Lots of local in
Final Four volleyball
Chong, Lambert, Williams and Robins
By Cindy Luis
will try to get their MPSF teams
to the final four
Star-BulletinLOS ANGELES -- The Rainbows might not be here but there's still plenty of Hawaii left in this week's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball tournament at Pauley Pavilion. The state is represented by four island prep products in today's semifinals at UCLA -- Stanford's Stewart Chong (Kamehameha) and Mike Lambert (Punahou), UCLA's Fred Robins (Kamehameha) and UC Santa Barbara's Alika Williams (Hilo). They're playing for a shot at the national championship, and some pride to share back home.
"People back home are always wondering why you went away to play," said Chong, a senior setter. "You want to show them that you made the right decision."
Third-ranked Stanford (23-3) takes on No. 4 Brigham Young (20-5) in today's 1:30 p.m. semifinal. Top-rated UCLA
(22-3) begins its quest for a fifth straight MPSF Tournament title in the second semifinal against No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (17-8).
The winners meet in Saturday's championship match (4:30 p.m.) for the automatic berth in next week's final four at Columbus, Ohio.
Lambert, a senior hitter, has a huge stake in extending the Cardinal's season past this weekend: both of his sisters already have NCAA title rings.
"I've been getting phones calls from my sisters reminding me of that," said Lambert, whose sister, Mia, played for UCLA on its 1990 championship team and sister Debbie was on Stanford's title team last December. "They say, 'Don't forget.'
"The most important thing in my life right now is to beat BYU. I've never been to the final four. Playing in the Olympics and being with the national team was definitely a high point, but getting to the final four would be the most gratification as far as finishing my career well."
Stanford is not lacking for motivation as a team to win its next two games. Not only are the Cardinal looking for their first men's volleyball title but also to become the first school in NCAA history to win the men's and women's volleyball titles in the same season. (UCLA has done it three times and Southern Cal once, but their women's teams were under the aegis of the AIAW prior to 1981).
"We want to make history here," said Lambert, whose team has won 13 straight since losing in five games to UCLA here on March 7. "We want to justify our preseason No. 1 pick. We're playing some of our best volleyball right now so hopefully we'll be No. 1 at the end of the season."
To do so, Stanford needs to get past a tough BYU team that is coming off an emotional five-set win over Hawaii last Saturday. MPSF Player of the Year Ryan Millar, who suffered a concussion and left midway through Saturday's match, is expected to play today.
In their only meeting this season, BYU rallied to defeat Stanford in five games at Provo. Chong said he was glad today's match with the Cougars would be on a neutral court "and between playing at Hawaii, BYU or UCLA, I'd rather be playing at UCLA," he said.
Robins, a sophomore swing hitter for the Bruins, was equally happy to be playing at home where UCLA has lost just once this year. That was to UC Santa Barbara in five Jan. 31 at the adjacent Wooden Center.
"It's always a real advantage to play at Pauley," said Robins. "I think we've got a shot at winning this and going for three (NCAA) titles in a row."
The Bruins are 259-29 in Pauley Pavilion since beginning play there in 1970. The loss to UC Santa Barbara this season snapped a 16-match winning streak at the Wooden Center.
UCLA earned a split on the season with UC Santa Barbara by rallying past the host Gauchos in five games on April 12. The Bruins overcame a 7-0 deficit in Game 4 to win 15-9 and trailed 7-2 in Game 5 before winning 19-17.
The Gauchos finished second to UCLA at last year's MPSF Tournament in Honolulu, but the at-large berth in the final four went to Hawaii, which had been ranked No. 1 most of the season.
