WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Dio Dante helped Hawaii beat Stanford last night, giving UH the sixth seed in the MPSF playoffs.
|
|
UH seniors pull rank on Stanford
They promised there would be no tears.
Just as they had vowed they would finish the regular season with 10 consecutive wins.
Hawaii's four seniors hit .500 last night, matching their overall (13-13) and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (11-11) records. The tears were understandable after a very emotional 30-27, 24-30, 30-24, 30-25 win over a young and talented Stanford team, shared by an equally emotional crowd of 3,765 (4,848 tickets).
It took 2 hours and 15 minutes before Brian Beckwith, Dio Dante, Lauri Hakala and Eric Kalima could begin their senior night celebrations, becoming mini-flower shops when being buried by leis. It couldn't have been any better.
Hawaii needed the victory to avoid the play-in match and finish as the sixth seed. Behind Hakala's 21 kills and Dante's 14 kills and seven blocks, the Warriors punched their ticket for Irvine, Calif., where they began the season with two losses.
Hawaii faces third-seeded UC Irvine next Saturday.
"We won, that's what was important," said Hakala, who helped the Warrior defense with a match-high 10 digs.
"I'm so proud of our team," added Kalima. "I'm proud of how we stuck together, didn't quit. We won our last 10 ... something a lot of people didn't believe we could. But we always believed."
Although Dante didn't think it was his best match, he did hit .778, anchoring the Warriors MPSF-leading block. Beckwith was in on six blocks, as was freshman Matt Rawson.
Hawaii didn't outblock Stanford (3-25, 2-20) until midway through Game 3, turning the match. The Warriors finished with a 13-10 edge.
"They've got really great middles," Cardinal coach John Kosty said. "I think for us, our passing gradually broke down. It was really good in Games 1 and 2, but after that we couldn't get the ball to our middles. That allowed theirs to release on our outsides."
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Seniors Brian Beckwith, Eric Kalima, Lauri Hakala and Dio Dante were bedecked in leis after last night's Hawaii home finale against Stanford.
|
|
The result was Hawaii coming up with 6.5 blocks over the final two games. The Warriors finally were able to slow down Cardinal freshman hitter Kawika Shoji a little. Shoji (Iolani '06) had 14 kills with two errors through Game 2. The son of Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji finished with a match-high 23 kills with five errors, as well as all three of Stanford's aces. Freshman Evan Romero added 22 kills and junior Matt Ceran added 10 kills. The Cardinal lose just one senior.
"We feel really glad about the future," Kosty said.
Hawaii's future continues with a practice tomorrow. But last night was all about the moment.
"It was lots and lots of fun," said Beckwith. "I'm enjoying it. Of course I had to get that last kill. It was my time."
Dante, overlooked for All-America honors last year, continued to make a strong statement for this year.
"I don't think it was my best match but we pulled it off," he said. "I'm sad I won't be playing again at the Sheriff Center. I'm going to miss it. But I'm really happy about where we're headed."
Things did not look great heading into Game 3. Stanford had the momentum and took control of Game 2 early. This time the Cardinal held the lead, anchored by a very inspired Shoji.
The freshman more than atoned for his poor performance on Friday. By the end of Game 2 last night, Shoji had double the number of kills (14) he had Friday with just one error in each of the first two games. At 28-24, he personally evened the match with his 14th kill and an ace.
Just as Game 2s had been Hawaii's strength -- the Warriors came into the match with a 15-9 edge over the opposition -- Game 3s had been somewhat an Achilles heel, with Hawaii losing 13 of the 24. The Warriors reversed the trend with a renewed energy in Game 3.
Matt Vanzant, who had been hitting negative and had been pulled in the middle of Game 2, rebounded after the break. The freshman hitter had four of his 15 kills and two aces in the swing game.
The Cardinal didn't fold but the Warriors could smell the leis. Hakala responded from being blocked with a monster kill on an overpass of a serve to give Hawaii a 24-19 lead.
