Monday, April 13, 1998
Senior aces again
serve Rainbows well
Jason Salmeri, Naveh Milo
By Cindy Luis
and Sivan Leoni have Hawaii primed
for the MPSF tourney
Star-BulletinIt was about as perfect as one could get for Senior Night.
One senior got match-high kill honors, another got the match-ending kill and a third tied an amazing record with his 100th career ace.
There is little doubt that Jason Salmeri, Naveh Milo and Sivan Leoni had a huge hand in Hawaii's 15-2, 15-5, 15-8 victory over Pacific in Saturday night's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season finale.
The real question is who will tell All-American Yuval Katz, now playing professionally in Europe, that Leoni tied him as the Rainbows' career ace leader?
"I'll tell him," said Milo, who is one ace shy of sharing the 100-ace mark with Katz and Leoni. "I told him earlier we were almost there.
"You've got to give Yuvi credit. He made it in two years, so it's obvious who has the real record. I wasn't trying for an ace. I just didn't want them to set up for a quick kill. The real value of a good serve is causing damage to the other team's passing. I maybe did some damage."
The Tigers (9-18 overall, 4-15 MPSF) will have an entire season to repair the holes the Rainbows ripped through their defense and confidence during the two-match series.
Hawaii (22-5, 16-3) hopes its torrid play continues into the MPSF Tournament. The Rainbows will host UC Santa Barbara or Loyola Marymount -- teams they beat on the road in early February -- Saturday in the first round at the Stan Sheriff Center. Their opponent will be determined after tomorrow's final night of regular-season action.
Only half of the teams know their fates: Hawaii, UCLA and Pepperdine will be at home and BYU will travel to Long Beach State or Stanford. Still to be determined are the Pacific Division runner-up (Stanford or Long Beach State), the Pacific No. 3 team (Stanford or Long Beach State) and the two at-large teams (Loyola Marymount, UC Santa Barbara or Southern Cal).
"It doesn't matter who we play," UH coach Mike Wilton said after 7,000 fans watched Hawaii notch its seventh straight-set victory. "It's the playoffs and we'll take on who's ever out there.
"What's nice is we'll take some time off and have some time to prepare for Saturday. Certainly, no one will be tired after playing this weekend."
It took just 84 minutes for the Rainbows to begin their pau hana celebration Saturday night. Senior Night festivities lasted longer than the match with the lei-bedecked seniors joining their teammates for a lengthy autograph session.
It was fitting that Pacific senior Dan Fisher played his last college match at the Stan Sheriff Center. Fisher began his career at Hawaii and was part of the 1995 freshman class that included Leoni and Katz.
"I'm really glad I was here for this," said Fisher, who transferred and played at Cal State Northridge last season then transferred again when the Matadors announced they were dropping the sport. "They're a completely different team than when I was here. There will never be another Yuval, but this team has more options, and their middles (Andre Breuer and Dejan Milodinovic) are very good.
"I think they've got a definite chance at making the final four. The top four teams are real close with UCLA, Pepperdine, BYU and Hawaii all there."
Hawaii is hoping to be here three weeks from now. The Sheriff Center is the site of the NCAA Tournament, April 30 and May 2.
The Rainbows can advance to the NCAA final four for the third time in four years by winning the MPSF Tournament or getting an at-large bid. Barring any first-round upsets, the Rainbows will be at UCLA for the MPSF final four April 25-27.
NOTES: Salmeri led the Rainbows with 14 kills. Milo recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs . . . Tickets for Saturday's first-round tournament match will go on sale Thursday.
MPSF
Pacific Division
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. xy-Hawaii 16 3 .842 -- 22 5 .815 x-Stanford 13 6 .684 3 14 7 .667 x-Long Beach 12 6 .667 3-1/2 20 6 .769 Southern Cal 7 11 .389 8-1/2 11 14 .440 San Diego St. 5 13 .278 10-1/2 9 16 .360 Pacific 4 15 .210 12 9 18 .333 UC San Diego 0 18 .000 15-1/2 3 19 .136
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. xy-UCLA 16 2 .889 -- 23 3 .884 x-Pepperdine 15 3 .833 1 18 4 .818 x-BYU 14 5 .737 2-1/2 16 5 .762 Loy Marymnt 8 10 .444 8 8 11 .421 Santa Barbara 7 11 .389 9 9 12 .428 Northridge 6 12 .333 10 10 13 .434 UC Irvine 5 13 .278 11 9 14 .391x-clinched MPSF Tournament berth
y-clinched division title
Hawaii def. Pacific, 15-2, 15-5, 15-9
CSU Northridge def. UC Irvine, 15-8, 15-8, 15-11
Southern Cal at Long Beach State
Pepperdine at Loyola Marymount
CSU Northridge at UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine at UCLA
UC San Diego at San Diego StateEnd regular season
Saturday's matches
At-Large (Loyola Marymount/UC Santa Barbara) at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Sheriff Center
At-Large (Southern Cal/Loyola Maryount/UC Santa Barbara) at UCLA
BYU) at Pacific 2 (Stanford/Long Beach State)
Pacific 3 (Long Beach State/Stanford) at Pepperdine
MPSF Tournament
First-round matches Saturday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament:
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
