college volleyball
Volleyball’s best
in town to blast awayAll four teams still alive
have played in the Stan
Sheriff Center this season
Ah, paradise. A tropical island getaway in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
What more could anyone ask?
Maybe an NCAA trophy to take home?
THE FINAL FOUR
All games at Stan Sheriff CenterTomorrow
>> No. 2 Long Beach State vs. No. 7 Penn State, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)
>> No. 1 BYU vs. No. 13 Lewis, 8 p.m. (approx.)
That's the quest of four teams beginning tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center: the 35th NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship title.
It will be less than a three-hour tour for two of the schools that made their way out here only to finish tied for third after a loss in tomorrow's semifinals.
It will be more like "Survivor: Hawaii."
"Cast Away" turns "Blast Away" starting tomorrow.
All four teams have been in this situation before and come away with the title. Long Beach State (1991), Penn State (1994), Brigham Young (1999, 2001) and Lewis (2003) have been able to create the fire at the right time.
This time, only one can -- and will -- go back home as the 2004 champion.
There are no rafts to be built, there are no FedEx packages to help with the struggle to survive. Destiny ... and the title ... is theirs for the taking.
But how?
All four have enough firepower to light it up on any given night. All four would give anything to have that winning spark the final two nights of the season.
And, as Chuck Noland said to Wilson the volleyball in "Cast Away," "We just might make it. ... Who knows what the tide could bring?"
One never knows.
There is no home-court advantage this week. All four teams have played here this season.
Both Penn State and Lewis went 1-2 to open the season at the Outrigger Hotels Invitational. Both BYU and Long Beach State played two conference matches against Hawaii here, with the Cougars defeating the Warriors twice and the 49ers splitting with the Warriors in matches that went five both nights.
A look at the teams:
BYU (27-4)
The Cougars have found a way to survive most challenges this season, including injuries and an NCAA investigation into the eligibility of two players.They stumbled early, losing three of their first four, but came together to win 21 in a row. The glue is junior setter Carlos Moreno, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year and the MVP of the MPSF tournament.
BYU also has seniors Fernando Pessoa, Jonathan Alleman and Joe Hillman who fell short in last season's championship match again Lewis. The Cougars feature a rising star in sophomore middle Victor Batista.
Second-year coach Tom Peterson has his team in the NCAA semifinals for the second straight year. He is not the underdog as he was in 1994, when he coached Penn State to an upset of top-ranked UCLA and the first national championship won by a team outside of California.
Long Beach State (27-6)
The 49ers had their chances to be the top seed this week, but fell to the Cougars last Saturday in the MPSF tournament final, a match that gave BYU its 15 straight win at Smith Fieldhouse.The Beach had three players named to the all-MPSF first team, including last year's Freshman of the Year Tyler Hildebrand. The setter is averaging 14.26 assists per game and has the 49ers hitting .350.
Senior opposite Scott Touzinsky and senior middle David Lee have been the heart of the 49er offense, with Touzinsky putting down a team-high 522 kills and Lee in on 166 blocks.
Coach Alan Knipe, a member of the 1991 championship team, has a chance to become the first in NCAA men's volleyball history to win a national title as a player and a coach.
Penn State (23-6)
The Nittany Lions struggled early, going 3-4 as they opened with seven straight matches on the road. The skid included losses to Lewis and Manitoba (exhibition) at the Outrigger Hotels Invitational.Penn State went on to win 20 of its next 22, and has won eight of its last 10 in straight sets.
The Lions are led by Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Player of the Year and EIVA tournament MVP Keith Kowal, a junior middle hitting .575 and averaging 3.79 kpg and 1.41 bpg.
Penn State fell to BYU in last year's national semifinal. The Lions have just three starters who saw significant playing time back from that team in Kowal, sophomore setter Dan O'Dell and senior libero Ricky Mattei.
The Lions have the only Hawaii connection in the final four in senior libero Rhonee Rojas (University).
Lewis (19-13)
The Flyers have survived a near-crash landing to again become the Cinderella story of the NCAA tournament. In 2003, Lewis became the first team from the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association to win the NCAA championship, as well as the first Division II team to take the banner.However, last year's title is under investigation, which sidelined two All-Americans -- setter J.R. Martins and hitter Gustavo Meyer. Lewis has rebounded behind sophomore setter Brandon Sisk, who had never set in a Division I match prior to January.
The Flyers lost five of their first six matches and had a four-match slump in midseason. Lewis regrouped to win 11 of its last 14, including three straight in the MIVA tournament.
