Warriors look to bounce
back vs. Ball State

They're big, talented and may just be what the Hawaii men's volleyball team needs to see this week.

The third-ranked Warriors, still smarting from last week's two-that-got-away losses to Pepperdine, will get to take their collective frustration out against unranked Ball State tomorrow and Saturday.

Ball State (10-7) at Hawaii (11-4) When: Tomorrow and Saturday, 7 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: Both matches live, KFVE (Ch. 5) Radio: Saturday match only, KCCN (1420-AM). Tickets: $3-$12. Children (high school-age and younger) free

Make that "composed" frustration.

Mentally, the Warriors couldn't get past some questionable calls that went against them, particularly in last Friday's loss to the Waves.

The focus in practice this week has been an adaptation of "The Serenity Prayer" where the Warriors need to learn how to accept the things they cannot change -- such as officials' calls -- the courage to change what they can -- like the other team's momentum -- and the wisdom to know the difference.

"We have some things to prove right now," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said. "We have a big-time challenge about becoming a composed volleyball team. We're trying to do it in a positive way."

At the moment, the Warriors are hitting negative for March, going 0-for-2. They take a swing at ending the skid against the Cardinals, who have won their last four, all in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play, where they are 5-3.

Of concern are Ball State's jump servers, who have totaled 88 aces this season. Leading the Cardinals is junior Nick Meyer with 21 aces, ranking him 19th nationally.

Meyer is having an outstanding season all around, ranking 13th nationally in kill average (4.25). The 6-foot-8 sophomore is third on the team in digs and blocks.

Also bringing heat from the service line are setter Dave Carlson (14 aces), 6-8 middle Zoran Grabovac (12) and hitter Evan Berg (11).

Grabovac and Kalaheo High product Andrew Braley put up a big block. Braley, a 6-8 left-hander, is averaging 1.04 bpg and 1.62 kills.

"Braley as a lefty presents a different look for a quick attack," UH assistant coach Aaron Wilton said. "He might be the only left-handed middle attacker ever in college volleyball. It's an oddity and it presents a whole different can of worms.

"We're going to have to make some adjustments. Their offense is a quicker offense from pin to pin, not like a Penn State offense, but it's still quick. And with their good jump servers, we'll have to take care of business with our passing, get our offense into a rhythm."

The Warriors have been playing musical chairs with one outside position, rotating 6-3 junior Jose Delgado, 6-2 sophomore Lauri Hakala and 6-4 junior Matt Carere. Heading into yesterday's practice, a fourth player had emerged as a potential starter: 6-5 freshman Jake Schkud, who spent most of fall practice as a middle blocker.

"All of the players that have been in the mix bring something different," Aaron Wilton said. "One of the things we've been struggling with is some offensive power and consistency from that spot. Right now, Jake has provided a lift in regards to that.

"He's a bigger guy, a bigger block and jumps well. The big question mark is whether he can handle his responsibilities passing and, right now, our (practice) data says he has. He's been our jack-of-all-trades, played a lot of middle in fall but some outside and some opposite. We'll see what happens."

If there was going to be time for an experiment, this is the week to do it. These are the last nonconference matches of the regular season for the Warriors, who have their next four contests on the road at Brigham Young (March 18-19) and UC San Diego (March 23 and 25).

"It's not going to hurt us in conference play, but I don't want our players or anyone else to think that Ball State isn't a good team," Aaron Wilton said. "They can play some very good volleyball.

"And it's very nice they're still around."

Some 20 months ago, the Ball State program was nearly axed after 40 seasons of play. In a move designed to help balance the athletic department's budget -- as well as give a boost to football -- men's volleyball, cross country and indoor and outdoor track were to be dropped.

An outcry from the national volleyball community, and agreement to cut $54,000 from its budget saved one of the original men's collegiate volleyball programs.

This will be the third consecutive year the Cardinals will play in the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I like Joel and his teams," Mike Wilton said of BSU coach Joel Walton. "I'm so glad they're still alive. Maybe inviting them here helps their program a little bit. It doesn't hurt anything to tell a recruit you're going to Hawaii.

"And obviously Ball State can play. They lost a tough five-game match to Penn State."

The Cardinals fell to the Nittany Lions on Jan. 21, Penn State's second victory in a 16-match win streak. That streak ended Tuesday when the Nittany Lions were swept by No. 1 UCLA in Los Angeles, giving Bruins coach Al Scates his 1,100th career victory.

"Everybody we play is good," Mike Wilton said. "What I'm mostly concerned about is what we're going to do after last week. We need to turn the page on what happened (against Pepperdine) and come out of it with some resolution.

"We need to stay composed, no matter what. Whether or not we lose any more games is not the issue. Let somebody else beat us, let's not beat ourselves."

"I'm over Pepperdine," UH setter Brian Beckwith said. "There's nothing you can do about it now except learn from it. We had a lot of mental breakdowns that night.

"All we can do is move on. If we keep on thinking about and thinking about it, we're just going to keep on falling down the hole. I think we're all right now. This week is another week to improve and that's how we have to look at it if we want to make it to Pauley Pavilion (site of the NCAA Championship in May)."

Notes: Hawaii leads the series with Ball State 7-2 and has won the last five meetings. The last time the Cardinals defeated the Warriors was in the third-place match at the 1995 NCAA Championship, the last time the third-place match was held. ... The "Kids' Weekend" promotion will include prizes and activities geared towards children high school-age and younger. Parents can pick up free tickets for their children at the arena box office beginning at 5 p.m. both days.