Saturday, April 28, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL ]
Final 4 bid on PROVO, Utah >> There are no freebies, no gimmies, no easy rides in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball playoffs.
the line today
Hawaii, UCLA both need
win in the MPSF men's
volleyball finalBy Grace Wen
Star-BulletinAnd the two teams in today's final know that better than anyone.
The University of Hawaii faces UCLA tonight in Smith Fieldhouse on the Brigham Young campus in a winner-take-all showdown.
An entire season comes down to one match -- the winner earns the automatic bid into the NCAA final four. The loser likely goes home and spends the summer thinking, "So close and yet so far.''
When: 2:45 p.m. HST, today MPSF FINAL
Where: Provo, Utah
TV: Live, KFVE
Radio: Live, KCCN 1420-AM
RealAudio: Click here
Both teams have been in control of their own postseason destiny, with must-win situations for the playoffs. There is an outside chance that the fourth-seeded Warriors or the third-seeded Bruins could get the at-large berth into next week's final four.
But history is against them. A precedent was set in 1996 when Hawaii, then ranked No. 1, was upset by UC Santa Barbara in the MPSF semifinals.
UCSB then lost to UCLA in the MPSF final, with the Bruins earning the automatic berth. Hawaii, based on its No. 1 ranking, was selected as the at-large team.
Hawaii defeated top-ranked BYU on Thursday. The Cougars have the best overall record in the league at 21-4, as well as the best record against ranked opponents at 11-2.
The at-large vote will be made by a three-member committee after tonight's match.
Hawaii and UCLA split their season series in Los Angeles. Hawaii won in five the first night and UCLA in four the next night.
UH head coach Mike Wilton expects another long match.
"I'm fully prepared for a real tough knockdown, drag-out battle,'' Wilton said. "We need to serve well. They've got two real big middles. That gives them an advantage. So if we can not them get into sync, passing wise, it will be in our favor.''
The Bruins boast a tall lineup with middles that are 6-10 (Adam Naeve) and 6-9 (Scott Morrow), outside hitters that are 6-7 (Mark Williams and Matt Komer) and 6-8 (Cameron Mount). At 6-4, setter Rich Nelson is the smallest player on their side of the net.
Hawaii believes it will counter UCLA's height advantage with quickness.
The Warriors, reaching the MPSF final for the first time in six years, were feeling confident yesterday.
"We're going to win,'' sophomore Costas Theocharidis said. "We're going to beat them and we're going to the final four. It's a really tough team, but we're going to give everything on the court. We know that if we lose, it's going to end our season."
With BYU eliminated from the tournament, neither team has home-court advantage. The Warriors believe the crowd will support them.
"I think everyone hates UCLA," middle blocker Brenton Davis said. "Everyone in the country wants to beat UCLA. We just want to beat them. There's nobody I'd rather face in the championship game than UCLA. They've always been an archrival of ours.''
Notes:
This is the first time in six years that the Warriors have reached the MPSF final. This is the eighth appearance for UCLA. ... The Bruins hold a 39-10 advantage in the all-time series.
STARTING LINEUPS
Hawai'i (19-6, 12-5 MPSF)
Ht. KPG Aces Digs S Kimo Tuyay (Fr.) 6-2 .34 16 125 MB Dejan Miladinovic (Jr.) 6-7 1.85 19 29 MB Brenton Davis (Sr.) 6-5 2.49 14 58 OH Costas Theocharidis (So.) 6-3 5.06 23 133 OH Eyal Zimet (So.) 6-2 2.27 45 178 Opp Torry Tukuafu (Sr.) 6-5 2.88 23 95 L Vernon Podlewski (Jr.) 5-8 N/A N/A 201
UCLA (22-7, 12-5 MPSF)
S Rich Nelson (So.) 6-4 .41 6 156 MB Scott Morrow (So.) 6-9 1.88 8 27 MB Adam Naeve (Sr.) 6-10 2.69 54 40 OH Cameron Mount (So.) 6-8 3.24 32 116 OH Mark Williams (Sr.) 6-7 2.82 47 143 Opp Matt Komer (Jr.) 6-7 2.64 30 93 L Adam Shrader (Fr.) 6-3 N/A N/A 235
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
