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WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL


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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Pedro Azenha put down a kill past Pepperdine's Sean Rooney last night.


Warriors wash out

Pepperdine takes over the MPSF
lead with a difficult win over UH

Just how close are the Nos. 2 and 3 teams in men's volleyball? Last night, it was a mere two points.

In a battle between two of the big guns in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation -- both of whom wear No. 12 -- it was Pepperdine's Sean Rooney who came out ahead against Hawaii's Pedro Azenha last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.


PEPPERDINE 3

HAWAII 2


NEXT UP
vs. Pepperdine tomorrow

Rooney had 28 kills -- including the match-winner -- and No. 3 Pepperdine won for the fourth time when it went to five, outlasting No. 2 Hawaii 30-25, 23-30, 30-24, 27-30, 20-18 in 2 hours and 41 minutes. .

A crowd of 3,081 (4,336 tickets issued) saw the Waves win their ninth straight and take control of the MPSF standings at 11-1. The Warriors fell to 11-3 overall, 9-2 in the conference.

Azenha and Matt Bender both finished with 25 kills for Hawaii, while Kyle Klinger added 11 and Mauli'a LaBarre 10. Libero Alfred Reft finished with a career-high 22 digs.

For Pepperdine, John Mayer added 15 kills and John Parfitt 12. The Waves outblocked the Warriors 27.5-11, with Tom Hulse in on 13 and Andy Heim 12.

The teams meet again at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

"It was a very up-and-down match, and our valleys were a little more pronounced than theirs were," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said, his team losing for the first time in four five-game matches. "Game 5 was a knock-down, drag-out one.

"A big block will wear you down if you don't pass well and you're not in system. We were a little out of sync tonight."

Hawaii had four swings at winning it, the last at 18-17 on Azenha's third ace. Pepperdine came out of a timeout, getting another kill by Rooney and then blocking Bender, to take a second shot at ending it.

Rooney put down his final kill to give the visitors the victory.

"I cost us the game," said Bender, who got blocked on two of his last three attempts. "They have a big block, but there really is no difference between them and UCLA.

"It was a great match. We would have liked to pull it out. Friday night will be knock-down, drag-out again."

Mayer may have made the biggest difference. The setter for the past two seasons, the senior is "still learning to be a hitter," he said, after committing two errors in 27 swings.

"That match could have gone either way," Mayer said. "This was a huge win. It's a tough place to play and especially to beat a good team ... it's a big win."


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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii libero Alfred Reft (11) goes for a dig in the second game against Pepperdine


Hawaii trailed 16-15 when Jose Delgado went back to serve in Game 2, When he was done, the Warriors had a 19-15 lead, a lead they never relinquished.

The Waves were able to close to 21-20 when Delgado hit long, Hawaii's first hitting error since trailing at 13-10.

Behind outstanding defense by Reft, who had eight of the team's 14 digs in the game, the Warriors pulled away. Bender served for three points in a run that included a stuff of the 6-foot-7 Parfitt for a 25-20 lead.

Pepperdine's mini-run brought the Waves within 26-23, only to have the Warriors finish it off with four straight points on a varied attack. Kills by Klinger, Delgado and Azenha gave Hawaii game point, and a hitting error by Rooney evened the match at 1-1.

The Warriors appeared to have the momentum in Game 3, leading at 22-21. But as fast as one could say, "Bad rotation," the Waves yanked it back. A kill by Rooney tied it at 22-all and Pepperdine blocked Hawaii four times during a 6-0 run that gave the Waves a 28-22 lead.

After trading points, the Warriors held off one game point on a serving error by Rooney. Mayer quickly ended it with his 11th kill.

Hawaii roared back in Game 4, leading by as much as 13-6. Pepperdine was hitting in negative until Hein's kill gave the Waves a .000 hitting percentage and pulled them to 22-17.

Rooney put down five consecutive kills for the Waves to bring them to within 26-23. The Warriors had four swings at finishing it off, finally getting it done when Bender nailed his 20th kill to force a fifth game.

"We got the two-point lead at the right time," Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy said. "It could have gone either way."


Pepperdine def. Hawaii

30-26, 23-30, 30-24, 27-30, 20-18

Waves (11-1, 11-1 MPSF)

g k e att pct. bs ba d
Hein 5 6 3 11 .273 0 12 2
Mayer 5 15 2 27 .481 0 6 4
Rooney 5 28 8 63 .317 1 8 6
Hulse 5 5 1 8 .500 1 12 0
Winder 5 4 1 11 .273 0 8 4
Parfitt 5 12 10 32 .062 0 5 3
Ka 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 13
Sutherland 4 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 3
Grobe 3 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 1
Totals 5 71 26 154 292 2 51 36
Warriors (11-3, 9-2 MPSF)

g k e att pct. bs ba d
Klinger 5 11 2 16 .562 0 2 0
Hakala 2 2 4 7 -.286 0 0 2
Beckwith 5 2 2 6 .000 1 3 5
Azenha 5 25 13 51 .235 2 2 7
Bender 5 25 8 47 .362 0 1 9
La Barre 5 10 6 23 .174 0 5 3
Delgado 5 8 4 20 .200 1 1 4
Carere 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Reft 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 22
Rasay 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Totals 5 83 39 170 .259 4 14 52

Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- PU (5): Rooney 4, Mayer. Hawaii (4): Azenha 3, Beckwith. Assists -- PU (68): Winder 61, Parfitt 2, Ka 2, Mayer, Rooney, Sutherland. Hawaii (80): Beckwith 75, Klinger, Azenha, La Barre, Delgado, Reft.
T -- 2:41. Officials -- Dan Hironaka, Wayne Lee. A -- 3,081.

MPSF standings


Conference Overall

W L Pct. W L
Pepperdine 11 1 .917 11 1
UCLA 12 2 .857 16 2
Hawaii 9 2 .818 11 3
UCSB 9 4 .692 9 7
Long Beach State 7 6 .538 10 7
BYU 4 4 .500 9 6
Stanford 6 7 .462 7 9
CS Northridge 6 8 .428 9 9
Pacific 5 7 .417 11 9
UC Irvine 4 10 .286 6 13
USC 1 10 .090 4 14
UC San Diego 0 13 .000 0 14

Tuesday
USC def. Lewis, 26-30, 30-19, 30-23, 28-30, 15-12
Yesterday
Pepperdine def. Hawaii, 30-26, 23-30, 30-24, 27-30, 20-18
CS Northridge def. Pacific, 30-26, 30-17, 21-30, 30-27
UCLA def. UC Irvine, 30-22, 16-30, 30-22, 31-29
Long Beach State def. Lewis, 30-20, 30-25, 30-19
Today
Pacific at UC Santa Barbara
Tomorrow
Pepperdine at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
UC Irvine vs. Loyola-Chicago
Penn State at UCSD
BYU at USC
Stanford at CSU Northridge
Cal Baptist at Long Beach State



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