Sunday, April 29, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL ]
Bruins stop PROVO, Utah >> The University of Hawaii men's volleyball team's quest for a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship and final four appearance was halted last night.
Warriors
Only 481 show up to watch
UCLA win the MPSF
title in 4 gamesWarriors will learn
final four fate todayBy Grace Wen
Star-BulletinToday the Warriors found out their season had ended, as Brigham Young was awarded the at-large bid in the final four.
Smith Fieldhouse was nearly empty for the finals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament as a non-partisan crowd of 481 watched UCLA defeat Hawaii, 30-27, 30-23, 15-30, 30-27 in two hours.
The Bruins received the MPSF's automatic bid to next week's final four in Long Beach.
"It was a tough loss," UH setter Kimo Tuyay said. "We should have come out stronger than we did. I know things didn't fall our way but we tried to push with all our heart in game three."
The Warriors looked tentative starting the match and played like that through Games 1 and 2. Though UCLA did not post any aces, the Bruins' serving kept Hawaii's offense out of sync as the Warriors were unable to establish a middle attack. Middle blockers Dejan Miladinovic and Brenton Davis had a combined total of 10 hitting attempts in the first two games.
"They served us tough enough that it just meant that Kimo had to run all over and it took away all of our options" UH head coach Mike Wilton said. "We didn't play well. Maybe we just weren't letting our game flow and we tried too hard.
"However, the real Rainbow Warrior team showed up in Games 3 and 4. It's been a trademark of this team all year long. No matter how dark and gloomy it may look out on the court, don't be thinking the match is over."
Down 2-0 in games, the Warrior block came alive after not posting a single block in game two. Hawaii terrorized UCLA with five blocks, stumping Bruin hitters while holding the Bruins to a minus-.226 clip. The Warriors capitalized on numerous unforced errors to take game three."We came out pretty flat and they were on fire in the third game and they pretty much kicked our butts," UCLA setter Rich Nelson said. "They were blocking so well and we just couldn't do anything. We played horrible the third game. They played great."
UCLA head coach Al Scates made multiple substitutions to slow Hawaii's momentum. But the Warriors kept rolling while Scates continuted to sub, opting to rest most of his starting lineup for game four.
"They did something in there at halftime," Scates said. "I don't know what it was but they came out ready to play."
In Game 4, the Warriors took an early 4-1 lead but the Bruins answered back. UCLA knotted the score at 6-6 with a block by Mark Williams and Adam Naeve. The Warriors and Bruins matched each other almost point-for-point with neither team holding more than a three-point advantage.
But two key serving runs by the Bruins late in the game -- one by Matt Komer at 18-18, and another by Marcin Jagoda at 25-27 -- ended Hawaii's hopes of pushing the match to five.
Notes:
Ohio State will be the mid-west representative to the Final Four. The Buckeyes swept Loyola-Chicago 30-24, 30-20, 30-27. The Warriors fly home on Delta flight No. 1579 at 5:30 p.m. today.
UCLA def. Hawaii 3-1
30-27, 30-23, 15-30, 30-27
WARRIORS (19-7 12-6 MPSF)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Miladinovic 4 6 0 14 .429 0 7 3 Tuyay 4 1 3 7 -.286 0 4 5 Zimet 4 8 4 15 .267 0 3 6 Theocharidis 4 19 5 38 .368 1 4 11 Davis 4 4 2 11 .182 1 6 4 Tukuafu 4 14 5 34 .265 0 2 2 Podlewski 4 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 12 Ching 1 1 0 2 .500 0 0 0 Totals 4 53 20 122 .270 2 26 43
BRUINS (23-7, 13-5 MPSF)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Williams 4 17 7 35 .286 1 1 9 Morrow 4 13 1 23 .522 1 2 2 Nelson 4 2 0 6 .333 0 1 4 Mount 4 8 6 24 .083 0 0 4 Naeve 4 19 4 29 .517 1 2 0 Komer 4 6 7 22 -.045 0 1 3 Burnham 2 2 4 7 -.143 0 0 3 Debban 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Jagoda 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 Coon 1 1 2 4 -.250 0 0 0 Conners 1 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 Shrader 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Totals 4 68 30 150 .253 3 8 34 Key--g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces--UH (3): Tuyay, Zimet, Ching. UCLA (2): Komer, Burnham.
Assists--UH (53): Tuyay 48, Miladinovic 2, Tukuafu 2, Zimet. UCLA (57): Nelson 57, Conners, Williams.
T--2:00. Officials: Rick Olmstead, Marvin Hall, J. Martin, M. Farris. Attendance: 481.
The University of Hawaii men's volleyball team was overcome with emotion last night. Warriors will learn
final four fate todayBy Grace Wen
Star-BulletinMiddle blocker Dejan Miladinovic held his head in his hands as UCLA was being awarded the MPSF Tournament trophy.
The Warriors had just lost 3-1 to UCLA in the MPSF final.
The loss marks the end of the season for the Warriors unless the NCAA committee awards the at-large berth to Hawaii.
The NCAA committee was scheduled to meet via a telephone conference call at 5 a.m. Hawaii time to decide who should receive the NCAA's at-large berth into the final four.
BYU and Hawaii are the top contenders for the spot. The committee, comprised of a representative from each of the three regions, will examine overall record, record against common opponents and record versus teams in contention for the spot.
Although BYU looks to have the edge over Hawaii, the Warriors still have an outside chance. Hawaii eliminated the Cougars 3-1 in Thursday night's semifinal.
"Maybe our season's over," Hawaii head coach Mike Wilton said. "To me that's got to be figured out by a committee. There's only two choices, us and BYU, and you've got to look at your criteria and figure out whether the last time we played is more important.
"I'm voting for the Warriors just based on ... what happens at the end of a season. But I don't get to vote."
Al Scates, head coach for long-time conference nemesis UCLA, agrees that the tournament should be weighed heavily.
"I think it should be decided by the tournament," Scates said. "Whoever wins the tournament, makes it to the finals. It's all about who's playing good at the end of the year."
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