Junior hitter Jeff Soler carried the team last week with a combined 53 kills in upsets of top-seeded Ohio State and No. 2 seed Ball State. Yesterday, the MIVA tournament MVP was named the AVCA National Player of the Week.
BACK TO TOP |
Brigham Young
No. 1 seed with a 27-4 recordThis is the Cougars' second consecutive trip to the NCAA semifinals, and fourth in six seasons. BYU won national titles in 1999 and 2001, and finished second to Lewis last year in a five-game thriller.
BYU, ranked No. 1 since the March 9 poll, earned its berth by winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. The MPSF regular-season champs (20-2) defeated UC Irvine, Pepperdine and Long Beach State to earn the league's automatic berth.
BYU, which had a school-record 21-match winning streak this season, takes on Lewis tomorrow in a rematch of the 2003 championship. The Cougars defeated the Flyers March 26 in Provo, 3-1.
HITTERS AND BLOCKERS
No. Name Ht. Pos. Cl. G KPG BPG 2 Steffin Rangel 6-5 OH So. 18 0.50 0.17 3 Michael Burke 6-8 MB Jr. 68 2.66 1.16 7 Chris Gorny 6-6 MB/OH Sr. 39 1.41 0.72 8 David Hyte 6-8 MB Sr. 16 0.56 0.31 10 Cory Carpenter 6-7 MB Sr. 56 0.66 0.71 11 Joe Hillman 6-7 OPP Sr. 110 3.57 0.78 12 Jonathan Alleman 6-3 OH/Opp Sr. 117 3.36 0.66 17 Fernando Pessoa 6-4 OH Sr. 114 4.10 0.62 18 Victor Batista 6-6 OH So. 96 2.44 1.28 20 Taylor Evans 6-2 OH/Opp So. 43 0.50 0.17
SETTERS AND LIBEROS
No. Name Ht. Pos. Cl. G APG DPG 5 Carlos Moreno 6-4 S Jr. 113 14.09 1.18 14 Rob Neilson 6-3 S So. 97 0.77 0.27 15 Shawn Olmstead 6-2 L Sr. 117 0.31 1.85
Ace leaders (96): Hillman 19, Batista 18, Moreno 16, Alleman 16, Pessoa 13.
NCAA titles: Two (1999, 2001)
Head coach: Tom Peterson (second year, 49-11, one NCAA title at PSU, 1994)
Assistants: Grayson DuBose, Shawn Patchell, Greg Jorgenson
Long Beach State
No. 2 seed with a 27-6 recordLong Beach State is in the NCAA semifinals for the sixth time, and the first since 1999. The 49ers' lone national title came in 1991 when the tournament was held at Blaisdell Arena.
Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe was a member of the 1991 title team, earning all-final four honors. He had 16 kills and eight blocks in the 3-1 win over USC.
The Beach, ranked No. 2 nationally, has won 13 of its last 15, with the losses coming at Hawaii on April 2 and in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament final to BYU. The second-place finish was good enough to earn the 49ers the at-large berth.
HITTERS AND BLOCKERS
No. Name Ht. Pos. Cl. G KPG BPG 2 Jeff Wooton 6-5 OH Sr. 106 3.66 0.50 4 Clint Coe 6-3 OH Sr. 79 0.80 0.22 6 Thiago Barbosa 6-5 OH Fr. 40 0.22 0.03 8 Nathan Hagstrom 6-5 OH Jr. 119 1.23 0.55 9 Scott Touzinsky 6-7 OH Jr. 115 4.54 0.82 13 Teddy Liles 6-8 MB Fr. 6 2.50 0.67 14 Yassir Slitti 6-6 MB Jr. 56 2.09 0.95 17 Duncan Budinger 6-8 MB So. 82 2.51 0.80 21 David Lee 6-8 MB Sr. 114 2.54 1.46 22 Kevin Cape 6-6 MB/OH Fr. 8 0.40 0.25 24 Robert Tarr 6-6 OH So. 84 2.17 0.38
SETTERS AND LIBEROS
No. Name Ht. Pos. Cl. G APG DPG 5 Tyler Hildebrand 6-4 S So. 117 14.26 1.44 11 Robert Kijewski 6-5 L/S Sr. 104 0.63 0.18 20 Paul Munoz 6-3 L Jr. 115 0.32 2.08
Ace leaders (152): Touzinsky 36, Hagstrom 25, Hildebrand 21, Wooton 20, Tarr 18.
