The UH men's volleyball team gets ready to take on the competition
like a 900 pound gorilla.

Consider what's playing this weekend at the Special Events Arena. The marquee teams and marquee players in the country.

Next week's Final Four at UCLA will be a poor man's Braveheart, given some of the fierce battles expected to take place Friday and Saturday. Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 are here for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, a sold-out overture that is sure to surpass the May 2-4 NCAA main attraction.

With all due respect to Oscar, here are the nominees for the Empy, the MPSF's berth in the Final Four.

FEAR Hawaii (26-1) has none, but instills plenty of it in its opponents. The top-ranked Rainbows have lost but once, in five, to UCLA in a nonconference match March 2.

The rest of the time, which includes 20 straight-set sweeps, Hawaii has (pick one or all) devastated, destroyed, dismantled the opposition. The Rainbows have won 13 straight, with the only scare coming from Brigham Young when an ailing Yuval Katz had to come off the bench to help beat the Cougars in five.

Katz, snubbed for conference player of the year, is the top choice for NCAA Player of the Year honors. He leads the conference in hitting (.635) and aces, and is first nationally in kill average (7.69).

The Rainbows lead the country in service aces with 205 and outdig opponents 1,034-890. Small but quick, Hawaii runs a complicated offense that fools much bigger blocks.

They have been No. 1 since the preseason poll and have packed their house in record numbers (144,586). The Rainbows will pass the Wahine's college volleyball national attendance mark of 145,006 with tomorrow's sellout as they have already drawn 144,486.

UC Santa Barbara, tomorrow's semifinal opponent, has not defeated Hawaii since 1991, a streak of 14 straight wins. The Gauchos went down fairly quietly on Feb. 5 in Robertson Gym, falling 15-7, 15-13, 15-5.

"They played great, we played horrible," Gaucho coach Kenny Preston said. "We're going to have to play our best match of the year and Hawaii has to be off if we're going to win. They're an awfully good squad."

"We embarrassed Santa Barbara pretty good when we played earlier," said Hawaii coach Mike Wilton. "They've gotten better since we saw them and we expect to be in for a tough match. They've been playing very well lately."

The teams met last year in the MPSF semifinal with Hawaii winning in three. The Rainbows, hoping to get to the final four as the tournament champions, aren't looking past the Gauchos.

PRIMAL FEAR UCLA (22-5) IS men's volleyball, winning 15 titles since the NCAA sanctioned the sport in 1970. The Bruins' reputation alone has been worth a couple of points a game.

Few expected the defending national champs to be as successful this season, having lost four starters from the 33-1 team, including Player of the Year Jeff Nygaard. Holding UCLA together has been

senior setter Stein Metzger, a Punahou product who was named the MPSF Player of the Year last week.

Freshman Fred Robins (Kamehameha) played well enough to earn a starting spot until he sprained his ankle in the straight- set loss at Long Beach State on April 12. Robins has not played since, but is looking to take back the swing-hitter spot that senior Matt Taylor has filled nicely.

Taylor led the team with 13 kills against the Tigers and Paul Nihipali, a first-team MPSF selection, added 12. The taller Bruins dominated the net against UOP with a 17-2 advantage in blocks

UCLA had expected to see Long Beach State in tomorrow's semifinal but is just as happy that the 49ers got knocked out by Cal State Northridge last weekend. If the Bruins advance to Saturday's final, they will face one of the two teams that beat them twice this season: Hawaii or UC Santa Barbara.

Adding to UCLA's pressure to repeat as national champ is the fact that the Final Four is at the Bruins' home. UCLA is 22-0 at Pauley Pavilion when the NCAA title is on the line and the Bruins have eight banners to show for it.

FLIRTING WITH DISASTER UC Santa Barbara (17-7) missed its first flight out of Los Angeles yesterday when a 41/2-hour manhunt for two armed robbers forced the closure of the Ventura Freeway. It was one of the best blocks anyone has put on the Gauchos recently.

UCSB has won its last eight, including a four-game victory at UCLA April 3 that snapped the Bruins' 42-match home winning streak. Last Saturday, junior hitter Donny Harris became the school's all-time kill leader, finishing with 30 kills in the first-round win over Stanford.

"We've been in a good rhythm lately," Preston said. "But we're just not a real fast starting team. We dropped the first game against

Stanford, and both times against UCLA, but came back to win."

The Gauchos' largest home crowd of the year was when the Rainbows came to town. UCSB experienced a sellout crowd during MPSF play last season but not the frenzy that has accompanied Hawaii's success this year.

"We have to stay loose and not give up as many points on their jump serve," said Preston, whose team was tagged for seven aces by the Rainbows. "We're looking forward to the whole atmosphere because, outside of the NCAAs, this is as good as men's volleyball gets."

