Dec. 13, 2009

By Michelle Smith
Special to NCAA.com

STANFORD, Calif. -- Amber Kaufman had one last chance to play in front of family and friends, and she wanted to make the most of it.

Hawaii’s senior middle blocker left Friday night’s regional semifinal in the first set after aggravating a strained abdomen that has been causing her trouble for the last month.

But Saturday, in the regional final at Stanford, down the road from her hometown in San Jose, Kaufman was back.

And she was big. The 6-foot Kaufman had eight kills for an impressive .636 hitting percentage and helped lead the 12th-seeded Rainbow Wahine to a three-set win over No. 13 seed Michigan.

Hawaii reached its first Final Four since 2003, moving on to play unbeaten Penn State in the national semifinals Thursday night in Tampa, Fla. That means more time on the mainland. But Kaufman played in California for the last time. The biggest news of the night was that she played.

In addition to her kills, Kaufman had three digs, one service ace and assists on two blocks, and she served out the match for the final two points.

“It was definitely a game-time decision,” Kaufman said. “I just got a nice little tape job and tried to grit it out. It worked, so I’m pretty excited about that.”

Kaufman is Hawaii’s second-leading hitter, behind sophomore Kanani Danielson. Kaufman was a first-team all-conference selection and ranks third in the nation in hitting percentage at .477. The Wahine felt her absence in the middle Friday night against Illinois, though sophomore Alexis Forsythe filled in ably.

“I was very happy to see that she was ready to go at game time,” Danielson said. “She’s been working so hard to get back after she wasn’t feeling too good. Having her presence on the court just lifted us up, knowing that we have that quick, springy, jumpy Amber back.”

Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said he left the decision about whether to play up to Kaufman, who had pulled herself out of Friday’s match after feeling a pain she described as a shock.

“I told Amber if she felt like she could go, she had to tell me,” Shoji said. “I wasn’t going to make that call. She didn’t practice at pregame, she didn’t take very many swings, she didn’t serve in the pre-match warmup. I was a little nervous because she wasn’t doing much in warmups.”

But when Shoji went to Kaufman before the game, he got a thumbs-up.

“She told me she wanted to go and could go, and I wrote No. 2 in the lineup,” Shoji said.

Kaufman said she wanted to play for the large rooting section that came to watch her. Earlier this season, playing at San Jose State, Kaufman collected 11 kills on 13 swings. She wanted one more chance to shine.

“It was a pretty good group that came out, and I definitely wanted to play,” Kaufman said. “A lot of people came to support our team.”

Being her senior year and all, sitting out was not an option.

“I always have said I would have to have a hernia or something for me to not play,” Kaufman said. “I think it would have taken more today to take me out. I don’t think the rest helped me. I’m not big on rest.”