Are ‘real Rainbows’ ready for BYU?
The Cougars handed Hawaii
By Cindy Luis
a huge loss, but UH has gotten stronger
Star-BulletinPROVO, Utah -- BY-Who? It was more a case of Who Da Guys when Hawaii last met the Cougars here on Feb. 1 in Smith Fieldhouse. "I don't know who was out there, but it wasn't us," Rainbows senior hitter Aaron Wilton said of the 15-8, 15-4, 15-7 loss to BYU. "We never showed up at their gym that night. I don't know if we showed up on that whole road trip.
"What's important is it's the playoffs and a whole new season. I'm glad it's BYU. We want to show them the real Rainbows."
After recuperating from high fevers and bronchitis last week, Wilton is expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow night when ninth-ranked Hawaii (18-10) tries to rectify its case of mistaken identity against No. 4 BYU (19-5) in a 3 p.m. first-round match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. The winner advances to the next Thursday's MPSF semifinal against the winner of tomorrow's Stanford-Pepperdine match, tentatively set at UCLA.
In tomorrow's other matches, Pacific is at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara at Long Beach State. Those winners meet in next Thursday's other semifinal.
"I'm just glad to be facing anybody, given the season we've had and the parity in the league," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "BYU is a real formidable team. They have real good ball control and there's a lot of reason to believe they're the best blocking team in America (with two players in the top 10 nationally in blocks).
"We're going to have to be real precise in our passing and be prepared for, hopefully, a long and tough match."
"Hawaii's playing real well right now," Cougars coach Carl McGown said. "We know the last time we beat them, they were at the end of a three-game road swing and had several critical injuries. None of that is true now and it may very well be another five-game match for us."
Actually, the Rainbows might be better off if it's a short night. Hawaii is 0-4 when a match has gone to five games this season; BYU is 4-2, including a pair of five-game wins last week over Pepperdine that allowed the Cougars to host tomorrow's match.
Also of concern to the Rainbows is BYU's tall and talented lineup, headed by 6-foot-7 sophomore blocker Ryan Millar, a candidate for national player of the year. Millar is averaging 6.17 kills and 1.76 blocks per game, and had a combined 86 kills and 12 blocks in the two matches against Pepperdine.
At opposite is 6-4 Keenan Vance, BYU's lone senior, who is ranked 10th nationally in blocking. Ingo Lindemann, a 6-6 sophomore, had a combined 50 kills against the Waves while 6-3 freshman hitter Richard Lambourne, the team's dig leader, added 33.
Hector Lebron apparently has won the job as starting setter after splitting time with fellow freshman Chris Pitzak. It was the 6-2 Lebron the Rainbows saw 11 weeks ago when they were handed their worst single-match defeat (19 points) in four seasons.
The Rainbows were missing in action, literally and figuratively for that 88-minute embarrassment Both Aaron Wilton and Naveh Milo were slowed by leg problems. Milo had missed the Pepperdine match two nights earlier with strained left quadriceps and hit negative for the first time in his career (-.250) against the Cougars.
Also gone was junior blocker Rick Tune, who broke his left thumb during the Pepperdine match. Senior Jason Ring led the Rainbows' attack against the Cougars with 19 kills, but it is not certain how much of a factor Ring will be tomorrow after tearing two ligaments in his right ankle early in last Saturday's match with Southern Cal.
Ring practiced for the first time yesterday before the team left Honolulu last night. Mike Wilton said it would be Ring's call as to whether he can play against the Cougars.
If Ring or Aaron Wilton are not ready or prove ineffective early, Mike Wilton knows he has players who can more than fill the void. Junior hitter Kahinu Lee had two solid matches against Southern Cal in place of Aaron Wilton and Jason Salmeri came off the bench for 19 kills in the final two games against the Trojans.
Jason Ring of the University of Hawaii has been named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball all-conference second team. Ring, local boys named all-MPSF
The Rainbows' Rick Tune and Curt Vaughan were honorable-mention selections.
Mike Lambert of Stanford, a Punahou graduate, and Stewart Chong of Stanford, a Kamehameha graduate, were first- and second-team selections, respectively.
Global radio broadcast
By Star-Bulletin staff and wire
Saturday from ProvoTV 3 p.m. live on KFVE
PROVO, Utah -- The #3 seed BYU Cougars will host the #6 seed Hawaii Rainbows at the 1997 PowerBar/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament Quarterfinals, live this Saturday evening, April 19th at 6:00 p.m. PST, 9:00 p.m. EST, across America and around the world, via satellite, on The Cable Radio Network from Brigham Young University's Smith Fieldhouse. The MPSF Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament Quarterfinal match between BYU and Hawaii will also air live throughout the Hawaiian Islands on the Rainbow Sports Radio Network, with flagship 1420AM KCCN, Honolulu.
Internet surfers can listen to the game on RealAudio at http://www.pixi.com/~kulasoft/volley.htm NCAA Volleyball is available on the global Internet at Audionet and throughout the United States on The Cable Radio Network, with satellite audio coverage provided to hundreds of cable TV systems ... including the major metro markets of: Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Washington D.C., Dallas, Providence, Seattle, Portland and Arlington, Virginia.
NCAA Volleyball radio broadcasts are also available to TV satellite dish owners in Canada, Guam, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Central and South America, via Satcom C3, Transponder 23, Audio Channel 7.235.
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation includes University of Hawaii Rainbow varsity men's volleyball.
Internet NCAA Volleyball
1997 UH Men’s Volleyball
Schedule and Record
