Thursday, Dec. 19 = D1 Women’s Volleyball National COY
(Assistant COY may also be announced at this time)
Friday, Dec. 20 = D1 Women’s Volleyball National POY and FOY
Saturday, Dec. 21 = CHAMPIONSHIP …. It’s Showtime!
Re: tsboy: Are you kidding me?? Shoji had tremendous talent when he had Kahanumoku et. co. but his offense was always the same with no diversity…go back and check the talent Shoji had in the late 90’s and early 2000’s….geezus, he EVEN ADMITTED THAT THIS YEAR’S TEAM COULD GO ON TO THE FINAL FOUR and look what happened….don”t give me this nonsense he never had talent…..like I said, check his body of work going back the past 23 yrs. and the times he went to the regionals but never could win the NC because his offense was so predictable……do some research and if you said, like you wrote, that you went to all the vb games, that you would know he had some outstanding teams and talent but they couldn’t come through in the end…..check it out…
To all concerned: Please don’t get me wrong..though it may seem like I’m bashing Shoji, I’m really not because I hold him in the highest regard and what he has done for the UH Wahine volleyball program which is always in the national limelight in the standings but, like Mack Brown of Texas, its time to move on and bring in new blood. Shoji deserves all the recognition and it was long overdue for him to be in the Hall of Fame but its time for him to move on despite all what he has done for the wahine volleyball program.
i never said Shoji had no talent. i said he never had the best talent. so hossana, out of my whole posting, the only thing you got out of it is that Dave didn’t have talented players. well, your reading comprehension is bad and you got nothing, since you can’t dispute any of the other points that i made.
even i thought that we could go to the final four, if we got good breaks and the Wahine played out of their minds. does that mean we had the best talent? no. were the Wahine favored by anyone to win the NC? no. how many top 10-15 players out of high school do we have on our roster? how many again? you got nothing.
and stop with this ” don’t get me wrong, i’m not bashing Dave” crap. you’re saying that Shoji can’t coach talented players and thats why the Wahine can’t go farther than they have. so why don’t you do us real Wahine fans a favor and just shut up.
I can really feel everyone’s pain about all the hype of this year’s team. Overall, Hawaii with its inability to recruit like the Stanford’s, Washington, Penn St, and Texas can still hold their own in the volleyball world. Coach Shoji has done a remarkable job building a legacy at the university. I guess some people dislike seeing the same results year after year. I am glad to see so many local talent excel like Carly Kan, Loxely Keala, C’era Olivera, Mahina Haina, Tecas duo, etc…But if they all stayed home some would sit on the bench. This is the first year in all Shoji’s years he did not utilize his deep bench effectively and consistently. There were talent just standing the whole game with maybe a token substitution. This does affect the future of recruiting. The only girls to me who deserved a starting position and not leaving the court would ben an
I can really feel everyone’s pain about all the hype of this year’s team. Overall, Hawaii with its inability to recruit like the Stanford’s, Washington, Penn St, and Texas can still hold their own in the volleyball world. Coach Shoji has done a remarkable job building a legacy at the university. I guess some people dislike seeing the same results year after year. I am glad to see so many local talent excel like Carly Kan, Loxely Keala, C’era Olivera, Mahina Haina, Texas duo, etc…But if they all stayed home some would sit on the bench. This is the first year in all Shoji’s years he did not utilize his deep bench effectively and consistently. There were talent just standing the whole game with maybe a token substitution. This does affect the future of recruiting. The only girls to me who deserved a starting position and not leaving the court was Emily and Ali. Everyone else was replaceable and should have been used according to their playing ability or inability for oothat particular match. We not in the same league as the top teams until we get our volleyball competing at the highest level
So where is the pink jersey auction ? I was planing on picking up #17 & # 4 for Christmas presents. Oh well, marketing and making money is something UH has never been good at.
34. They did it one year. It was never said that it would be an annual thing. But I agree that they lost some money-making opportunities there.