NCAA titles: One (1991)
Head coach: Alan Knipe (fourth, 75-44, one NCAA title as LBS player, 1991)
Assistants: Greg Vernovage, Andy Read, John Crutchfield
Penn State
No. 3 seed with a 23-6 recordPenn State, the first non-California team to win the NCAA title (1994), is in the NCAA semifinals for the sixth consecutive year, 19th overall.
The Nittany Lions rolled to their 16th Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament championship with straight-set wins over Sacred Heart, George Mason and Rutgers-Newark.
Penn State, ranked seventh nationally, has won its last 10. The Lions opened the season Jan. 8 with a 3-2 victory over Hawaii in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational, but then lost four of their next five, including 3-1 to Lewis at the Stan Sheriff Center.
HITTERS AND BLOCKERS
No. Name Ht. Pos. Cl. G KPG BPG 4 Matt Proper 6-6 OH/Opp So. 103 3.16 1.06 7 Kevin Wentzel 6-4 OH So. 98 3.12 0.53 8 Aaron Smith 6-5 OH Fr. 69 1.62 0.52 10 Alex Gutor 6-3 OH Fr. 70 2.34 0.56 11 Nate Meerstein 6-9 MB So. 102 2.71 1.33 13 Phillip Small 6-11 MB Jr. 50 0.56 0.52 14 Keith Kowal 6-5 MB Jr. 101 3.79 1.41 15 Josh Mowrey 6-5 OH Sr. 85 0.24 0.06
SETTERS, LIBEROS AND DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST
No. Name Ht. Pos. Cl. G APG DPG 1 Ricky Mattei 5-1 L Sr. 104 0.68 2.33 2 Dan O'Dell 6-7 S So. 103 13.58 1.39 5 Rhonee Rojas 6-0 DS Sr. 79 0.04 0.43 6 Ryan Walthall 6-2 S Fr. 27 2.30 0.37
Ace leaders (123): Proper 31, Wentzel 30, Gutor 18, Kowal 10.
NCAA titles: One (1994)
Head coach: Mark Pavlik (10th, 237-78, one NCAA title as assistant, 1994)
Assistant: Dennis Hohenshelt
Lewis
No. 4 seed with a 19-13 recordLewis, the first team from the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association to win an NCAA championship, opens its title defense against top-ranked Brigham Young. It is a rematch of last year's national title game won by the Flyers in five.
Lewis is seeking to become the first school since UCLA (1995-96) to repeat as champions. This is the Flyers' second consecutive trip to the NCAA semifinals, and fourth since 1996.
Lewis, ranked 13th, won the MIVA tournament as the fifth seed. The Flyers upset IPFW, top seed Ohio State and second-seeded Ball State to earn the league's automatic berth.
Since losing to BYU on March 26, the Flyers have won six of their last eight matches.
HITTERS AND BLOCKERS
No. Name Ht. Pos. Cl. G KPG BPG 2 Enrique Escalante 6-6 MB So. 31 2.6 1.15 4 Jared Dayton 6-5 MB/OH Fr. 80 2.00 0.65 6 Darek Stieber 6-4 OH Fr. 2 4.0 .50 7 Jeff Soler 6-6 OH Jr. 117 3.56 0.58 8 Matt Mueller 6-5 Opp Sr. 12 2.25 0.41 10 Fabiano Barreto 6-6 Opp Sr. 112 4.20 0.66 15 Jon Bergmann 6-6 OH Fr. 54 1.83 0.37 16 Greg Pochopien 6-5 MB Jr 85 1.72 1.40 17 James Elsea 6-6 MB Sr. 55 1.52 078
SETTERS AND LIBEROS
No. Name Ht. Pos. Cl. G APG DPG 3 J.J. Castellano 5-11 L So. 72 0.3 0.34 9 Ryan Stuntz 5-10 L Sr. 113 0.69 2.32 14 Brandon Sisk 6-3 S So. 118 12.13 1.37
Ace leaders (125): Soler 29, Escalante 23, Barreto 18, Pochopien 14, Elsea 12, Bergmann 11.
