UH, Pepperdine
gunning for MPSF
tourney’s No. 4 seedThe Warriors need to win two
off the Waves and have Cal State
Northridge lose twice
In golf, the cry is "Fore."
In men's volleyball this week, it's "Four." As in No. 4.
Both Hawaii and Pepperdine are trying to nail down the fourth seed in next week's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. The teams meet in the critical regular-season-ending series at Firestone Fieldhouse with the same goal in mind: hosting an April 24 first-round match.
Hawaii at Pepperdine
When: 7 p.m. tomorrow and Friday
Radio: Live, KKEA (1420-AM)
TV: None
Series: Pepperdine leads, 27-18
Next up: MPSF tournament, first round, April 24, TBA
The Warriors need to win both, as well as have Cal State Northridge lose twice this week, in order to be at home next week. The Waves can afford a split with UH as long as Northridge loses twice to finish fourth.
The Matadors hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Hawaii and Pepperdine.
"We're glad to be home this week because we just came off the road," Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy said in a telephone call yesterday. "But the way I see it, either you're good enough (to win) or you're not. It's who you are, not where you play."
However, Dunphy's teams are 7-0 against Mike Wilton-coached Hawaii teams in Malibu.
Dunphy also knows that playing at home is not a guaranteed win. UCLA came into Firestone on April 3 and swept the Waves in 84 minutes, 30-26, 30-25, 30-25.
"UCLA played really well here and we didn't have our best match," Dunphy said. "We didn't do much different against them from what we did last week (in 3-0 wins at Stanford and Pacific). UCLA just played well.
"Now we'll see Hawaii and they obviously have great talent and great depth. We don't have the interchangeable players Hawaii seems to have. Each of their players is a concern and you have to be aware of what each player is capable of doing. UH has plenty of firepower. We can't focus on one player. And we always try to focus on our side of the net."
The Warriors have gone through a number of lineup changes in trying to find the right combination this season. So, too, have the Waves ... sometimes due to necessity and sometimes due to pure talent beating out experience.
An ankle injury to junior hitter Mike Gledhill led to Dunphy moving Kamehameha Schools graduate James Ka from libero to outside. The Waves also expect to start two freshmen tomorrow in 6-foot-7 middle John Parfitt and 6-2 libero Tanner Sutherland.
Pepperdine's mainstays are still its two All-American hitters: 6-5 senior Fred Winters and 6-9 junior Sean Rooney. The two rank 3 and 4 in MPSF kill average at 4.88 and 4.63 per game, and are among the league scoring leaders, averaging more than five points per game (kills plus blocks plus aces).
Also playing well for the Waves is 6-11 sophomore middle Andy Hein, who was in on nine blocks in Saturday's win at Pacific. Junior setter John Mayer has the Waves hitting .358 in MPSF contests.
That the conference standings are so close and so much is riding on the final week is no surprise to Dunphy, who has been at Pepperdine for 21 seasons.
"There is a lot of good coaching going on," he said. "It shows in the level of play around the league, from Tom Peterson (at BYU) to Ron Larsen (at UC San Diego). The coaches are coaching the heck out of their teams and it makes it real fun to play."
And where that fun will happen next week is up for grabs.
Notes: Also on the Pepperdine roster from Hawaii are sophomore hitters Arist De Wolff (Saint Louis) and Jon Grobe (Iolani), sophomore libero Brent Monden (Hawaii Baptist), and freshman hitter Max De Wolff (Academy of the Pacific). ... The Waves are recruiting Punahou School senior Eric Liebert, a 6-6 middle and an All-Interscholastic League of Honolulu second-team selection.