I find it amazing what short term memory folks have. How many years did UH get a raw deal in the NCAA draw.Those were some great teams that should have gone to the final four.
Lost in 5 to SC at home in what many considered a final four match. Lost last year in 5 at UW. The year they got sent TO TEXAS and still won there in the second round before going to Green Bay.
It wasn’t too long ago that UH got sent to SC twice and beat SC twice in the second round.
You can ask any coach in the country about what Shoji has done and they are all amazed by the success. Because they know how hard it is to recruit to Hawaii, what the obstacles are, what being in a non-BCS conference, whether it was the WAC and now the Big West are.
I agree that people may have taken this year’s loss hard because of the promise the season held and the attachment to the players, particularly Hartong.
23. as for not utilizing his deep bench. Exactly who did you want to play? with the exception of Kastl, who was inconsistent as was Manu-Olevao.
I am so tired of the recruiting bashing. Hawaii recruits the top players, some of them happen to be from Hawaii. Players choose not to come here for a variety of reasons.
Unfortunately, when a person makes derogatory remarks like yourself and tell one to shaddup, it’s just a reflection of your ignorance. Read my comments again where I said HE DID HAVE TALENTED PLAYERS GOING TO THE FINAL FOUR COUPLE TIMES AND THE REGIONALS COUPLE TIMES IN THE 90’S etc. but never made it to the NC….Your remarks reflect your mental i.q. and its unfortunate it had to be displayed in public as I apologize to the readers for this critical discourse as I’m sure people are turned off by it just as much as I am by your remarks so I will end it as this is no place for this type of juvenile behavior. And I apologize to Cindy for putting up with it incl. my remarks and will endeavor to refine my comments in the future.
And if you folks want to bash each other and call each other names,, please go elsewhere.
28. I concur with you completely. Once again, I offer my apologies to you and to all the readers.
I think HOSSANA & TSBOY made some valid points. Hawaii cannot compete with the BCS schools when it comes to recruiting. BCS schools seem to offer more amenities for their student-athletes that far out-weigh the lush beauty of Hawai’i nei and its program’s rich history . Also, with a lot of up and coming programs around the country, recruits have a broader spectrum to select from as far as choosing colleges. Hawaii cannot recruit players simply by its name and history any more. Former top programs and mid-majors like Long Beach State and Pacific can attest to that.
I too have questioned some of Dave’s coaching strategies. The block for instance has been abysmal considering they have some decent size blockers (6’2, 6’4,6’4 in some rotations). They only found success against high-ball setting teams, and sub-6foot hitters. Another aspect that concerned me was their serving. Hard to score points when your BRS keep serving out/into the net.
Dave’s done a tremendous job and is a fabulous coach. Maybe he needs a different perspective on strategies for today’s game. Maybe recruiting international could be an option. Just my thoughts..
26. Mahalo nui loa, Cindy, for your remarks. Shoji not only doesn’t get the top recruits, but he makes what he gets into great players. But the best thing he does is help each Wahine become better human beings. The Wahine can be proud to have come out of Dave’s program. I think UH is lucky to have him for as long as he is willing to coach. Mahalo nui loa, Dave, for all that you do for each Wahine.
Hook em all the way baby!!!!!
Hosanna. Do you actually realize how ridiculous you sound. Get rid of Shoji, the coach with all-time leading number of wins? He’s a legend. Getting a new coach is a crap shoot. No top coach will leave his or her program to come to Hawaii. So Hawaii would have to choose a coach at a lesser school with a good record or an assistant from a top school. Absolutely no guarantee of success. With Shoji you know you’ll get at least a top twenty five team in the AVCA rankings. With Shoji gone, the new coach will be FORTUNATE to be at the level of the top teams in the WCC or Big West.
all of the final 8 teams have very tall middle blockers and hitters. shoji for some reason like shorter players who simply cannot compete with the larger players, or maybe he is unable to recruit them. when he does land a tall recruit, they are not the better ones, but those who need to be developed. cannot win with short players and mediocre tall players; he may have won in the past with short players but today, the taller players rule. hence, Hawaii will never get back to the final four until taller and more athletic players are recruited.
