Monday, April 6, 1998
’Bows at home
with success
The UH men's volleyball team
By Cindy Luis
will host a first-round MPSF
Tournament match
Star-BulletinLet everyone else sweat out the last nine days of competition. The University of Hawaii men's volleyball team knows exactly where it stands: No. 1 in the Pacific Division.
Saturday night's 15-10, 15-7, 15-11 sweep of fourth-ranked Brigham Young gave the fifth-ranked Rainbows the Pacific Division title as well as the top seed in the division, heading into next week's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.
Hawaii coach Mike Wilton has spoken all season of the "Big Three" as national title contenders: BYU, UCLA and Pepperdine. It took 25 matches, but Wilton now thinks of it as the "Big Four" . . . with the addition of his Rainbows.
"For sure, we're in that group," Wilton said after Hawaii notched its fourth 20-win season in the 20-year history of the program. "You might be able to include Ohio State in there after they beat Pepperdine. But they lost to Stanford, too. Who knows?"
The only thing for sure is Hawaii will be at home April 18 for a first-round tournament match against an at-large team -- Southern Cal, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount or UC Irvine. UH (20-5 overall, 14-3 MPSF) concludes the regular season vs. Pacific (9-16, 4-13) Friday and Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The top three teams from each division and the two teams with the next-best league records advance to the tournament.
Should Long Beach State win its last three matches, it would tie Stanford for second place in the Pacific and win the tiebreaker, sending Stanford on the road. Pepperdine and UCLA should finish 1-2 in the Mountain Division, with their match Friday deciding the division title.
BYU, the preseason No. 1 pick, is headed on the road as the Mountain's No. 3 team, and will play at the Pacific runner-up -- Stanford or Long Beach State. The Cougars lost to Stanford last week and beat Long Beach State earlier in the season.
"We're figuring on playing at Stanford," said BYU coach Carl McGown, whose team lost in straight sets for only the third time Saturday. "We played really poorly against them, and sure, we'd like to play them again.
"As for the MPSF (final four), it would be nice if we were in there. I think Hawaii, UCLA and Pepperdine will be. And Hawaii can for sure win it. We've seen everybody play, and Mike's team is as good as anyone we've seen."
UH dominated BYU for most of the 1-hour, 53 minute-match Saturday. BYU freshman Shane Van Beest, 14th nationally in hitting percentage (.422), hit negative .154 and didn't play in Game 3.
Only All-American Ryan Millar was close to his kill average, finishing with a team-high 15. UH held BYU to its lowest offensive point total (28 points) and hitting percentage (.197) of the season.
Defense again was the Rainbows' strength. They out-dug the Cougars, 61-44. Three UH players were in double-dig figures: Naveh Milo (14), Chris Kosty (14) and Mason Kuo (11) to go along with four players in double-kill figures, led by Jason Salmeri's 21.
The highest seed remaining after the first round will host the MPSF final four. Barring an upset, it will go to the Mountain champion -- Pepperdine or UCLA. Each has the edge in the tiebreaker to host over Hawaii.
No. 5 Hawaii dominated No. 4 Brigham Young Saturday night: Cougar tamers
Hit and miss BYU was held to its lowest hitting percentage (.197) of the season, and Shane Van Beest, 14th nationally in hitting percentage (.422), hit negative .154.
MPSF
Conference Year W-L Pct. GB W-L xy-Hawaii 14-3 .824 -- 20-5 x-Stanford 13-6 .684 2 14-7 x-L.B. St. 10-6 .625 3-1/2 18-6 USC 6-10 .375 7-1/2 11-12 SDSU 4-12 .250 9-1/2 7-15 Pacific 4-13 .235 10 9-16
Conference Year W-L Pct. GB W-L x-UCLA 14-2 .875 -- 21-3 x-Pepprdn 14-2 .875 -- 17-3 x-BYU 12-5 .706 2-1/2 14-5 UCSB 7-9 .438 7 9-10 Loy. Mymt 7-9 .438 7 7-10 UC Irvine 5-10 .333 8-1/2 9-11 Northridge 5-12 .263 9-1/2 9-13x-clinched MPSF Tournment berthy-clinched division title
Loyola Marymount at UCLA
Pepperdine at UC Irvine
Southern Cal at San Diego State
UC Santa Barbara at BYU
Loyola Marymount at UC Irvine
Long Beach State at San Diego State
Southern Cal at UC San Diego
Pacific at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Sheriff Center
UC Santa Barbara at BYU
Peppderine at UCLA
Long Beach State at UC San Diego
Pacific at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Sheriff Center
CSU Northridge at UC Irvine
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
