Second-ranked Hawaii has one more major Mountain Pacific Sports Federation series before it faces the less mighty portion of its MPSF schedule. Warriors will try
to get 2 more wins
at Pauley PavilionNo. 2 Hawaii plays No. 8 UCLA in
a pair of key MPSF matches this weekendBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comThe Warriors (13-5, 7-5) are in Los Angeles to play eighth-ranked UCLA tomorrow and Saturday at 5 p.m. Hawaii time. It's no secret that, win or lose, matches against the Bruins (13-9, 8-7) are always huge.
But given the mixed records of both schools, these matches won't seal either team's postseason fate. The Warriors are in fourth place in the league standings and would secure a home match for the first round of playoffs if they hold onto their spot. UCLA, however, is tied for seventh in the conference standings. Only the top eight teams make the postseason tournament.
"These matches don't make or break seasons but we're going there fully intent on winning both," Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. "This year, whoever gets in the playoffs and gets it going at that time of the year could go all the way. That could be the case for a lot of teams. We have two seasons going on here. We're five games into the real season."
Hawaii isn't the only team that feels like it has played two different seasons. In the first month of MPSF play, UCLA went 1-5 and suffered through its worst conference start in school history with a rash of injuries.
Twenty-two players have gotten on the court for UCLA this season, a testament to the numerous injuries and instability that plagued UCLA earlier this season. Only libero Adam Shrader has played in all 79 games.
"Right now we're in the best shape of the season," UCLA coach Al Scates said. "I guess it really doesn't matter as long as you can make the playoffs. That's our goal. We finally managed to be tied for seventh, so we may be a contender."
The Bruins have gotten healthier and begun to smooth out many rough edges. They've won seven of their last nine matches, including a four-game win against then-No. 4 UC Irvine last weekend. The addition of freshman Matt McKinney from the basketball team has helped. Senior middle blocker Scott Morrow is also back in the lineup after undergoing quadriceps tendon surgery in November.
"We dug a huge hole, but it looks like we're going to get out of it," Scates said. "We've played all the weaker teams when we were playing horribly. Now we've got all the stronger teams to play. We're in a better position now to handle the stronger teams now than we were earlier."
Hawaii senior Tony Ching doesn't care that UCLA is better now. Ching wants to put the hurt on the Bruins just as badly as ever. Though Pepperdine has been Hawaii's main rival the last two years, there's no other team the Warriors enjoy beating more than UCLA.
"I just grew up watching UCLA beat up on us, so I want to go and beat up on them," Ching said. "It's just like rivalries week in college basketball. It's fun to beat up on them. It's just fun to play against them really.
"There have been times where we were injured and they beat up on us. It doesn't matter who's on the court or how good a team is. It's always going to be up for grabs when we play against them. That's just the way it is when we play against them."
Ching missed Hawaii's historic win at Pauley Pavilion in 2001 because of a mo-ped accident. It was the first Hawaii victory at UCLA in 18 years.
A year ago, the Warriors won both UCLA matches at home to take the series for the first time in 14 years. In spite of the victories, Ching still feels he has a debt to repay.
"I have this personal vendetta with this team," Ching said. "Last year after we beat them, some old guy, one of the parents of the team that traveled down here last year, he yelled at me when I ran up to the stands to see my parents after the game was over.
"He just told me, 'Don't act like we won a national championship yet,' but that kind of blew up in his face at the end of the year. It's going to be nice if he's still there. I have no idea who he is, but I remember this man's face."
Notes: KKEA 1420-AM will not be broadcasting this series, but Warrior fans can catch the match on UCLA's audio webcast at uclabruins.ocsn.com. Lou Riggs, Paul Nihipali and Mike Sondheimer will call the action. ... Freshman Pedro Azenha was not one of the 12 players on the travel roster. Azenha returned to practice on Monday and will compete for a suit-up spot next week. ... Hawaii trails the all-time series 41-12.
UH Athletics