Romero kept the Cardinal in it with two kills, bringing Stanford to within 26-22. The Cardinal held off two match points when closing to 29-25 but not a third. Beckwith's third and final kill had the crowd turning the aloha-ball celebration into a standing ovation.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Dante, Beckwith, Hakala and Kalima celebrated a point with teammate Ric Cervantes (9).
|
|
MPSF standings
|
Conference |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
W |
L
|
Pepperdine |
21 |
1 |
.954 |
25 |
1
|
BYU |
18 |
4 |
.818 |
22 |
5
|
UC Irvine |
17 |
5 |
.773 |
24 |
5
|
UC Santa Barbara |
14 |
8 |
.636 |
19 |
11
|
UCLA |
13 |
9 |
.591 |
19 |
10
|
CSU Northridge |
11 |
11 |
.500 |
17 |
14
|
Hawaii |
11 |
11 |
.500 |
13 |
13
|
USC |
9 |
13 |
.409 |
12 |
15
|
Pacific |
8 |
14 |
.363 |
14 |
17
|
Long Beach St. |
6 |
16 |
.273 |
11 |
17
|
UC San Diego |
2 |
20 |
.090 |
5 |
23
|
Stanford |
2 |
20 |
.090 |
3 |
25 |
Yesterday
Hawaii def. Stanford 30-27, 24-30, 30-24, 30-25
Brigham Young def. Pacific 30-22, 24-30, 30-18, 31-29
CSU Northridge def. USC 30-27, 31-33, 30-18, 30-27
Pepperdine def. UC Santa Barbara 30-24, 30-26, 25-30, 30-25
UC Irvine def. UC San Diego 30-27, 30-25, 30-19
End regular season
MPSF Tournament
Seeds: 1. Pepperdine; 2. Brigham Young; 3. UC Irvine; 4. UC Santa Barbara; 5. UCLA; 6. Hawaii; 7. Cal State Northridge; 8. USC
Play-in match
Wednesday
USC at Cal State Northridge
Quarterfinals
Saturday
USC/CSN winner at BYU
Hawaii at UC Irvine
UCLA at UC Santa Barbara
Semifinals
At Pepperdine
April 26
USC/CSN-BYU winner vs. Hawaii-UCI winner
UCLA-UCSB winner vs. Pepperdine
Championship
At Pepperdine
April 28
Semifinal winners
Hawaii def. Stanford
30-27, 24-30, 30-24, 30-25
Cardinals (3-25, 2-20 MPSF)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Groppi |
4 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
.750 |
0 |
3 |
6
|
Romero |
4 |
22 |
8 |
53 |
.264 |
0 |
2 |
5
|
Williams |
4 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
.000 |
0 |
8 |
1
|
Ceran |
4 |
10 |
9 |
30 |
.033 |
0 |
2 |
8
|
Shoji |
4 |
23 |
5 |
45 |
.400 |
0 |
2 |
6
|
Werner |
4 |
5 |
1 |
12 |
.333 |
1 |
1 |
1
|
Keller |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Howell |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Skinner |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Lindberg |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
9
|
Palacios |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Christoffers |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
4 |
66 |
26 |
153 |
.261 |
1 |
18 |
37 |
Warriors (13-13, 11-11 MPSF)
|
|
g |
k |
e |
att |
pct. |
bs |
ba |
d
|
Rawson |
4 |
9 |
2 |
18 |
.389 |
1 |
5 |
1
|
Kalima |
4 |
4 |
1 |
13 |
.231 |
0 |
2 |
4
|
Hakala |
4 |
21 |
9 |
40 |
.300 |
0 |
2 |
10
|
Beckwith |
4 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
.750 |
0 |
6 |
8
|
Dante |
4 |
14 |
0 |
18 |
.778 |
1 |
6 |
2
|
Vanzant |
4 |
15 |
7 |
34 |
.235 |
0 |
1 |
6
|
Clar |
1 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Carney |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Cervantes |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
9
|
Vidinha |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.000 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Totals |
4 |
70 |
22 |
135 |
.356 |
2 |
23 |
43 |
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Stanford (3): Shoji 3. Hawaii (3): Hakala 2, Carney. Assists -- Stanford (65): Groppi 58, Shoji 4, Lindberg 2, Ceran. Hawaii (62): Beckwith 47, Carney 7, Cervantes 3, Vanzant 2, Rawson 2, Hakala.
T -- 2:15. Officials -- Ernie Ho, Dickson Chun. A --3,765.