Thursday, April 9, 1998
Rainbows won’t
coast for Pacific
The UH volleyball team has
By Cindy Luis
clinched its division but doesn't
want let up now
Star-BulletinTime is a funny commodity. It can be a friend or a foe.
Just when the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team seemingly was running out of time to pull together its season, the Rainbows found an ally. The more time they spent on the court together, the better they got.
So good, in fact, that fourth-ranked Hawaii clinched the division title with two matches remaining. Not that the Rainbows are going to relax against Pacific this Friday and Saturday, but they can use the two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contests to fine-tune their offense instead of worrying about where they finish in the standings.
"Still our main concern is UOP," said Rainbow coach Mike Wilton, whose team meets the Tigers twice at the Stan Sheriff Center to finish the regular season. "They're a dangerous team. They beat Irvine and went five with Long Beach State.
"They've got some guys who can do some damage. We're expecting tough matches."
The Rainbows had also expected tough matches with their last four opponents, but they have been so dominating that they've won their last five outings in straight sets. Down went current No. 1 UCLA, defending national champion Stanford, UC Irvine and preseason favorite Brigham Young.
The Rainbows can look back to a March 20 loss to UCLA as the turning point. Junior Chris Kosty replaced an ailing Jorge Alifonso (mononucleosis) in the lineup and replaced freshman middle Dejan Miladinovic as Hawaii's secondary passer.
"Kosty took advantage of the situation and, that first night against UCLA, he came in to pass," Wilton said. "We get a lot better with him in there and made a match out of it (losing in four). The second night, we beat UCLA and said, 'Let's explore this some more.' We've grown and developed from there."
Some of that development took place 13 matches ago when junior Mason Kuo and senior Jason Salmeri became permanent fixtures in the starting lineup at setter and opposite, respectively. The Rainbows have gone 10-3 since then as they continue to drive to be playing for the national championship at the Sheriff Center four weeks from now.
Pacific is not going to qualify for postseason play but the Tigers can damage Hawaii's confidence with a win this week. UOP is on a three-game skid but took No. 7 Long Beach State -- a team that beat Hawaii in February -- to five games Saturday.
The Tigers actually were ahead of the 49ers, winning two of the first three games before dropping the last two. UOP also has a win over Ball State and went five with Penn State, losing after having a 2-1 lead.
Running the Tiger offense is former Rainbow Dan Fisher, who is playing for his third team in three years. Fisher transfered to Cal State Northridge and, when the Matadors were going to drop the program, transfered to Pacific.
Sophomore blocker Darrell Dilmore leads the Tigers in hitting percentage (.389) and blocks (1.54 bpg) and is second in kills (203). He had 17 kills and 13 block assists in Saturday's loss to Long Beach State.
Freshman hitter Tim Jenson has 216 kills and 108 digs to lead UOP.
"UOP is certainly no one one to look past," said Wilton. "It's also a big weekend for our seniors (Sivan Leoni, Naveh Milo and Jason Salmeri). I'm hoping for big crowds because I like to see people appreciating these guys and giving them a good sendoff."
NOTES: Hawaii's first-round MPSF Tournament match will be April 18 against a still-to-be-determined opponent. Tickets go on sale April 16 at the center box office. Prices are $4-$10 . . . Freshman hitter Jorge Alifonso has been cleared to begin practice after missing nearly a month with mononucleosis.
MPSF
Pacific Division
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. xy-Hawaii 14 3 .824 -- 20 5 .800 x-Stanford 12 6 .667 2-1/2 13 7 .650 x-Long Beach 10 6 .625 3-1/2 18 6 .750 Southern Cal 6 11 .353 7-1/2 10 13 .434 San Diego St. 5 12 .294 9 8 15 .348 Pacific 4 13 .235 10 9 16 .360 UC San Diego 0 16 .000 13-1/2 3 17 .150
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. x-UCLA 15 2 .875 -- 22 3 .857 x-Pepperdine 15 2 .857 -- 18 3 .860 x-BYU 12 5 .706 3 14 5 .737 Santa Barbara 7 9 .438 7-1/2 9 10 .474 Loy.Marymount 7 10 .412 8 7 11 .389 UC Irvine 5 11 .313 9-1/2 9 12 .429 Northridge 5 12 .263 10 9 13 .409x-clinched MPSF Tournament berthy-clinched division title
San Diego State def. Southern Cal, 17-15, 9-15, 11-15, 15-10, 15-11
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
Pepperdine at UCLA
UC Santa Barbara at BYU
Long Beach State at UC San Diego
UH Volleyball
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
