Wahine Ousted in Volleyball Thriller to USC

By Fred Guzman

The Rainbow Wahine are not going to San Antonio.  Even a sold-out crowd at the 10,300-seat Stan Sheriff Center couldn’t push Hawaii over the top.  Instead, UH suffered a five-set loss to USC by scores of 19-25, 29-27, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12.

USC went on to beat Pepperdie, also in five sets, in Saturday’s regional finale to reach this week’s Final Four.  The Trojans will face Illinois in one semifinal while UCLA will tangle with Florida State in the other.

Hawaii’s loss to USC ended ended its season a 31-2 despite the considerable efforts of freshman Jane Croson and senior All-American Kanani Danielson.  Croson  posted her third double-double of the postseason with career-highs of 25 kills, 23 digs.  Danielson had 21 kills and 23 digs. Brittany Hewitt recorded a match-high 11 blocks..

UH HOOPS:  A familiar name from football helped Hawaii post a home victory in basketball on Sunday.

Miah Ostrowski, the football slot back turned basketball point guard, helped the Bows shoot a seson-best 56.3% from the field in a 74-61 victory over UC Davis.

UH made up a five-point halftime deficit to improve its overall record to 3-4 with a 14-0 run in the final 10 minutes.   UC Davis fell to 1-8.

UH coach Gib Arnold shook things up coming off road losses at Pepperdine and Pacific, benching his top two players, senior guard Zane Johnson and junior center Vander Joaquim.  Both responded well to the move. Johnson scored 19 points. Joaquim had 16 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Arnold also installed the 5-foot-9 Ostrowski in he starting lineup in place of the freshman Shaquille Stokes, although he participated in only four practice sessions since his football duties ended.  Ostrowski did an excellent job of running the offense, registering eight assists in 24 minutes while chipping in with a couple of points.

This week, UH plays Hawaii-Hilo in Kona on Friday and North Carolina A&T in Wailuku’s War Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday.