PLAYBOOK
vs. Stanford Cardinal
By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin
First serve: 7 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, Stan Sheriff Center.
Coaches: Hawaii, Mike Wilton (8th, 148-70). Stanford, Ruben Nieves (10th, 161-77).
Season: No. 6 Hawaii, 10-8 overall, 5-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. No. 13 Stanford, 8-7 overall, 7-5 MPSF.
Probable starters: Hawaii, Stefan Krejci (6-2 So. S) 17.12 apg, 1.67 dpg, 1.14 bpg; Costas Theocharidis (6-2 Fr. OH) 5.99 kpg, .366, 16 aces, 2.00 dpg; Eyal Zimet (6-2 Fr. OH) 2.21 kpg, .308, 17 aces, 2.02 dpg; Clay Stanley (6-9 Jr. OH) 5.91 kpg, .243, 37 aces, 1.79 dpg; Torry Tukuafu (6-5 Jr. MB) 2.75 kpg, .432, 17 aces, 1.28 bpg; Brenton Davis (6-5 Jr. MB) 2.29 kpg, .320, 14 aces, 1.86 bpg; Russell Lockwood (6-0 Sr. LE) 2.74 dpg. Stanford, Curt Toppel (6-9 Fr. MB) 8.39 kpg, .384, 2.06 dpg; Marcus Skacel (6-5 So. OH) 4.04 kpg, .300, 2.57 dpg; Brett Youngberg (6-8 Jr. MB) 1.08 bpg, 3.72 kpg, .300, Seth Ring (6-2 Fr. LE) 2.21 dpg; Josh Lukens (6-2 Jr. S) 18.75 apg, 15 aces; Billy Stickland (6-10 Fr. MB) 1.43 kpg, /184; Jon Palacios (6-5 Sr. OH) 0.98 kpg, .434, 13 aces.
About the Rainbows: A week after knocking off top-ranked Pepperdine, Hawaii dropped a pair of matches to UCLA, both in four games. All eight of Hawaii's losses have come to ranked teams ... The Rainbows have lost six of their last eight, the worst slump since Wilton took over the program in 1993 ... Contributing to the struggle has been an ankle injury to starting setter Krecji. Senior libero Lockwood started both nights against the Bruins ... Costas ranks eighth nationally in kill average while Stanley is 10th in kills and third in service aces. Stanley had a season-high 39 kills in the first match against UCLA ... Davis is fourth nationally in block average while Tukuafu is 12th nationally in hitting percentage ... The Rainbows dropped a spot in the latest AVCA Coaches poll, from No. 5 to No. 6. The Cardinal moved up to 13th from 15th.
About the Cardinal: After a six-match skid in the early part of the season, Stanford has won six of its last seven matches. The only loss was to Pepperdine, 1-3 ... The Cardinal are coming off a 3-1 victory over Cal's club team. Stanford has not played an MPSF match since Feb. 25 ... Toppel, the top high school recruit last year, is leading the country in kills. Setter Lukens is ranked No. 2 national in assists .. Assistant coach John Kosty is the older brother of former Rainbow hitter Chris Kosty. Stanford freshman Seth Ring is the young brother of former Hawaii all-American Jason Ring ... Nieves is the winningest coach in the program's history.
Series: Stanford leads the series, 23-19. In the teams' last meeting last season, the Rainbows won, 3-2, at Stanford. Hawaii has swept the two-match series the last two times the teams met at the Sheriff Center (1996 and 1998).
Around the league This is a crucial series for the playoff hopes of both Hawaii and Stanford. Stanford is in third place in the Pacific Division, a game-and-a-half ahead of Hawaii. The top two teams from each division will make the MPSF playoffs, followed by the next four teams, regardless of division, with the best records. Currently it appears that Long Beach State and Southern Cal of the Pacific Division, and Pepperdine, UCLA and BYU of the Mountain Division have clinched playoff berths. In contention for the remaining three spots are Stanford (7-5), Loyola Marymount (6-6), Hawaii (5-6) and Pacific (6-8) ... Thanks to an outstanding performance against Hawaii last week, UCLA setter Brandon Taliaferro was named the MPSF Player of the week. The senior all-American had 16 kills, .hit .519, with seven aces. He also had 10 blocks and 19 digs ... The big match of the week pits the top two teams in the Pacific Division. No. 1 Long Beach State hosts No. 3 Southern Cal on Saturday. The 49ers defeated Pepperdine last week, 3-2. It was the second consecutive loss for the Waves. Pepperdine host Cal State Northridge on Saturday.
On the air: Live both nights on KFVE TV (Channel 5).
Tickets: $9 upper (adult), $8 upper (seniors), $5 (student).
Next up: .Hawaii heads out on the road to San Diego next week for four matches in four days. The Rainbows face San Diego State March 28-29 and then UC San Diego March 30-31. Hawaii returns home for a pair of non-conference matches with Lewis, April 7-8, then hosts Pacific April 14-15 to close out the regular season. The MPSF Tournament begins April 22.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
