FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii seniors Pedro Azenha, left, and Daniel Rasay were honored after last night's victory over Pacific.

Azenha keeps
the party going

The Warrior’s four aces on senior
night give him a school-record-tying
121 for his career

Brazilians are famous for their ability to party.

Think Rio.

Think Carnival.

Think Pedro Azenha.

HAWAII 3 PACIFIC 0 NEXT UP vs. Long Beach St., Saturday

The opposite from Sao Paulo got his own senior-night festivities started early yesterday with nine kills and four aces in Game 1 alone. Azenha finished with 19 kills while tying the school record for aces to lead No. 5 Hawaii over No. 13 Pacific 30-20, 30-23, 30-25 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season finale.

An animated Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,588 (5,086 tickets) saw the Warriors improve to 19-8 overall, clinching the No. 4 seed in the MPSF Tournament at 15-7. Hawaii will host Long Beach State (20-9, 14-8) next Saturday in a first-round playoff match.

The Tigers, getting 12 kills from Saint Louis School product Brian Zodrow, finished the season at 12-18 and 6-16.

The highlight of the night came after the 98-minute victory, with Azenha and fellow senior Daniel Rasay responding to Vili the Warrior's haka with dances of their own, attired in lava lava. Joining in the celebration was Marlo Torres, who will graduate in December after six years as team manager, and UOP coach Joe Wortmann.

"I was out of my mind at that point -- it was not planned," Wortmann said. "I just got caught up in the moment. It was a disappointing loss, ending the season that started here in November with our interisland matches and all.

"Hawaii has a good team, with a lot of depth, probably the deepest team in the league. The playoffs look wide open. Hawaii has a chance."

While the season is over for the Tigers, the Warriors have the 49ers to look forward to next weekend.

"No tears tonight because it's not over," Azenha said. "I'm very happy right now. It was a good night."

It didn't take Azenha long to start teeing off on the Tigers. The Warriors' second server had three aces on his first trip to the service line, helping the team take a 7-2 lead in Game 1.

Hawaii's offense was equally effective, with the Warriors putting down a collective nine kills with no errors in 11 swings in taking a 14-6 lead. UOP pulled to within five twice, the last at 15-10, only to see Azenha score five of Hawaii's next six points. He sandwiched five kills around his fourth ace, which gave him 121 for his career, tying him with four-time All-American Costas Theocharidis.

"Every time he goes back, Alfie (libero Alfred Reft) and I just say we're glad we're not on the other side," teammate Matt Carere said. "It's fun to watch."

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Matt Carere came up with a dig in the backcourt next to teammate Matt Bender last night against Pacific.

The Warriors pulled away early in Game 2 as well, with Wortmann burning his second timeout with his team behind 10-4. It didn't do much better, with Hawaii's margin ballooning to 20-9.

Behind senior libero-turned-setter Mike Gawlik, the Tigers rallied in Game 3, taking leads of 16-13 and 18-15. A serving run by Matt Bender helped the Warriors take a 19-18 lead and another serving run, this one by Carere, pushed Hawaii to 27-21.

Fittingly, the match ended on Rasay's dump, jump-starting the party.

"We've still got some things to do, some goals to fulfill," Rasay said. "Tonight's a celebration. We've accomplished what we wanted -- we're hosting.

"It was a good match. We came out on fire."

Hawaii's middles again had a good night. Starters Kyle Klinger and Dio Dante combined for 13 kills with just one error each.

The Warriors also outblocked the Tigers 10.5-4, with Klinger and Bender in on four.

Among the six Tigers finishing their careers were Zodrow and Kamehameha graduate Bryson Metz (four kills, one ace).

"It's great to finish it at home with my family and friends watching and supporting me," Metz said.

Note: Tickets for Saturday's MPSF quarterfinal match against Long Beach State at the Stan Sheriff Center go on sale Tuesday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets will be available at the Stan Sheriff Center box office and at all eticket Hawaii locations through Friday. Prices are: $14 for lower level; $11 for upper-level adult; $9 for upper-level senior; $5 for upper-level student, ages 4-18; $5 for Manoa Maniacs or UH students with valid ID.

MPSF standings

	Conference			Overall
	W	L	Pct.	W	L
xy- Pepperdine	20	2	.909	21	2
xz- UCLA	18	4	.818	25	4
x- Hawaii	15	7	.681	19	8
x- Brigham Young	15	7	.681	20	9
x- Long Beach State	14	8	.636	20	9
x- UC Santa Barbara	13	9	.591	15	13
x- Stanford	10	12	.455	11	14
x- CS Northridge	10	12	.455	17	13
UC Irvine	7	15	.318	9	20
Pacific	6	16	.273	12	18
USC	3	19	.136	6	23
UC San Diego	1	21	.045	2	24

x-earned MPSF Tournament berth
y-No. 1 seed
z-No. 2 seed

Yesterday
Hawaii def. Pacific 30-20, 30-23, 30-25
BYU def. Stanford, 30-27, 34-32, 28-30, 30-20
Long Beach State def. UC Irvine, 30-26, 30-23, 29-31, 30-25
Santa Barbara def. USC, 30-21, 30-18, 30-23

END REGULAR SEASON
MPSF Tournament
(Seedings in parenthesis)
Wednesday
Stanford (8) at CSU Northridge (7)
Saturday, April 23
Long Beach State (5) at Hawaii (4), 7 p.m.,
Stanford-Northridge winner at UCLA (2)
UC Santa Barbara (6) at BYU (3)
April 28
At Pepperdine
Lowest remaining seed vs. Pepperdine (1)
Other winners of April 23 matches

Hawaii def. Pacific

30-20, 30-23, 30-25

Tigers (12-18, 6-16 mpsf)
	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Hazelett	2	1	1	2	.000	0	0	3
Brizuela	3	5	5	16	.000	0	0	8
Zodrow	3	12	6	33	.182	1	0	4
Alexander	3	7	1	18	.333	0	0	0
Metz	3	4	2	9	.222	0	1	6
Dauburs	3	4	4	11	.000	0	1	3
Gawlik	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	4
Cunningham	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Adamson	1	1	2	6	-.167	0	2	0
Chen-Byerley	2	3	3	8	.000	0	2	0
Gonzales	3	2	2	7	.000	0	0	2
Totals	4	39	26	110	.118	1	6	30
Warriors (19-8, 15-7 mpsf)
	g	k	e	att	pct.	bs	ba	d
Klinger	3	7	1	12	.500	0	4	1
Carere	3	2	2	12	.000	0	2	7
Beckwith	3	2	0	3	.667	1	1	2
Azenha	3	19	4	33	.455	1	2	2
Bender	3	7	3	19	.211	0	4	4
Dante	3	6	1	11	.455	0	3	2
Delgado	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Reft	3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	10
Schkud	1	0	2	3	-.667	0	0	0
La Barre	1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Rasay	2	1	1	2	.000	0	1	1
Totals	4	44	14	95	.316	2	17	29

Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
Aces -- Pacific (6): Dauburs 3, Brizuela 2, Metz. Hawaii (5): Azenha 4, Carere. Assists -- Pacific (37): Hazelett 21,Gawlik 14, Alexander, Dauburs. Hawaii (39): Beckwith 28, Rasay 6, Carere 2, Bender 2, Reft. Yellow card -- Azenha, Game 2,.
T -- 1:38. Officials -- Wayne Lee, Dickson Chun. A -- 3,588.