FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Maulia La Barre smacked a kill over the net during the Warriors' victory over Stanford last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Warriors handle
Cardinal in 5

Hawaii wins a tight Game 5
after Stanford fights back
from 0-2

Funny how momentum can swing. And then build.

The No. 3 Hawaii men's volleyball team appeared in complete control after winning Games 1 and 2 last night against No. 10 Stanford. It was a reversal of fortune as the Cardinal returned the favor to win the next two and take a 10-8 lead in Game 5.

Hawaii's Thomas likely gone Senior All-American blocker Delano Thomas was not on the bench for the Warriors last night, an apparent sign that Thomas will not return to the team this year. He had been making up academic deficiencies from last semester and the outcome was to be known this week. "I'm awaiting official word and have no comment," coach Mike Wilton said. "One could draw some conclusions from this."

It was the Warriors who caught that last wave of emotion, riding the arm of Pedro Azenha and the serves of Matt Bender to remain unbeaten in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Hawaii needed 2 hours and 28 minutes to do it at the Stan Sheriff Center, fending off Stanford 30-24, 30-24, 27-30, 22-30, 15-13. A crowd of 2,620 (3,848 tickets) saw the Warriors improve to 7-1 overall, 5-0 in the MPSF; the Cardinal, losing their second consecutive five-game match, fell to 3-7 and 2-5.

It didn't come easy. Hawaii needed five players with double-digit kills, led by Bender's 17 and Azenha's 15, to pull it out.

"I don't know if we left after Game 2, but we definitely lost our focus and intensity," said UH setter Brian Beckwith, who was in on four of the team's 13 blocks. "It was an ongoing struggle for us. They (Stanford) did a good job of reacting to my sets. I'm going to have to switch up my game plan for tomorrow."

The teams meet again tonight at 7. All Stanford coach Don Shaw wants is for his team to play better from the outset.

"We played so poorly in the first two games that we had to play better after that," Shaw said. "A couple of ball-handling mistakes cost us at the end. The same thing happened against Santa Barbara (a five-game loss Saturday).

"What we need to do is not get in an 0-2 hole. We gave ourselves very little margin for error. We need to play better and give ourselves a better chance to win."

The focus returned when the Warriors needed it. Maulia La Barre blocked Chris Ahlfeldt; Bender served for four points, while Azenha put down two kills and then set Lauri Hakala for a 13-10 lead.

The teams traded points, with Bender giving Hawaii match point at 14-11. A UH service error and a hitting error by Hakala gave Stanford life, trailing 14-13.

It ended with a whimper as Craig Buell was called for a lift.

"We tell ourselves over and over again that, in this league, last place is not even two steps away from first," Bender said. "We've got to come to play every night. I didn't feel like we were playing badly, but things weren't going our way.

"I don't know if we necessarily deserved this one, but we played well at the end of the game when it counted and got the 'W.'"

La Barre finished with 14 kills to go along with nine blocks. Dio Dante had 10 kills.

"I think our team has gotten too used to Pedro's serving runs and those went away after Game 2," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "After that run in Game 2, I think our guys kind of thought the match was over. The neat thing was we made a run in Game 4, even if it was too late and got our heads clear for Game 5."

Ben Reddy led Stanford with 16 kills, with David Vogel putting down 14 and Ahlfeldt 12.

On the verge of being blown out in Game 2, the Cardinal didn't fold. Stanford trailed by as many as nine early (17-8 and 18-9) only to creep back within three, the last at 24-21.

A lift on Cardinal setter Kevin Hansen put the Warriors ahead at 25-21 and a 4-0 serving run by Beckwith gave his team game point at 29-21. Stanford held off three game points before Dante's third kill sent the Warriors into the locker room for a 2-0 lead at the break.

Stanford found momentum early in Game 3 and, after Hawaii appeared to have control at 26-23, found it late. The Cardinal tied it at 26 and again at 27 before going on a 3-0 run, capped by Hansen's ace.

Stanford had no blocks in Game 4, but came up with three in taking a 12-6 lead. Hawaii had to play catch-up after that, going down by as many as nine, the last at 24-15.

Azenha returned after being subbed for Jake Schkud and the Warriors rallied to within 24-18 and 27-22. But as they had in Game 3, the Cardinals closed it out with a 3-0 run to force Game 5.

Hawaii def. Stanford

30-24, 30-24, 27-30, 22-30, 15-13

Cardinal (3-7, 2-5 MPSF)
	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Buell	5	9	2	16	.438	0	7	6
Ahlfeldt	5	12	4	28	.286	0	4	1
Vogel	5	14	6	33	.242	0	4	8
Clayton	2	3	3	8	.000	0	1	4
Reddy	5	16	9	43	.163	0	2	6
Hansen	5	4	1	8	.375	0	4	6
Manov	1	1	0	1	1.000	0	0	0
Lindberg	5	0	0	0	.000	0	0	8
Ceran	4	5	4	17	.059	0	3	11
Totals	5	64	29	154	.227	0	25	50
Hawaii (7-1, 5-0 MPSF)
	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Delgado	4	6	5	20	.050	0	1	2
Beckwith	5	1	0	5	.200	1	3	12
Azenha	5	15	8	41	.171	0	3	9
Bender	5	17	7	39	.256	0	1	6
La Barre	5	14	3	21	.524	1	8	2
Hakala	3	6	2	10	.400	0	1	3
Carere	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Reft	5	1	0	1	1.000	0	0	13
Schkud	1	1	1	3	.000	0	2	0
Rasay	5	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Totals	5	71	29	160	.262	2	22	49

Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Stanford (3): Hansen 2, Ceran. Hawaii (5): Azenha 3, Beckwith, Delgado. Assists -- Stanford (63): Hansen 55, Buell 2, Vogel 2, Ceran, Lindberg, Reddy, Ahlfeldt. Hawaii (67): Beckwith 59, Azenha 3, La Barre 2, Reft 2, Dante.
T -- 2:28. Officials -- Ernest Ho, Wayne Lee. A -- 3,848.