Warriors want Break out those dancing shoes.
to keep the
dance going
Hawaii opens the MPSF
tournament against Pacific tonightBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comIf Hawaii fans could have their way, today's 7 p.m. Mountain Pacific Sports Federation showdown between No. 2 Hawaii and No. 7 Pacific would really be about two contests.
The first would be the volleyball playoff match, and the second battle would be a dance-off between Warriors coach Mike Wilton and Tigers coach Joe Wortmann.
The Pacific coach delighted fans earlier this season when he joined the dance circle his team formed during a power outage at the Stan Sheriff Center. As the lights came back up, Wortmann was caught boogieing down with his players.
Last weekend it was Wilton sashaying on the taraflex court on Senior Night after Hawaii defeated USC. The normally impassive Wilton surprised his players and most of the fans in attendance. But Wilton said a dance contest this weekend was "not happening."
Who: No. 7 Pacific at No. 2 Hawaii MPSF playoffs
When: Today, 7 p.m.
TV: Live, KFVE
Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM
Tickets: Available at the Stan Sheriff Center. Lower level $12, Upper level adult $9, Senior Citizen (65 and over) $8, Students (4-18 or UH students with ID) $5.
Wortmann sided with Wilton and said that he had packed only his "coaching shoes" for the trip.
"In basketball, they call this the big dance, so the players are the ones that need to go out there and dance," Wortmann said.
The sixth-seeded Tigers need to strut all the way through the MPSF tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA championship at Long Beach State in two weeks. Pacific has gone through a rough spell the past two weeks, dropping its last three matches, to Stanford, UC Irvine and UCLA. But two of those losses came when the Tigers were without the services of all-conference middle blocker Sean Rodgers, who was too sick to travel to Los Angeles.
Pacific (18-13) was hoping to host a first-round playoff match, but the loss to Stanford meant the Tigers would be going on the road. When home isn't an option, Wortmann said there is no better road venue than the Stan Sheriff Center.
"My players would prefer to play here than any of the other sites. And not just because it's a beautiful place to play," Wortmann said. "It's just the greatest place to compete with the best crowd. ... They really appreciate good volleyball. If you're going to play a playoff game, this is where you want to play.
"Getting here is hard sometimes. ... We have four seniors on the team and they want to play on just as hard as Hawaii's four seniors. What's great is this is match play. It is a tournament and what counts is tomorrow."
The third-seeded Warriors (23-5) don't need to be reminded. Hawaii might have a shot at an NCAA at-large bid if it doesn't win the MPSF tournament, but the Warriors need to at least advance to next weekend's league title game. The Warriors know a long summer is always just one match away in the postseason.
"The at-large bid is not a sure thing, so you have to try your best to go all the way," senior Costas Theocharidis said. "You just never know. I wasn't that confident we would get the at-large bid last year. Thank goodness we got it.
"You don't know what criteria they're going to choose. People say if we beat BYU, we'll be fine, but we still have to play well to win the MPSF championship."
Should the top four seeds of the tournament advance this weekend, Hawaii would see BYU in the MPSF semifinals.
Not that the Warriors can afford to look past the Tigers. Pacific has proved capable of beating anyone. After dropping two four-game matches in Honolulu last month, they went home and upset top-ranked Pepperdine in a sweep.
"We're just glad to be playing somebody. Everybody that made the playoffs is a good team," Wilton said. "Every first-round match should be a good one. I'm sure they would say the same thing too, but they didn't get to see us with Tony (Ching)."
Ching, a senior, missed both matches against Pacific because of the flu. He could provide the spark Hawaii needs to beat the same team three times in one season.
"I'm really excited to play them. Those were the games I was sick. Hopefully, I'll be a little surprise for them," Ching said. "We're definitely ready. After going all the way last year, we've reflected back and we know what it takes to get there.
"It's small steps. That experience under our belt is valuable to this run and being able to concentrate on the moment. We're pretty focused on UOP."
When: Today, 7 p.m. Gameday
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE, Ch. 5
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Final MPSF standings
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L *Pepperdine 19 3 .864 -- 22 4 *BYU 17 5 .773 2 19 6 *Hawaii 17 5 .773 2 23 5 *Stanford 14 8 .637 5 17 11 *UC-Irvine 12 10 .545 7 19 10 *Pacific 12 10 .545 7 18 13 *CS-Northridge 12 10 .545 7 18 11 *Long Beach St. 11 11 .500 8 17 12 UCLA 10 12 .455 9 15 14 UCSB 5 17 .227 14 10 20 USC 2 20 .091 17 6 25 UC-San Diego 1 21 .045 18 6 22 *MPSF Tournament team
Today's first-round matches
No. 8 LBSU at No. 1 Pepperdine
No. 7 CSUN at No. 2 BYU
No. 6 Pacific at No. 3 Hawaii
No. 5 UC Irvine at No. 4 Stanford
Pacific (18-13 overall) Probable starters
Ht. KPG Aces Digs S Chris Tamas (Sr.) 6-5 0.70 23 1.24 MB Nils Dauburs (So.) 6-6 3.47 34 1.17 MB Sean Rodgers (Jr.) 6-8 2.64 13 0.24 OH Aaron Wachtfogel (Sr.) 6-1 3.52 31 1.76 OH Martin Berntsen (Sr.) 6-4 3.73 20 1.75 Opp Brian Zodrow (So.) 6-3 2.30 5 1.11 L Mike Gawlik (So.) 6-0 NA NA 2.69 Hawaii (23-5 overall)
Ht. KPG Aces Digs S Kimo Tuyay (Jr.) 6-2 0.47 4 1.23 MB Delano Thomas (So.) 6-7 2.79 37 0.45 MB Brian Nordberg (Sr.) 6-5 1.82 7 0.35 OH Costas Theocharidis (Sr.) 6-3 5.34 26 1.71 OH Tony Ching (Sr.) 6-2 3.59 29 1.99 Opp Eyal Zimet (Sr.) 6-2 2.47 20 1.89 L Jake Muise (Jr.) 6-0 NA NA 2.20 Notes: The Warriors lead the series 21-1. Hawaii won both four-game matches last month against Pacific. On the second night, there was a power failure at the arena in Game 3. ... Hawaii is 15-3 in home matches this season. The Warriors are 6-0 when hosting first-round playoff matches. This is Pacific's fourth playoff appearance since the program was elevated from club status to Division I in 1993.
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