Carey vs. Ross? Time will tell

Tony Altobelli

Two former Newport Harbor High girls volleyball standouts are

leading their teams into the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball

Tournament tonight.

Jennifer Carey, a sophomore setter for the University of Hawaii, and

USC’s freshman outside hitter April Ross have helped guide their teams to

Richmond, Virginia for the national semifinals.

The Wahines (31-1) will take on Nebraska (32-0) in one semifinal,

while the Trojans (29-2) do battle with Wisconsin (32-3) in the other

semifinal.

Both semifinal matches are tonight at the Richmond Coliseum with the

finals to take place on Saturday at the same site.

Last year, Carey became the first freshman setter to start for the

Wahines since 1985 when Melinda Beckenhauer accomplished the same feat.

In the past two seasons, Carey has amassed well over 2,000 assists,

including 1,277 this year, helping Hawaii reach the NCAA championships

for the sixth time in the program’s history.

The Wahines have destroyed the competition, 94-13, in games. Hawaii’s

only loss came at the hands of Long Beach State on Nov. 25, snapping the

Wahines’ 27-match winning streak.

Included in those 27 straight wins was a streak of 36 consecutive

games won and 55 of 56.

Carey, a two-time, All-Western Athletic Conference selection, was

named to the West Regional all-tournament team as the Wahines pulled off

wins over Davidson, Utah, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara.

While Carey is doing the passing at Hawaii, Ross is the spiking queen

for the Trojans.

On a team with only three seniors and three freshman starters, Ross’

all-around play has guided the Trojans to a 29-2 record.

The freshman outside hitter leads the Trojans in kills (383) and is

among the team leaders in digs (316) and blocks (57).

Ross was not only a first-team, All-Pacific-10 selection, but she was

named the Pac-10’s Freshman of the Year.

In addition to her laurels from the Pac-10, Ross was honored on the

All-Pacific Region team as selected by the American Volleyball Coaches

Association. She was also the AVCA’s Freshman of the Year.

The Trojans advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1985

and will look to contend for their fifth national championship and second

NCAA title. They defeated Georgia State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,

Florida and defending national champion Penn State to earn the trip to

Richmond.

In those four matches, the Trojans failed to lose a single game, as

Ross compiled 54 kills on her way to all-tournament honors.

In games, the Trojans hold an 87-17 advantage over the opposition and

have nearly 600 more points.

With both teams so talented and at the same time, extremely young,

this may be the first of many Carey-Ross national title showdowns, should

the Trojans and Wahines each win their semifinal matches.

The last time Carey and Ross played together was two years ago when

Newport Harbor won the first of back-to-back state titles.