[ WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH's Delano Thomas hit against UCLA's Steve Klosterman when the Bruins played at the Sheriff Center in February.
Confident underdogs
UCLA has the higher seed, but
the Warriors’ Alfred Reft says
"we can compete with anyone
in the country"
LOS ANGELES » There were plenty of ups and downs this season. More like the numerous bouts of turbulence on the transpacific flights.
There were minor bumps that shook the starting lineup, such as injuries and a forgotten uniform. And there were the "Fasten Your Seatbelt" kind where three starters and a key backup were suspended for two matches.
But somehow the members of the Hawaii volleyball team managed to keep somewhat to the flight plan to land in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. It wasn't as the top seeds or as the regular-season champions as hoped, but the fifth-ranked Warriors feel they found the right runway in time for the postseason.
"Practice has been intense this week," sophomore libero Alfred Reft said. "Everyone feels positive that we can win this game. I've never felt so sure about our chances. If we can put it together, like we have the past few days in practice, we can compete with anyone in the country.
"We've had so many bumps in the road, we've been through a lot. But we've grown from the experiences and that's what we take with us into the playoffs. There's more work to be done."
Yesterday was trip No. 5 to California for the fifth-ranked Warriors with nearly the identical itinerary as the one they had last week when finishing the regular season at Pepperdine.
Same flight to Los Angeles International. Same drive to the same El Segundo hotel. Same routine the day before playing: mandatory free breakfast, video, study hall, taping and practice.
Today's drive was some 20 minutes shorter than last week's, when the team traveled to Malibu and practiced in cozy Firestone Fieldhouse. Today's destination was the larger Pauley Pavilion, where Hawaii (17-11) faces No. 3 UCLA (23-5) in the first round of the MPSF Tournament tomorrow (4 p.m. Hawaii time).
The Warriors come in with confidence. Their last match was a victory, the first one by a Hawaii team against the host Waves since 1989.
They've also beaten the Bruins three of the last four times at Pauley Pavilion, including an unprecedented sweep of the two-match series last year.
The teams split their February matches at the Stan Sheriff Center. But tomorrow's outcome is the only one that matters.
"UCLA is a good, steady team," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said, "but they're not a great team. They are beatable, but they're not going to beat themselves.
"The key for us is to take care of what's happening on our side of the net. We have been serving well and playing good team defense, and we've gotten better at siding out and not giving up the runs of points. We need to keep doing that."
The Warriors' lineup tomorrow will not be the same as the one they used when taking on the Bruins two months ago. Senior Kimo Tuyay, hampered by early injuries, replaced freshman Brian Beckwith as the starting setter.
Sophomore hitter Matt Bender has found a home on the right side and sophomore hitter Pedro Azenha is playing a major serve-receive role, one that was handled by Jose Delgado two months ago.
"Pedro's doing a good job in there (defensively)," Wilton said. "And I want his arm in there."
Both Azenha and Reft had no reception errors in Friday's sweep of Pepperdine. Azenha was perfect on 37 receptions and Reft on 28.
Azenha has also been lethal at the net and the backline. He needs 24 kills to reach the 500 mark in his career, and is fourth on the single-season ace chart with 50, needing five to pass Mark Presho and Clay Stanley for the record.
Hawaii has a variety of offensive weapons, with seven players who are capable of putting up double-figure kills. Azenha (33), Delano Thomas (28), Bender (27), Delgado (20), Ryan Woodward (18), Josh Stanhiser (15) and Mauli'a LaBarre (11) have set career highs for kills in a match this season.
The Warriors face a Bruin team with a like number of weapons. Opposite Steve Klosterman, favored to earn freshman of the year honors, leads UCLA in kills with 328. There are four other Bruins who produced more than 200 kills -- senior middle Chris Pena, junior middle Paul Johnson, junior hitter Kris Kraushaar and senior hitter J.T. Wenger.
UCLA also has senior opposite Marcin Jagoda, a left-hander, who replaced right-hander Klosterman at times this season and who managed a team-high 18 kills Saturday in defeating UC Santa Barbara. The Bruins were without Klosterman, who was sidelined with tendinitis in his hitting shoulder.
"It will be a good playoff atmosphere," Wilton said. "It hasn't been tough lately for us because we've had success. But UCLA has been a tough place to play because the UCLA teams have always been good.
"They are good this year but they are beatable, just like every team in this league."
