The Special Events Arena is sold out for the Friday-Saturday event that promises to be tougher than next week's Final Four in Los Angeles. No. 8 Penn State and 11th-ranked Lewis have already qualified for the May 2 and 4 championship at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion; joining them will be this week's winner and, most likely, the runner-up.
"I think there will be some fabulous men's volleyball this week," said Hawaii coach Mike Wilton, whose team faces UC Santa Barbara in the MPSF semifinals for the second year in a row. "This tournament could be tougher than the Final Four."
Hawaii gave its fans some anxious moments Saturday night before eliminating Pepperdine, 15-6, 15-13, 15-10, after two hours. Yuval Katz put down 39 kills in taking control of the match.
The Rainbows (26-1) next take on the Gauchos (17-7), who needed two hours and four minutes to defeat Stanford Saturday, 10-15, 15-8, 15-13, 15-6.
Friday's other semifinal features defending national champion UCLA (22-5) and Cal State Northridge (16-11). The Bruins dispatched Pacific in 71 minutes, 15-4, 15-13, 15-2, while the surprising Matadors eliminated second-ranked Long Beach State, 15-9, 4-15, 15-8, 15-5.
"We feel that UCLA definitely has had an easier road to the finals than we have," said Rainbow assistant coach Tino Reyes. "We know that we've got to be prepared for a better Santa Barbara team than the one we saw (Feb. 10). When we played them at their place, everything was working for us. We know they've been playing better, that they beat UCLA twice this season."
Hawaii has also defeated UCLA two out of three times this year and would like nothing better than to avenge the season's only loss in Saturday's 7:30 p.m. final. The Rainbows, however, are not going to be looking past UC Santa Barbara.
"We know we can't overlook Santa Barbara," said Hawaii sophomore block Rick Tune, who came off the bench Saturday for seven kills and four blocks. "They're going to be wanting a payback for the last time."
"We saw Santa Barbara early and I don't think they were ready for us," said Rainbow senior setter Erik Pichel. "They're a good team. I'm glad we got the kind of challenge from Pepperdine to help us get ready for this week.
"There's so much hype about UCLA but you can't overlook Santa Barbara or Northridge."
A loss Friday would probably end Hawaii's season, although an outside chance would remain for an at-large berth. The key would then be how UCLA, the Final Four host, fares this week.
"If Hawaii and UCLA don't win, it would be interesting how the (at-large) berth would go," said Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy. "There is criteria for the decision, things such as strength of schedule, head-to-head, record within the conference. If there was gambling in this state vxxx
"But my guess it will be settled on the court, not by the committee."
The at-large selection committee is comprised of three members, one from each of the three regions. In 1994, the committee passed up on No. 2 Stanford in favor of IUPU-Ft. Wayne, which was the host school.
"We don't want to leave it to chance, put it in the hands of the committee," said Reyes. "Our focus is on the Santa Barbara match and then we'll take it from there."
Friday's first semifinal is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The Hawaii coaching staff would like to play the first match, giving the Rainbows players - should they win - longer recovery time before Saturday's final. The second semifinal is set for 30 minutes after the completion of the first.
"It's not so much having to wait around (for the second match to start)," said Reyes. "It's the potential of maybe not getting out of the arena until after midnight if both matches go long. It's a question of our not having 24 hours of recovery time before having to play again."