#2 Hawai`i vs. Samorodok (Russia) Exhibition
Woozie
Attendance: 4,065
The Samorodok club team arrived in Hawai‘i to play a pair of exhibition matches
against Hawaii's two top teams – the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine (NCAA
Div. I #2) and the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders (NCAA Div. II #2). Samorodok came to
Hawaii from Khabarovsk in Eastern Russia. The team's name means Nugget and is
owned by the Russian gold mining company Amur. The team competes in Russia's
second strongest professional league, the Russian High League. The team has
only played two years so they should be spectacular on their next visit if they
choose to return. Note that the attendance figure should be very close to the
turnstile count since this match was not included in the UH season ticket
package. The match was not televised in Hawaii, but was filmed by the KFVE crew
for delayed broadcast in Russia (makes you wish you had a friend at KFVE or in
Khabarovsk). Hopefully, if the Wahine play in Russia at some future date, a
television crew in Khabarovsk will return the favor and send video back to
Hawaii. I apologize in advance for any misspelled names since no rosters were
given out.
Hawai‘i d. Samorodok 3-1
31-29, 30-21, 28-30, 30-26
The match was a bruiser and very close except for G2. This was UH's best
blocking performance of the young season with the Rainbow Wahine matching
Samorodok in blocks – both teams had about 15 blocks. The blocking was a
surprise since UH's top blocker, Maja Gustin, remains on the bench indefinitely
with a stress fracture to her foot. After a slow start, Lundqvist did a good
job at the net and ended up with 8 blocks. While UH had an edge in the digging
department, both teams made some spectacular saves. UH's biggest advantage was
in serving – out-acing Samorodok 9-4. UH was also blessed by stellar
performances from both of its vaunted left-side hitters: Kim Willoughby and Lily
Kahumoku. Otherwise, the teams were very evenly matched. Samorodok's setter
was a delight to watch. Her sets were simply beautiful and she ran a very
balanced attack.
G1: After a quick 3-0 run by UH on Willoughby's serve, Samorodok caught up and
passed UH. UH trailed by as many as 8 points at 10-18. The Wahine fought back
by scoring natural points on serves by Vakasausau (2) and Willoughby (3
including 2 aces) to regain the lead at 23-22. Samorodok stormed back and broke
a 26-26 tie on Vasyukovich's serve to take a 28-26 lead. Samorodok had 2 game
points at 27-29, but failed to convert. Vakasausau served out G1 which ended on
a net violation by Samorodok. UH was out-blocked 4-2, outhit .244 to .216, but
out-dug Samorodok 22-18 and out-aced them 4-3. UH was led by Willoughby 10K and
Kahumoku 8K. Samorodok was led by Ivankova 1B/6K and team captain Svinolobova
1B/4K.
G2: Close in the beginning, but UH took the lead for good at 9-9. Better
blocking and serving gave UH the extra natural points needed to win G2.
Kahumoku served game point and Willoughby put it down. UH was led by Willoughby
1B/5K, Kahumoku 4K and Lundqvist 3B. Samorodok was led by Vasyukovich 2B/4K.
G3: A bruiser of a game. Samorodok finally broke a 17-17 tie to take lead for
good on Svinolobova's serve to make 19-17. UH could not catch up. A UH kill
attempt went into the double block of Koulikova and Ivankova to end G3. The
stats for G3 were so even it's hard to believe one side won. UH barely outhit
Samorodok .214 to .212, out-blocked them 4-3, matched them in aces with 1 each,
but was out-dug 18-17. UH also had one more service error than Samorodok (4 vs.
3). Samorodok was led by Koulivoka 1B/7K, Ivankova 2B/4K and Svinolobova 4K.
UH was led by Kahumoku 6K and Willoughby 4K.
G4: Another see-saw battle. UH took the lead at 14-14 and held on until
Samorodok clawed back to a 23-23 tie and briefly took the lead at 25-24. UH
sided out and scored 2 natural points on Duggins' serve to regain the lead and
held on to win. Ilustre served match point and Kahumoku put it away. UH was
led by Kahumoku 1B/8K and Willoughby 6K. Samorodok was led by Koulikova and
Svinolobova with 1B/4K each.
Kill Leaders:
Samorodok:
Koulikova 7B/15K
Ivankova 4B/15K
Svinolobova 2B/12K
Vasyukovich 4B/10K
Pugounova 4B/9K
Hawai‘i:
Kahumoku 1B/26K
Willoughby 1B/25K
Duggins 6B/8K
Lundqvist 8B/4K
According to the Honolulu Advertiser, Samorodok is scheduled to take on
BYU-Hawaii tomorrow night (9/19) at the Cannon Activities Center in Laie at 7:00
pm.
\\/oozie
Forever Rainbows!
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
Home of the Rainbow Wahine and Rainbow Warriors