THE SUBSTITUTE Cal State Northridge (16-11) didn't expect to be here but didn't expect to oust No. 2 Long Beach State last week, either.

"We finally put a match together," said Matador assistant coach Jeff Campbell. "Maybe Long Beach was looking past us. They were coming off a pretty big win over UCLA."

The 49ers outblocked and outdug the Matadors but CSUN hit .342 with five players in double kill figures.

Collins Smith led the way with 26 and Jason Hughes added 25.

"Our guys have had problems in the past with the team concept but they figured it out finally," said Campbell. "Everything was on and that's what we need to have with UCLA.

"UCLA and Long Beach are comparable teams so we figure that if we can beat Long Beach, we can beat UCLA. This is one match that UCLA could easily look past."

The odds are not in the Matadors' favor. They trail in the series with the Bruins, 2-32.

"But you never know what is going to happen," said Preston. "UCLA just crushed them when they've played this year. But I wouldn't want to make a prediction."

And no one wants to make a prediction as to which team will be given the at-large berth by the NCAA committee on Sunday.

Hawaii earned its first Final Four appearance as the at-large selection after finishing second to UCLA in the MPSF Tournament last year.

Northridge knows its only hope to get to Pauley Pavilion is to win it all this weekend. Hawaii, UCLA and UC Santa Barbara all have legitimate shots at winning the tournament as well as earning the at-large spot if they lose Saturday.

The tricky part is getting to Saturday. Hawaii could lose tomorrow and still get selected based on its record, and head-to-head record against UCLA and UCSB.

If the Bruins lose tomorrow, they still will have a better overall record than UCSB, as well as wins over the other two Final Four teams: Penn State and Lewis. UCSB lost to Lewis but defeated UCLA twice.

But enough with the suspense. The envelope, please.

HAWAII

Rank: 1.

Record: 26-1.

Coach: Mike Wilton (4th, 77-34).

NCAA titles: 0.

Final Fours: 1.

Top players: Yuval Katz, 6-5 sophomore opposite, 7.69 kpg (national kill leader), 45 aces; Eric Pichel, 6-0 senior setter, 19.40 apg (national assist leader); Naveh Milo, 6-2 sophomore hitter, 40 aces, 180 digs.

Strengths: Toughest serves in the country (205 team aces), balanced attack (.381 team kill percentage leads country), great defense, 10,000-plus fans at home, 13-match win streak.

Weaknesses: Bored when not challenged, tendency to go to Katz as a cure-all, pressure to win at home.

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UCLA

Rank: 2.

Record: 22-5.

Coach: Al Scates (34th, 888-138).

NCAA titles: 15.

Final Fours: 18.

Top players: Stein Metzger, 6-4 senior setter, MPSF Player of the Year, 49 aces; Paul Nihipali, 6-7 junior opposite, 5.95 kpg (fifth nationally); Tom Stillwell, 6-8 sophomore blocker, 1.99 bpg (national block leader).

Island connection: Stein Metzger and Brian Wells (Punahou), Fred Robins (Kamehameha), Paul Nihipali (family ties).

Strengths: Tradition of winning, balanced attack, big block, very talented, incentive to play at home for national title.

Weaknesses: Not as cohesive as last year's NCAA champs, slow defense, pressure to play at home for national title.

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UC SANTA BARBARA

Rank: 3.

Record: 17-7.

Coach: Kenny Preston (18th, 353-211).

NCAA titles: 0.

Final Fours: 6.

Top players: Donny Harris, 6-7 junior hitter, 6.30 kpg (fourth nationally, UCSB all-time kill leader); Todd Rogers, 6-2 senior setter, first-team MPSF; Morgan Chapman, 6-4 senior hitter, 3.13 dpg (second nationally), .405 hitting (12th nationally).

Island connection: Tri-captain Brant Chillingworth (Punahou).

Strengths: Ability to get up for big games, good defense, balanced attack, on a eight-match win streak.

Weaknesses: Inconsistent passing, slow start (lost Game 1 12 times).

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CSU NORTHRIDGE

Rank: 5.

Record: 16-11.

Coach: Jon Price (10th, 180-144).

NCAA titles: 0.

Final Fours: 1.

Top players: Collin Smith, 6-4 junior hitter, MPSF player for last week with 26 kills, hit .478 in upset of Long Beach State; Chad Strickland, 6-1 sophomore hitter, 2.56 dpg (12th nationally).

Strengths: Scrappy defense, nothing to lose, has been a playoff spoiler in the past.

Weaknesses: Youth and inconsistency.