Shoji has done a great job with the material he has had; the women’s game has improved exponentially in the last 10 years . He can’t get the best recruits most of the time and it will get harder because other programs have done better in recent years and they will attract the best players.
As for tactics and coaching I don’t know if the players didn’t execute or some of the offense,
blocking or lack of and predictability could have been remedied with more creative coaching or better fundamentals. Maybe a little of both.
I do know Shoji really overshot the mark when he said earlier in the season that this team could go all the way.
The talent level on the other teams this year in the finals and even semis far outstrips his.
Maybe it was wishful thinking.
.34
Wisconsin is in the final four with a 5′ 7 starting outside hitter!
and Wisconsin starts a barely 6 foot middle as well. and 6 foot opposite.
Wisconsin wouldn’t have made it to the Final Four if it was sent to the same bracket as Penn State. Wisconsin simply got a lucky draw, but Longhorns will crush the Badgers just as they did to the Cornhuskers.
I also agree that Hawaii was spared an even more humiliating defeat against the highly talented Trojans. I have no regrets there.
Ok then uw beat usc with a 5’8 outside hitter too.
38. and how many times did Penn State get to the final four via a cakewalk. Wisconsin’s draw wasn’t at tough at UH’s for sure.
as for UH-USC … don’t get it. UH beat USC at USC two years in a row, lost in 5 to USC in Hawaii
You don’t know what the outcome would have been had the Wahine faced the Women of Troy.
It’s why they play the game.
34. UH’s middles were 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. starting hitters were 6-3, 6-2, 6-0
shoji and the tradition he’s built at hawaii have been the DRAW to get what quality recruits they’ve been able to get. hawaii still gets good recruits, probably at the same pace they’ve always done. maybe 1 or 2 stud players, surrounded by great role players. that’s been the norm for shoji and his teams. i think that still holds up today.
the problem is that hawaii can’t do what teams like penn st, texas, stanford, and usc (etc.) are doing. putting together these ridiculous recruiting classes. they’re not just recruiting 1-2 stud players, they’re putting together an entire recruiting class of stud players, and doing it every 2-3 recruiting cycles. that’s multiple top 10 recruits in a given year. these teams have top 10 recruits riding the bench in some cases. that would never happen at hawaii!
the other problem is that if shoji (with his reputation and tradition) can’t put together these kinds of recruiting classes, in order to compete with these teams … then i would think a successor (with less of a reputation or draw for recruit) would be hard-pressed to do so. maybe i’ll be proven wrong when that time comes (and i hope i am). new blood could re-invigorate recruiting, but it’d be a huge challenge for whoever takes over the reins.
@Cindy: Shoji still has what it takes but his assistants will have to buckle down. Now-days the assistants do most of the heavy lifting, which recently was found wanting (absence of a consistent middle attack in 5 losses, ineffective blocking schemes against Santa Barbara, UCUN, and BYU, predictable setting to the outside hitters, etc.) The talent is there and next year Hawaii will again win the conference and go to the NCAA tournament. Notably Taylor Higgins has the potential to be another Kanoe Kamana’o (recall 2004 when Kanoe took 5 newbies with her to a 30-0 regular season record).
GO BOWS! GO WAHINE!
If you ever came to practice, you would know how involved dave is physically with the team. and that it isn’t the assistants doing all of the heavy lifting.
as for the absence of a consistent middle attack, a lot if predicated on the passing.
they ended up splitting their series with CSUN and UCSB so that’s a wash. And the Wahine beat them the second time they played, so it means the right adjustments were made.
as for 04, i guess you could call them newbies. HIttle and sanders were freshmen, Prince a junior transfer. but Boogard had been in the program and contributed before, as did Watanabe and Arnott.
36. UW has a 5-8 starting outside hitter…I think UW will need more than Vansant to beat Penn State…Nittany Lions are good all the way around & McClendon has been pretty much unstoppable this season…