Wednesday, April 25, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL ]
Warriors, Cougars PROVO, Utah - Deja vu.
go at it again
UH and BYU meet in the
MPSF playoffs for the
third time in 5 yearsBy Grace Wen
Star-BulletinFor the third time in five years, the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team is here with one objective in mind: Staying alive in postseason play.
And, again, in order to do that, the Warriors must beat Brigham Young.
It was something they couldn't do in the playoffs in 1997 or 1999. It was something they couldn't do two weeks ago when facing the Cougars twice during regular-season play.
Tomorrow, the fourth-seeded Warriors (18-6, 12-5), ranked No. 2 in the nation, clash with the top-ranked and top-seeded Cougars (21-3, 14-3) in the second of two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal matches.
Second-seeded Long Beach State and third-seeded UCLA play in the opening match (1 p.m. HST).
Two weeks ago, Hawaii was ranked No. 1 and BYU No. 2 as the two battled for home-court advantage and hosting duties of the MPSF Tournament.
Their rankings have flip-flopped since then and the stakes are even higher.
Tomorrow's winner moves on to Saturday's MPSF finals.
Saturday's winner receives the automatic berth into the NCAA championship; the runner-up likely will receive the at-large berth in the final four.
History has had a habit of repeating itself with these two teams. A bad habit where the Warriors are concerned.
In 1997, Hawaii was leading 2-0 in games and had a lead in Game 3 when BYU's Ryan Millar slipped and fell to the court, hitting his head. Millar left in an ambulance after the match was halted for over 30 minutes.
Hawaii left Smith Fieldhouse about 90 minutes later with a five-game loss.
In 1999, the Warriors came off a huge win over UCLA in the first round of the MPSF playoffs to advance to the semifinals of the MPSF tournament.
The Cougars knocked the Warriors out in the next round with a 3-0 victory and went on to win the national title that year.
Hawaii hopes history won't be repeating itself this time around.
Although Hawaii lost both matches, the Warriors were close both nights.
Hawaii lost the first match in three, a match the Warriors feel they should have won. The second match went five.
"The first game against Hawaii was a game that wasn't well-played," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "We were extremely fortunate to win Games 1 and 2. The laws of probability shouldn't have allowed us to win either of those games, but somehow we did.
When: 3:30 p.m. HST, tomorrow MPSF PLAYOFFS
Where: Provo, Utah
TV: KFVE
Radio: Live, KCCN 1420-AM
Tickets: BYU ticket office, 1-801-378-BYU1 or 1-800-322-BYU1. Two-day pass -- adults $11, students $6.
Notes: BYU holds a 13-10 advantage in the series and is 9-1 in meetings at Provo. The Cougars have won seven of the last eight meetings between the two teams.
"And then when both of us played well the next night, you go to a fifth game and anything can happen so I don't know that we were fortunate but certainly either team can win a fifth game and we just happened to. We had all the luck the last two times we played."
McGown believes that the game plans for both teams aren't likely to change much this time around. And just as the results could have gone either way then, so too can tomorrow night's match.
"We have to play about 6-8 percent better than we did last time," UH head coach Mike Wilton said.
"If we play eight percent better than we played last time we played them, then we win that match.
"We have to upgrade and not let them upgrade. They're going to be at home so it's a great challenge for us. But we're really looking forward to it."
McGown, however, doesn't believe home-court advantage will be as great a factor.
He doesn't expect as large a crowd since BYU students are preparing for finals and graduation. The Cougars academic semester ended last week.
STARTING LINEUPS
Hawaii (18-6, 12-5)
Ht. KPG Aces Digs S Kimo Tuyay (Fr.) 6-2 .33 15 121 MB Dejan Miladinovic (Jr.) 6-7 1.87 19 25 MB Brenton Davis (Sr.) 6-5 2.46 14 57 OH Costas Theocharidis (So.) 6-3 5.09 22 128 OH Eyal Zimet (So.) 6-2 2.20 45 170 Opp Torry Tukuafu (Sr.) 6-5 2.91 22 91 L Vernon Podlewski (Jr.) 5-8 N/A N/A 192
Brigham young (21-3, 14-3)
Ht. KPG Aces Digs S Hector Lebron (Sr.) 6-2 .75 4 86 MB Scott Bunker (Sr.) 6-5 2.62 21 77 MB Matt Olsen (Jr.) 6-6 2.21 13 25 OH Jonathan Alleman (Fr.) 6-3 2.33 14 65 OH Joaquin Acosta (Jr.) 6-4 2.80 19 67 Opp Mike Wall (Jr.) 6-4 4.53 7 115 L Fernando Pessoa (Fr.) 6-4 N/A N/A 141
UH Athletics
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