UCLA proves to be a roadblock for visiting UH

LOS ANGELES » It was that kind of night.

First, the Hawaii volleyball team was caught in traffic, causing the Warriors to jog the last half-mile to make it in time for their match at Pauley Pavilion.

Then, No. 9 Hawaii found itself in a gridlock on the court against No. 8 UCLA. The Warriors had little answer for Bruins middle Jamie Diefenbach, who had a team-high 17 kills to lead UCLA to a 30-21, 30-26, 30-27 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory.

It took longer for the team to get from its pregame meal at the Santa Monica home of junior hitter Jake Schkud 5 miles away to campus (90 minutes) than it did to play the match (80 minutes).

The loss was the fourth straight for the Warriors (2-6, 2-4). The Bruins improved to 5-6 overall, 3-5 in the MPSF.

Hawaii returns today to begin preparing for home matches Thursday and Friday against UC Santa Barbara (8-2, 6-1), currently second behind top-ranked Brigham Young in the MPSF standings.

"I remain this team's biggest advocate," Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. "There is a good team in there and we will continue to work to get better.

"We did a better job with our serves (than on Wednesday), but UCLA also passed better tonight. We served in. They served in and tough, were more in system than we were."

The Bruins also threw a new lineup at the Warriors, including bringing in sophomore setter Matt Wade, the son of former Wahine All-American Rocky Elias.

UCLA coach Al Scates may also be done with his experiment with senior Steve Klosterman. Klosterman has played middle most of the season, but the All-American was back at his normal opposite spot last night, putting down 15 kills and finishing with four of his team's seven aces.

Hawaii didn't get the matchups it wanted, particularly at middle. Senior middle Dio Dante, who had 11 blocks and 10 kills Wednesday, had just four kills and three blocks last night.

The Bruins also had been somewhat surprised by Hawaii's Jim Clar (22 kills) on Wednesday. Scates told the campus paper, the Daily Bruin, that "he really hurt us, but I think we'll do a better job on him Friday. We need to adjust."

UCLA didn't completely stop Clar (17 kills, .323) but held Hawaii to a . 274 hitting percentage while hitting at a .402 clip. The Warriors had 18.5 blocks Wednesday, but just four last night.

Also hurting Hawaii's cause was the injury to senior All-America hitter Lauri Hakala. Bothered by a strained abdominal muscle, which affected the torque on both his hitting and serving, Hakala finished with nine kills in playing about two-thirds of the match.

Wilton also made some changes to his lineup in mid-match, bringing in sophomore Sean Carney for All-America senior Brian Beckwith midway through Game 2.

"It was no knock against Brian, but it is easier to change one person than the five," the coach said. "Sean did a nice job, gave us a spark for a mini-run in Game 2."

But no runs were long enough and, as happened Wednesday, the runs came up short at the ends of games. Hawaii got as close as 27-25 and 28-26 in Game 2 but couldn't stop Diefenbach, who had UCLA's final three kills.

Game 3 was fairly even, with the Warriors tying it at 24. But kills by Garrett Muagututia and Klosterman and a hitting error by Hakala gave the Bruins the three-point difference they would need to close the match.

Wilton remained optimistic.

"There are silver linings every night and I like the dynamics of our team," he said. "I think we're getting better. The season is not a 50-yard dash; it's a marathon.

"I think we're going to be OK."

One improvement UCLA did make from Wednesday was on defense, outdigging Hawaii 30-24. Tony Ker led the Bruins with 12 digs.

Note: The UC San Diego men's volleyball program yesterday received a huge boost when the student body voted to improve athletic funding, including providing athletic scholarships for the first time at the Division II school.

The referendum passed with a 55.8 percent yes vote based upon a record turnout of 41.9 percent of the student population. The previous best turnout on a vote at UCSD was 27 percent of the student population.

By voting yes, the students helped Triton athletics stay compliant with the NCAA mandate that all Division II member institutions offer at least $250,000 in scholarship money. This initiative allows UCSD to offer $300,000 of athletic grants-in-aid to its student-athletes.

Around the MPSF: Freshman setter Kawika Shoji (Iolani '06) had 34 assists and was in on three blocks, but it wasn't enough to help Stanford (0-10, 0-5) avoid being swept by Long Beach State last night. ... Freshman hitter Will Ehrman (Punahou '06) had 12 kills and was in on four blocks in UCSD's loss to Pacific.