Long Beach, Hawaii Advance to Northwest Final

Kee Williams has had the Cal State Long Beach women’s volleyball team on her mind since the 49ers won back-to-back matches at the University of Hawaii nearly three months ago.

“Pay back,” said Williams, a sophomore middle blocker from Bellflower High. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

Williams and her Wahine teammates will get their chance tonight at 7:30 at University of the Pacific in the NCAA Northwest regional final.

No. 3 Hawaii shut out No. 4 Pacific, 3-0, and No. 2 Long Beach struggled but defeated No. 10 UC Santa Barbara, 3-1, to advance to tonight’s final.

Long Beach has eliminated Hawaii from the NCAA playoffs the past two seasons. The Wahines have made it known that they want another shot at the Big West Conference champions, whose only loss this season was to Pacific.

“We have gauged our entire season on playing Long Beach again,” Hawaii Coach Dave Shoji said. “I felt they were way ahead of us the first two times we played. . . . We’ll see how far we have come.”

With 6-foot-3 junior outside hitter Alicia Mills on the bench because of a sprained right ankle, Long Beach (34-1) was not sharp offensively in its 15-10, 7-15, 16-14, 15-10 victory over Santa Barbara.

The 49ers fell behind, 5-1, in the first game, then outscored the Gauchos, 9-0. In the second game, Santa Barbara blocked several spikes and repeatedly found a weakness by going to the Long Beach middle.

Setter Sabrina Hernandez began the third game with a service error and the 49ers fell behind, 3-0. But an 11-3 run, spurred by a finesse shot from All-American outside hitter Antoinnette White put the 49ers ahead, 11-6.

The 49ers won the fourth game with some exceptional digs and key blocks.

“Without Mills, we were out of sync tonight,” 49er Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “I’m very concerned about Hawaii.”

Hawaii, which won, 16-14, 15-13, 15-10, seems to play its best volleyball when in tough situations.

Against Pacific, the Wahines trailed, 10-4, in the first game and 8-1 in the second, but won both, thanks, in part, to several key hits by Williams, who led all hitters with 15 kills.

In the third game, Hawaii gained a 10-3 lead and appeared headed to an easy victory.

But the Tigers rallied and trailed by 11-9 when Charlotte Johansson and Katy Eldridge successfully blocked a Hawaii hit. Hawaii closed the match when Pacific committed three unforced errors.