NCAA titles: One (2003)
Head coach: Dave Deuser (11th, 256-111)
Assistant: Ryan McNeil
BACK TO TOP |
2004 results for final 4 teams
No. 1 BYU (27-4)
L Pepperdine, 0-3
L Pepperdine, 0-3
W x-CS Northridge, 3-0
L x-CS Northridge, 2-3
W at Ohio State, 3-0
W at Ohio State, 3-1
W x-at Long Beach State, 3-2
W x-at Long Beach State, 3-2
W x-Pacific, 3-0
W x-Pacific, 3-0
W x-Stanford, 3-0
W x-Stanford, 3-0
W x-at UC Irvine, 3-1
W x-at UC Irvine, 3-1
W x-UC Santa Barbara, 3-0
W x-UC Santa Barbara, 3-0
W x-Pepperdine, 3-1
W x-Pepperdine, 3-1
W x-at Hawaii, 3-1
W x-at Hawaii, 3-2
W Lewis, 3-1
W George Mason, 3-0
W x-at UC San Diego, 3-1
W x-at UC San Diego, 3-0
W x-at UCLA, 3-1
L x-at UCLA, 2-3
W x-USC, 3-0
W x-USC, 3-2
W y-UC Irvine, 3-0
W y-UCLA, 3-0
W y-Long Beach State, 3-1
x-denotes MPSF match
y-denotes MPSF Tournament
No. 2 Long Beach State (27-6)
W La Verne, 3-0
W Stanford, 3-2
L CS Northridge, 2-3
W USC, 3-0
W Cal Baptist, 3-1
W x-at USC, 3-0
W x-Pacific, 3-0
W x-Stanford, 3-1
L x-BYU, 2-3
L x-BYU, 2-3
W x-at Pepperdine, 3-1
W UC Santa Cruz, 3-0
W x-at UCLA, 3-0
W x-at UC Irvine, 3-0
W x-USC, 3-0
W x-at UC San Diego, 3-0
W x-at CS Northridge, 3-0
L x-at UC Santa Barbara, 0-3
W x-Pepperdine, 3-2
W x-UC Irvine, 3-1
W x-UCLA, 3-0
W IPFW, 3-1
W Rutgers-Newark, 3-0
W x-at Pacific, 3-1
W x-at Stanford, 3-0
L x-at Hawaii, 2-3
W x-at Hawaii, 3-2
W x-CS Northridge, 3-0
W x-UC Santa Barbara, 3-1
W x-UC San Diego, 3-0
W y-UC Santa Barbara, 3-0
W y-UCLA, 3-0
L y-at BYU, 3-1
x-denotes MPSF match
y-denotes MPSF Tournament
No. 7 Penn State (23-6)
W at Hawaii, 3-2
L vs. Lewis, 1-3
L vs. Manitoba, 1-3 (exh)
L at Loyola-Chicago, 0-3
W at Lewis, 3-2
L at Ball State, 0-3
W at IPFW, 3-1
W x-Rutgers-Newark, 3-0
W x-Juniata, 3-0
W USC, 3-0
L UC San Diego, 2-3
W x-St. Francis, 3-0
W x-at Springfield, 3-1
W vs. UC Irvine, 3-2
W x-at St. Francis, 3-1
L at Ohio State, 0-3
W Sacred Heart, 3-0
W Ball State, 3-2
W x-at Juniata, 3-2
L x-at Rutgers-Newark, 1-3
W x-Princeton, 3-0
W Ohio State, 3-0
W x-George Mason, 3-0
W x-Springfield, 3-1
W x-Princeton, 3-0
W IPFW, 3-2
W x-George Mason, 3-0
W y-Sacred Heart, 3-0
W y-George Mason, 3-0
W y-Rutgers-Newark
x-denotes EIVA match
y-denotes EIVA Tournament
No. 13 Lewis (19-13)
L vs. Manitoba (exh)
W vs. Penn State, 3-1
L at Hawaii, 3-2
L Pepperdine, 3-0
L Penn State, 3-2
L at Rutgers-Newark, 3-1
W at George Mason, 3-0
L x-IPFW, 3-1
W x-Mercyhurst, 3-0
W x-Ohio State, 3-2
W vs. UC San Diego, 3-1
W vs. USC, 3-2
W x-at Clarke, 3-0
L x-at IPFW, 3-0
W x-Findlay, 3-0
L x-Loyola-Chicago, 3-1
L at USC, 3-1
L at UCLA, 3-0
L at Cal Baptist, 3-1
W x-at Ball State, 3-0
W x-at Findlay, 3-0
W x-at Quincy, 3-1
W x-Clarke, 3-0
W vs. George Mason, 3-0
L at BYU, 3-1
W x-Quincy, 3-0
W x-Ball State, 3-1
L x-at Ohio State, 3-0
L x-Loyola-Chicago, 3-1
W x-at Mercy, 3-0
W y-vs. IPFW, 3-1
W y-at Ohio State, 3-1
W y-vs. Ball State, 3-2
x-denotes MIVA match
y-denotes MIVA Tournament
