[ COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL ]

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Parity reigns in MPSF
men’s volleyball

Hawaii opens conference play
at Santa Barbara in a league
where any team can beat another

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

Pepperdine. Brigham Young. And everybody else.

Such is men's volleyball life in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. On any given night, the given is that any team has a chance to beat another.

MPSF men's volleyball Who: Hawaii (1-1) at UC Santa Barbara (3-1) When: Tomorrow and Friday, 5 p.m. Hawaii time Radio: Both matches live, 1420-AM TV: None Series: UH leads 36-19

The parity is such that the term "upset" is rapidly becoming obsolete. And who is favored this week doesn't necessarily mean they'll be favored next week ... or at the end of the season.

Pepperdine comes into the season top-ranked and looking to defend its MPSF regular-season title. Brigham Young, which defeated the Waves for the MPSF tournament title, will be in the hunt again ... but needs to heal some injuries quickly.

UC Irvine again looks very competitive. So does Cal State Northridge ... and Long Beach State ... and UCLA ... and Pacific ... and the list goes on all the way down through the 14th team in the conference: UC San Diego.

Where does Hawaii fit in? With new players at every position, the Warriors could be hard-pressed to repeat their performance of last year, when they tied BYU for second place in the conference at 17-5.

Hawaii is very talented, albeit very young, and the results will likely be mixed and as unpredictable as a Pedro Azenha serve. And, at least for this week's trip to UCSB, the team that the Warriors put on the Robertson Gym court won't be the same that won last week's Outrigger Hotels Volleyball Invitational.

A severe ankle injury to Azenha, the dynamic sophomore opposite who was the tournament MVP, had Warrior coach Mike Wilton juggling his lineup as well as the 12-player travel roster before the team left yesterday.

Sophomore hitter Matt Bender will replace Azenha, as he did against Penn State last Thursday when Azenha struggled. Senior libero Jake Muise, who didn't suit up for last week's tournament, will make the trip, as will junior setter Daniel Rasay.

Normally, Wilton said, he would move senior Arri Jeschke into the libero spot, but "we're going to need all of our outside hitters," the coach said. "We'll miss Pedro and his kill numbers (62 kills in three matches), but it's an opportunity for Bender to step up, as well as the rest of the team.

"And we're taking an extra libero in case something happens to Alfred (Reft)."

Reft is a little wary about making the trip ... but not because of a potential injury. This will be quite a homecoming for the sophomore, who grew up in nearby Oxnard and wore a Gaucho uniform last season.

"There's a lot at stake for me personally and I'm definitely excited," Reft said. "It's going to be great going back home, and there's going to be a lot of good competition.

"And I spoke with some of my former teammates. I'm sure they'll have something lined up. Santa Barbara is a tough place to play. The fans can be harsh. I don't know if they'll throw blue tortillas -- I love the blue tortillas -- but they'll have something."

In 2002, the Warriors split with the Gauchos the last time the teams met in Santa Barbara. Hawaii won in a sweep the first night, and UCSB returned the favor the second night.

The Warriors won both matches last season at the Stan Sheriff Center. The seldom-used Reft didn't make the trip to Hawaii last April.

"I think we're all ready to make this trip," said Reft, who had four total digs in two matches for the Gauchos last year. "We'll see if we can harness some of the energy we had last weekend.

"We can't really fill Pedro's spot. But our bench has come in and done a fine job. We'll all just have to play at a higher level without Pedro."

Given the toughness of the MPSF, every team will have to up its level every night.

Hawaii No. 3: The Warriors are ranked No. 3 in the first USA Today/AVCA Top 15 men's poll of the season.

Pepperdine, receiving 14 of 16 first-place votes, is No. 1 followed by UCLA. Defending national champion Lewis is No. 4 with Cal State Northridge fifth and Long Beach State sixth; the Flyers and Gauchos each received one vote.

Penn State, which defeated Hawaii to open the season, is seventh and national runner-up BYU is eighth. UC Santa Barbara, Hawaii's opponent tomorrow and Friday, is No. 9.

Eleven of the 14 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams are ranked in the first poll.

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A look at the
Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation

A look at the other conference teams, based on 2003 finish:

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Pepperdine (24-6, 19-3)

The Waves (2-0 this season) swept BYU in two non-conference matches last weekend, relying on the arm of junior All-American hitter Sean Rooney.

Also back, and returning with international experience from the University Games, are senior All-American Fred Winters and sophomore blocker Andy Hein. Running the offense is junior setter John Mayer.

Hawaii connection: Coach Marv Dunphy has five island players on his 16-player roster, including brothers Arist de Wolff (sophomore hitter, Saint Louis) and Max de Wolff (freshman hitter, Academy of the Pacific). James Ka (junior, Kamehameha) has settled in at libero with his backup being Brent Monden (sophomore, Hawaii Baptist). Expecting to get more playing time is hitter Jon Grobe (sophomore, Iolani).

