Azenha helps
Hawaii burn PacificThe UH junior has 17 kills
and five aces while hitting
.444 against the Tigers
STOCKTON, Calif. >> His teammates have seen it in practice, the way Pedro Azenha can light it up.
"Em fogo." It's Portuguese for "on fire."
Lewis saw it during the Outrigger Hotels Invitational last month in a five-game loss to Hawaii. The junior hitter from Brazil had career highs of 33 kills and five aces to lead the Warriors over the Flyers and earn the tournament's MVP trophy.
UH at Pacific
When: Today, 5 p.m. HST.
Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM.
TV: None
Series: Hawaii leads 23-1, and has won the last 14 meetings.
No. 15 Pacific saw it last night at the Spanos Center. Azenha put down a match-high 17 kills, hit .444 and tied his career high in aces with five to lead No. 2 Hawaii to a 31-29, 30-27, 30-26 win.
It was the Warriors' seventh straight victory and improved their records to 9-2 overall and 6-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Hawaii now leads the MPSF by a half-game over BYU (7-3, 5-1).
The Warriors are expected to move into the No. 1 spot when the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 15 is released today. The Tigers, who played without their leading player (suspended junior opposite Nils Dauburs) fell to 4-10 and 2-7.
The teams complete the series today at 5 p.m. Hawaii time.
"We played more like No. 30 tonight," said Hawaii coach Mike Wilton after the 91-minute match. "We were real low in the energy and enthusiasm department. We had no spark.
"It was good that the guys figured out a way to win. There were a lot of light bulbs off tonight. I didn't like our lack of zip and tomorrow I want to bring some zip and electricity back. The team knows I wasn't very happy."
However, some of the things Azenha did pleased Wilton, particularly the way the junior stepped up his game at the critical points of Games 1 and 2.
The Warriors broke away in a tight Game 1, earning game point at 29-27 on a kill by Delano Thomas. The Tigers rallied to tie it on a kill by Saint Louis product Brian Zodrow and a block by Zodrow and Brian Adamson on Thomas.
Enter Azenha, who put down his seventh kill, then served the first of his five aces to end it.
Azenha had two aces in a row to give Hawaii some breathing room in Game 2 at 12-9. Pacific refused to fold, tying it at 18 and 20, and closing to 28-26.
A kill by Azenha gave the Warriors game point and, one sideout later, his 12th kill put Hawaii up 2-0.
The Tigers hung around in Game 3, pulling to within 17-16, but the Warriors pulled away on three consecutive points. UOP closed to two five times but could never get any closer.
Thomas and Josh Stanhiser blocked Mauricio Brizula to give Hawaii match point at 29-26. One sideout later, Stanhiser finished it off with his sixth kill.
Thomas was the only other Warrior in double-figure kills with 16.
Zodrow led the Tigers with 12 kills. Senior blocker Adam Catania (Mililani High School) added four kills, hitting .500, with two of UOP's three aces.
Junior hitter Bryson Metz (Kamehameha Schools) had one kill in a brief appearance. Several times during the match, the Tigers had all three island products on the court.
It is uncertain whether Dauburs would be back with the team for tonight's match. He leads the Tigers in kills (3.83 kpg) and aces (28).
"We had prepared for him and he is certainly a focal point of their team," Wilton said of Dauburs. "But we have no excuses for tonight. I'll put the blame on my doorstep. We need to do a better job of preparation."
LaBarre named National Player of Week: Hawaii sophomore blocker Mauli'a LaBarre was named the Sports Import/AVCA National Player of the Week yesterday, the first for the Warrior team this year and the first national recognition for the Roosevelt High School graduate.
"Wow, I don't know what to think," said LaBarre, who found out about the award after last night's match. "I'm amazed and stoked. I never thought I'd get anything like this. But it's not just my award. My teammates helped me achieve it. I'm very thankful and grateful."
LaBarre set a school record for single-match hitting percentage (1.000) when he put down all 11 attempts against Stanford last Thursday. In two matches against the Cardinal last week, he hit a combined .895 (18 of 19 with no hitting errors) and was in on 11 blocks.
Last night, LaBarre hit .462 with eight kills, three block assists and one of Hawaii's seven aces.
"All of us know we can play a lot better," LaBarre said. "Hopefully, we'll come out with more fire. But give Pacific credit. They played very well."
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MPSF Volleyball
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Hawaii 6 1 .857 9 2 Brigham Young 5 1 .833 7 3 UCLA 6 2 .750 11 2 Long Beach St. 6 2 .750 11 3 CSU Northridge 5 4 .556 9 5 UC Santa Barbara 4 3 .571 7 4 Pepperdine 3 3 .500 7 3 UC San Diego 2 4 .333 5 8 Stanford 3 7 .300 5 9 UC Irvine 2 6 .250 5 8 USC 2 6 .250 3 12 Pacific 2 7 .222 4 10
Today (All times Hawaii time)
Hawaii at Pacific, 5 p.m. HST
UC San Diego at Pepperdine
Hawaii def. Pacific
31-29, 30-27, 30-26
WARRIORS (9-2, 6-1 MPSF) g k e att pct. bs ba d Delgado 3 4 7 14 -.214 0 0 7 Jeschke 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Beckwith 3 1 0 5 .200 0 3 5 Reft 3 0 1 1 -1.000 0 0 6 Azenha 3 17 5 27 .444 0 1 6 LaBarre 3 8 2 13 .462 0 3 1 Thomas 3 16 8 35 .229 0 3 6 Stanhiser 3 6 1 9 .556 0 3 2 Totals 3 52 24 104 .269 0 13 34 TIGERS (4-10, 2-7 MPSF) g k e att pct. bs ba d Gawlik 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 5 Hazelett 3 1 1 3 .000 0 1 3 Brizuela 3 9 6 24 .125 1 2 4 Zodrow 3 12 4 30 .267 0 1 5 Adamson 3 9 4 22 .227 0 5 3 Metz 2 1 0 1 1.000 0 0 1 Catania 3 4 0 8 .500 0 5 1 Rodgers 3 4 1 10 .300 0 4 0 Paul 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 3 40 16 98 .245 1 18 22
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Hawaii (7): Azenha 5, LaBarre, Thomas. Pacific (3): Catania 2, Brizuela.
Assists -- Hawaii (50): Beckwith 48, Delgado, Azenha. Pacific (39): Hazelett 36, Adamson 2, Gawlik.
T -- 1:31. Officials -- Eric Asami, Brig Beatie. A -- 354.
