[ WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL ]
RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Pedro Azenha was named Most Valuable Player of the Outrigger Hotels Volleball Invitational tournament.
UH hopes to carry
momentum on road
The pieces all came together at the end of Saturday night's match.
Now the Hawaii men's volleyball team hopes to keep it together as it prepares for its first road trip of the season. The victory gives the Warriors a lift as they prepare to open conference play with a two-match series at UC Santa Barbara on Thursday and Friday
All-tourney teamHawaii: Delano Thomas, Josh Stanhiser. Lewis: Jeff Soler. Manitoba: Murray Laidlaw, Mike Munday. Penn State: Keith Kowal, Rickey Mattei.
MVP: Pedro Azenha, UH
"Mentally, the win was huge for us before we go on the road," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said.
Physically, the 2-hour, 42-minute victory over defending national champion Lewis was exhausting. Emotionally, it would have been even more draining had not the Warriors pulled out the 26-30, 30-23, 33-31, 28-30, 15-10 win over the Flyers for the title of the 10th Outrigger Hotels Volleyball Invitational.
It was enough to help numb the pain of tournament MVP Pedro Azenha as he limped across the court to accept his trophy, left ankle wrapped in ice. The sophomore opposite apparently rolled his ankle after getting tangled up under the net with Jeff Soler of Lewis on the final play of a hard-fought Game 3.
"I took my shoes off and it was pretty ugly," said Azenha, who had career highs of 33 kills and five aces. "But of course, winning makes it better."
It was the second time in three nights that Hawaii was pushed to five. Thursday, the Warriors fell to Penn State.
It appeared Saturday would be a repeat when the Flyers jumped out to a 5-2 lead in Game 5, helped by three Warrior errors. It began to turn around when Azenha put down a kill, putting the serve in the hands of sophomore middle Mauli'a LaBarre.
When LaBarre finally gave it back after a five-point run, the Warriors had the momentum and a lead they would never relinquish.
Senior middle Josh Stanhiser was the beneficiary of LaBarre's too-hot-to-handle serves, getting one of his 15 kills on a service overpass and teaming with Arri Jeschke to block another.
"The guys back there were serving hard balls, causing the pass-overs, and it made my job easy," said Stanhiser, also named to the all-tournament team. "In Game 5 we started off way behind, dug deep and came through. Way to go, way to fight and dig down.
"We need to play hard every time out of the blocks. We're only going to get better. Hopefully, there's no where to go but up."
Hawaii started new players at every position during the three-day tournament. The Warriors have much room for improvement, particularly as freshman setter Brian Beckwith continues to make the transition to collegiate ball and junior Delano Thomas settles into his new position on the outside.
Overall, Wilton was pleased with the outcome with the exception of the all-tournament team selections. The Warriors had Azenha, Stanhiser and Thomas chosen, but Wilton would have added Beckwith.
"To us, he was clearly the best setter in the tournament," said Wilton. "It is a real toss-up for me as to who deserves to be the MVP, either Pedro or Brian. It's a close one."
It was as close as the tournament standings were heading into Saturday's final day. For the first time in tournament history, all four teams were 1-1 with a shot at claiming the title.
Hawaii (2-1) won the tie-breaker over Manitoba (2-1) by virtue of head-to-head competition (the Warriors swept the Bisons on Friday). It was the first time since 1999 that the Warriors won their own tournament.
Lewis and Penn State both finished at 1-2, with Lewis finishing third, having defeated the Nittany Lions on Friday.
Penn State didn't know who won the tournament nor its final standing until reaching the mainland yesterday after an overnight flight. The Nittany Lions pushed the envelope on the airport's group check-in efficiency after losing to Manitoba on Saturday 30-26, 30-24, 31-33, 30-28.
"It would have been interesting had we gone to a Game 5," said Mark Pavlik before his team left around 8 p.m. for a 9:45 flight.
Manitoba had planned to make it an extended vacation and wasn't bothered by any flight itinerary. The Bisons intended to play tourists for the next few days.
The only members of the team who had visited Hawaii before were head coach Garth Pischke and setter Mike Munday. The stay was made more pleasant when ending it with the win over the Nittany Lions.
"We wanted to come back and show we're a good team," said Munday, another all-tournament pick. "We were very disappointed in ourselves Friday. I'm proud we got it back to together."
What's on the collective minds of the Flyers is getting back here in May for the final four. Coach Dave Deuser didn't play All-American setter J.R. Martins (flu) during the tournament and also didn't have the services of All-American hitter Gustavo Meyer, whose eligibility is being questioned by the NCAA.
"It was a great match," Deuser said. "What kind of difference would J.R. have made? Huge. Brandon (sophomore reserve Sisk) did a phenomenal job stepping in, but J.R. has won a national championship. He's a little more accurate and has more experience, plain and simple."
"I thought Hawaii played a great match," Lewis libero Ryan Stuntz said. "It was a very even match and both teams played well."
