Warriors win 15th straight

STANFORD, Calif. » Different playing style, different personnel, different personality.

Hawaii   Stanford 3 0 Next up vs. UCSD next Friday

There are few similarities between the Hawaii men's volleyball teams of 1996 and 2006. Ten years ago, it was Katz & Co., with Yuval Katz surrounded by a lot of talent, adding up to a national runner-up finish.

This season, the Warriors are a no-star-but-everyone-shines group, the epitome of Robert Yates' quote: "It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares about who gets the credit."

There is one thing, however, the two teams have in common. A 15-match winning streak.

Last night, No. 3 Hawaii again needed just 75 minutes to sweep Stanford and tie the 1996 UH squad for most consecutive victories in a season. The 30-16, 30-24, 30-22 win at Burnham Pavilion kept the Warriors in contention for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title, just a half-game behind No. 1 UC Irvine.

Junior opposite Lauri Hakala put down 11 kills, and senior hitter Matt Carere hit .900 (nine kills, no errors, 10 swings) in playing half the match as Hawaii improved its records to 19-4 overall and 15-3 in the MPSF. All 12 Warriors played for the second consecutive night, all contributing to coach Mike Wilton's 600th career win.

"I quit counting a long time ago," said Wilton, who coached both the men's and women's teams at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before his UH stint. "All it really means is I've been around a long time."

Hawaii made short work of struggling Stanford (4-20, 2-16), setting the tone for the match in the 20-minute Game 1. The Warriors hit an outrageous .760 (19 kills, no errors, 25 attempts) and had four of their eight aces, as the Cardinal scored the fewest points of any UH opponent this season.

Only three of Hawaii's starters remained on the court for Game 2, with freshman setter Sean Carney running the offense the rest of the match. Jose Delgado, playing in Games 1 and 3, had eight kills, as did Matt Bender, playing in Games 2 and 3.

Seeing his most playing time of the year was sophomore hitter Jake Schkud, who also played the final two games, putting down seven kills on 10 swings with no errors.

Schkud also served for the first time this season, coming up with an ace, and giving Hawaii the lead for good in Game 2 at 6-4.

"Tonight was really fun, and getting a chance to get in there got me re-juiced about playing," Schkud said. "Everyone pushes each other in practice and all that hard work (in practice) means we can go out and have fun playing.

"It doesn't occur to us how many wins we have in a row. But everyone is happy to get home."

Going 4-0 on their last mainland trip of the regular season gave the Warriors a 10-2 road record. Hawaii finishes conference play at home, hosting UC San Diego on April 7-8 and No. 2 Brigham Young on April 14-15, the latter series perhaps deciding the MPSF champion. If league titlist hosts the MPSF tournament and gets a bye into the semifinals.

"It's been a wonderful road trip," Wilton said. "And it's nice to be headed for home. We were very efficient again, especially in Game 1. We got to play several different blends in Games 2 and 3 and, for the most part, that went pretty well.

"Being able to play as many guys as possible can only serve you well if you need to use someone down the line. There's not a huge dropoff when we bring in guys."

Hawaii hit .590 for the match to Stanford's .184. The Warriors also outblocked the Cardinal 9-5 and had a 32-18 edge in digs.

Ben Reddy led Stanford with 14 kills, and Jesse Meredith added 12. Cardinal coach Don Shaw, who is retiring after this season, also juggled his lineup. Three starters last night didn't start in Wednesday's loss.

Last night was the 11th straight defeat for Stanford and also the sixth consecutive game the Cardinal have lost to the Warriors.

Hawaii has won its last five in straight sets, with 13 sweeps this season.

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