Lincoln - Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku recorded 25 kills apiece, as sixth-seeded Hawaii ended Nebraska?s 63-match home winning streak and advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the seventh time in school history with a 30-25, 25-30, 30-27, 30-21 victory in front of 4,357 at the NU Coliseum Saturday evening.

Hawaii, who improved to 34-1 on the season, will play Stanford (32-4) in one national semifinal in New Orleans, while Florida (34-2) will meet top-seeded Southern California (29-1) in the Thursday?s other semifinal in New Orleans.

Nebraska, the tournament?s No. 3 seed, finished its season with a 31-2 record and saw its 29-match winning streak come to an end. The setback was NU?s first loss at home since a 3-2 setback to Kansas State on Sept. 22, 1999. It was also just Nebraska?s second loss in 39 postseason matches at the NU Coliseum, as the Huskers failed in their bid to reach the final four for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.

Willoughby, a native of Napoleonville, La., was selected as the regional?s most outstanding player, as Nebraska and Hawaii swept all six spots on the All-Regional team. Kahumoku and Laura Duggins were joined by Nebraska?s senior trio of Laura Pilakowski, Amber Holmquist and Greichaly Cepero.

Holmquist and Pilakowski shared team-high honors with 17 kills apiece, while Cepero finished with 46 assists and 15 digs in her final home match, as Nebraska just .203, its lowest team total since Sept. 7.

Behind the outside hitters, who combined for 50 of the Rainbow Wahine?s 73 kills, as Hawaii, which had lost two straight to NU, including a loss in the 2000 national semifinals, hit .240 as a team and became only the second team to hit above .200 all season against Nebraska.

The teams went back and forth early on, as the first game saw six ties, before Hawaii pulled away late for a 30-25 win in game one, handing the Huskers their game loss at home in 2002. Kahumoku and Willoughby did most of the damage for the visitors, combining for 15 kills in the opening game. NU tied the score for the final time at 14-all before UH came back to score a pair of points, including a kill by Duggins, who had 10 kills in the match, to take a 16-14 advantage. After a Willoughby kill put Hawaii up 19-16 and forced a Husker timeout, Nebraska could not get closer the rest of the way before Willoughby?s seventh kill of the match ended game one.

The Huskers evened the match in game two with a hard-fought 30-25 victory. NU got a big performance from junior Anna Shrad, who had five of her 10 kills the second game. The Huskers used a 5-2 run to extend a one-point lead to 14-10. Hawaii closed to within 26-23 on a Kahumoku ace, but a kill by Schrad and a block by Cepero and Holmquist gave NU a 28-23 advantage. Pilakowski?s fifth kill of the match ended game two, sending the teams to the lockerroom deadlocked at 1-1.

In game three, the Huskers continue to build on the momentum from game two, taking an 8-4 lead to force a Hawaii timeout. The Rainbows clawed back into the match and tied the game at 13-all after a pair of Willoughby kills forced NU to take a timeout. The lead would swing back and forth, as the teams were tied five times, the last being at 24-all before Kahumoku took over. The 6-foot-2 left side hitter scored the Rainbows? final five points, as her eight kill of the game on set point gave the visitors 30-27 win.

In game four, the Huskers trailed 7-5 before running off four straight points, capped by Pilakowski?s ace, NU?s only ace of the match, to take a 9-7 lead. The advantage would be short-lived as Hawaii quickly scored the next two points to tie the match. At 10-all, NU committed a pair of costly errors before Willoughby pounded three straight kills to give UH a 15-10 lead. NU got to within 20-16 on a kill by Melissa Elmer, but Hawaii quickly extended the lead to 24-17, and cruised to the 30-21 win to punch its ticket to New Orleans.

All-Central Regional Team
Kim Willoughby, Hawaii (Most Outstanding Player)
Lily Kahumoku, Hawaii
Lauren Duggins, Hawaii
Laura Pilakowski, Nebraska
Greichaly Cepero, Nebraska
Amber Holmquist, Nebraska

HAWAII vs #4 Nebraska (Dec 14, 2002)

• Box Score

Volleyball Box Score

                              Volleyball Box Score
                            2000 Nebraska Volleyball
           HAWAII vs #4 Nebraska (Dec 14, 2002 at Lincoln, Nebraska)



   HAWAII                 |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  Vakasausau, Margaret  4|  0   0   0  .000| 32|  0   1|  0| 10| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
3  Willoughby, Kim.....  4| 25  14  64  .172|  0|  0   4|  0| 13| 0  1  1|  0|  25.5
5  Tano, Nohea.........  3|  5   1   9  .444|  1|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0|   5.0
9  Kahumoku, Lily......  4| 25   6  68  .279|  1|  1   0|  0| 16| 0  0  0|  0|  26.0
12 Gustin, Maja........  4|  5   3  19  .105|  0|  0   4|  0|  4| 0  3  2|  0|   6.5
14 Duggins, Lauren.....  4| 10   1  21  .429|  1|  0   1|  0|  7| 0  3  2|  0|  11.5
2  Boogaard, Susie.....  3|  1   0   5  .200|  2|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  1  0|  0|   1.5
4  Carey, Jennifer.....  4|  2   1  10  .100| 28|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0|   4.0
7  Ilustre, Hedder.....  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   1|  0| 18| 0  0  0|  0|   1.0
15 Villaroman, Melissa.  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  1| 19| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 73  26 196  .240| 67|  2  12|  1| 91| 0 12  5|  0|  81.0

 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  24  8  55  .291   GAME SCORES           1  2  3  4  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  8  52  .135   HAWAII.............. 30 25 30 30  34-1
   3  18  4  47  .298   #4 Nebraska......... 25 30 27 21  31-2
   4  16  6  42  .238

   #4 Nebraska            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  Cepero, Greichaly...  4|  4   1  14  .214| 46|  0   2|  0| 15| 2  1  0|  0|   6.5
3  Holmquist, Amber....  4| 17   7  36  .278|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  4  1|  0|  19.0
8  Elmer, Melissa......  4|  7   6  26  .038|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  3  1|  0|   8.5
9  Pilakowski, Laura...  4| 17   4  50  .260|  1|  1   4|  0|  9| 0  1  0|  0|  18.5
16 Schrad, Anna........  4| 10   5  36  .139|  1|  0   3|  0| 15| 1  3  2|  0|  12.5
26 Saleaumua, Jennifer.  4|  9   2  27  .259|  4|  0   3|  0| 12| 0  2  2|  0|  10.0
2  Lynch, Michelle.....  4|  0   0   1  .000|  1|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
5  Wischmeier, Lindsay.  4|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2| 21| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
6  Dowling, Jenae......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
13 Rebholz, Ally.......  1|  0   0   2  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  4| 64  25 192  .203| 56|  1  13|  2| 77| 3 14  6|  0|  75.0

 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  5  51  .157   Site: Lincoln, Nebraska (NU Coliseum)
   2  17  4  46  .283   Date: Dec 14, 2002   Attend: 4357   Time: 2:10
   3  21  7  53  .264   Referees: Michael Blalock, Mary Blalock
   4  13  9  42  .095