BYU (23-7, 17-5)

The Cougars (0-2) were swept by Pepperdine twice last weekend.

Coach Tom Peterson returns four starters among 10 veterans from last year's team that loss to Lewis in the NCAA final. Junior All-American setter Carlos Moreno is back to run the team.

Stanford (17-12, 14-8)

The Cardinal (2-2) opened the season with a sweep of UC Santa Cruz and went 1-2 at the UCSB tournament, beating Pacific but losing to Long Beach State and the host Gauchos.

Coach Don Shaw lost four starters and 75 percent of his offense from last year's squad. Stanford's experience is at setter, with junior Kevin Hansen again running the team.

The Cardinal has three freshmen and no seniors on the team.

UC Irvine (20-11, 12-10)

The Anteaters (2-2) outlasted Cal Baptist in five games in their opener, then went 1-2 at the UCSB tournament. UCI lost to USC, beat Pacific, then fell to the host Gauchos to finish sixth.

The Anteaters, coming off their best season ever, return senior All-American hitter Jimmy Pelzel. UCI opened 2003 10-0.

Hawaii connection: Second-year coach John Speraw has middle Chad Miller (freshman, Iolani) on the roster.

Pacific (18-14, 12-10)

The Tigers (0-3) finished last in the eight-team UCSB Invitational losing to eventual champion UCLA in three, then dropping two five-game matches to UC Irvine and Stanford.

UOP lost a lot from 2003, including three all-MPSF selections. But the Tigers do have four all-league honorees back, led by senior middle Sean Rodgers.

Hawaii connection: Coach Joe Wortmann has a trio on his roster in opposite Brian Zodrow (junior, Saint Louis), opposite Adam Catania (senior, Mililani) and hitter Bryson Metz (junior, Kamehameha).

Northridge (18-12, 12-10)

The Matadors (3-1) lost the first match of the season Saturday when falling to UCLA in five for the title of the UCSB Invitational.

Cal State Northridge opened the season with a victory over Quincy. The Matadors downed Long Beach State and UCSB in the tournament.

Northridge returns three of their four all-MPSF picks in seniors Doug English, a libero, and setter Ty Tramblie, and junior hitter Nils Nielsen.

Hawaii connection: Redshirting for coach Jeff Campbell is hitter Isaac Kneubuhl (freshman, Kamehameha).

Long Beach St. (17-13, 11-11)

The 49ers (3-1) finished third in the UCSB Invitational with wins over Stanford and USC, and a loss to CSUN.

Scott Touzinsky paced The Beach with 71 kills and six aces in the tournament. Tyler Hildebrand, the 2003 national freshman of the year, continued to impress and is only 206 assists away from reaching the 2,000-assist mark.

The 49ers opened the year by pounding La Verne, including topping the Leopards 30-9 in Game 1.

UCLA (15-14, 10-12)

Coach Al Scates promised this year's team would be better than last year and "we'll be back where we belong." His Bruins (3-0) responded by going undefeated in last week's UCSB Invitational.

UCLA has three all-MPSF selections back, but will be without junior hitter Jonathan Acosta (appendix removed) for a couple of weeks. Freshman opposite Steven Klosterman led the team with 22 kills in the title match against Cal State Northridge.

Hawaii connection: Brennan Prahler (junior, Punahou) is a reserve outside hitter.

UC Santa Barbara (10-20, 5-17)

The Gauchos (3-1) finished fifth in their own event last weekend, defeating Stanford and UC Irvine. They fell to Northridge to open the tournament.

Coach Ken Preston has just one senior back from last year's disappointing season in blocker Justin Adams. Sophomore opposite Evan Patak picked up international experience while playing for the U.S. this past summer in the World University Games.

Hawaii connection: Freshman Kawika Burdine is the younger brother of former Hawaii Pacific volleyball player Bonnie Burdine and current USC All-American Keao Burdine.

USC (6-25, 2-10)

The Trojans (1-2) finished fourth in the UCSB Invitational, opening with a win over UC Irvine, then falling to UCLA and Long Beach State.

Second-year coach Turhan Douglas' rebuilding process could also be dubbed "Extreme Makeover," with 10 new players on the roster. Last year's team set a school record for most losses and failed to advance to the MPSF tournament for the second consecutive season.

The Trojans' lone senior is the athletic but injury-prone Ian Gallagher, who is imposing when he's healthy. The 6-6 player has been used at setter, left-side hitter and opposite.

Hawaii connection: The Trojans lost the one they had for the past four seasons when blocker Josh Day (Kamehameha) finished his eligibility.

UC San Diego (6-22, 1-21)

The Tritons, the only Division II team in the MPSF, opened the year with a four-game win over Quincy.

UCSD returns senior all-MPSF opposite Jim Waller, whose 4.84 kills per game ranked him fifth nationally last season.

While most of the MPSF is involved with conference openers, the Tritons will be at Cal Baptist first on Friday before traveling to USC.