[UH VOLLEYBALL]

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Warriors top list
for at-large bid

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By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

MALIBU, Calif. >> A preseason trip in the fall to Penn State may produce huge dividends for the Hawaii volleyball team.

"It paid off. Boy, somebody was smart," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said jokingly yesterday at practice. "Nah, but that was definitely part of the plan. I remember all too well that trip in 1995."

Back then, Hawaii traveled to Los Angeles for the conference tournament, then flew home the Sunday after only to hop a plane the following Tuesday for Springfield, Mass.

The Warriors couldn't sleep and spent much of the night studying in the hotel lobby. The result was a semifinal loss to Penn State and another loss to Ball State in the third-place match.

There won't be those kind of travel plans this time around. The Warriors are staying on the mainland. Their academic advisor joined them and the wheels were set in motion today to arrange flights to Pennsylvania.

One of the members of the NCAA committee told Hawaii assistant coach Tino Reyes that the Warriors are at the top of the list should they not win today.

The Warriors have a better overall record, better head-to-head mark against other teams in contention for the at-large bid, and more wins against teams ranked in the top 15.

Their victory Thursday night virtually confirmed their spot in next week's NCAA championship hosted by Penn State.

Brigham Young coach Carl McGown knew that when he left Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday.

The retiring coach of the Cougars stayed to watch the second semifinal after Pepperdine defeated BYU to advance to today's championship.

McGown had coached in his last match and final Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. He thought that his squad still stood a chance, albeit a small one, of contending for the final four's at-large berth. But after Hawaii defeated UCSB, McGown knew his season was done.

And Gauchos coach Ken Preston knew it, too.

"No question. It's a slam dunk," Preston said.

Hawaii can be the automatic entry into the NCAA championship today with a win over Pepperdine.

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UH Athletics