Warriors hoping
for the expected
in playoffs
Hawaii is 7-0 when hosting
MPSF first-round matches
The TV show "Numb3rs" comes up with unexpected answers using mathematics to solve questions.
MPSF Volleyball QuarterfinalWho: No. 4 Long Beach State (20-9) at No. 5 Hawaii (19-8)When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center Radio: Live, KKEA, 1420-AM TV: Live, KFVE (Ch. 5) Tickets: $5-14 Series: Hawaii leads 29-28 overall, 15-10 in Honolulu
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Holding home-court advantage for a first round may never have been so important as it is this season, where two games separated third from sixth place.
No one wanted to go to Brigham Young tomorrow, where the third-seeded Cougars are 9-3 in the tricky air of Smith Fieldhouse. Sixth seed UC Santa Barbara, which split its matches with visiting BYU in late January, drew the unenvied flight to Provo, Utah.
Few wanted to come to Honolulu, where the Warriors continue to lead the country in attendance (4,303 average). Hawaii is 13-4 at the Stan Sheriff Center, just a few swings away from being 15-2 after dropping two winnable five-game matches.
"I don't think they (the 49ers) are happy about coming here," Warrior hitter Matt Bender said of Long Beach, which is 6-6 on the road this season. "We play well on our own floor. It's going to be a tough match, a knockdown, drag-out one. I think we've improved a lot since we played them. More importantly, we know we should have beaten them that first night. We didn't play very well at all.
"I get the feeling that if we come away from this with a win ... WHEN we come away from this with a win ... no one else will beat us."
Hawaii split its matches at The Beach two weeks ago, leaving with a 3-0 sweep on the second night. It's that short-term memory the Warriors hope to use tomorrow night.
The 49ers are looking for a short-term memory loss regarding their last trip to Honolulu. Last May in the Sheriff Center, Long Beach was two points away from winning the NCAA championship, leading BYU 13-11 in Game 5, only to lose 18-16.
The 49ers would prefer to relive the success of April 7, when they swept the Warriors in 80 minutes at The Walter Pyramid. On that night, junior hitter Robert Tarr -- the reigning MPSF Player of the Week -- put down 19 kills and hit .517.
The next night, Tarr came down to earth, hitting .269 with 14 kills. He was stuffed twice at the end of Game 1 to give Hawaii a 31-29 victory and the impetus to win the match.
"Both teams played with a 'have-to-win' attitude in the matches that they won," 49er coach Alan Knipe said. "Traditionally, the 4 vs. 5 match is always a tough one and I don't expect this matchup to be any different.
"I also don't believe that any one-on-one matchup is the key. The battle of the serving and passing game will have a big impact on this match, as it does in all good matches."
"Serve and pass," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton echoed. "There are no key (position) matchups, although they've got a guy (junior All-American setter Tyler Hildebrand) who can make chicken salad out of chicken feathers.
"But it all gets back to serve and pass."
Not surprisingly, the team with the better serving night won last month. Long Beach had a 7-2 edge in aces the first night and won, while Hawaii had the same 7-2 edge the second.
Which segues into an impressive numbers game for Hawaii tomorrow.
In serving, senior opposite Pedro Azenha needs one more ace to become the UH career leader as well as tie his own single-season record. Azenha, who had 10 aces in the two wins over Pacific last week, is tied with four-time All-American Costas Theocharidis at 121, and has 52 aces for the season.
Dig-wise, junior libero Alfred Reft is four away from breaking the single-season mark of 266, set by Naveh Milo in 1998. Reft earlier broke his own rally-score-era single-season mark for digs, set last year (263).
As for the other two quarterfinals tomorrow, "All the matches should be good," Knipe said. "The entire season has proven that."
Cal State Northridge (18-13) at UCLA (25-4)
The seventh-seeded Matadors remained alive in the playoffs by defeating Stanford on Wednesday night. The reward was a trip to Pauley Pavilion, where the second-seeded Bruins are 14-1 this season, their only loss coming to Hawaii, 3-0 on Feb. 26.UCLA is coming off a shaky week with a 3-1 loss at Long Beach State. The Bruins also had to rally against host UC San Diego in five.
However, UCLA has tradition and history on its side against Northridge. The Bruins have won 18 NCAA titles, and have never lost when hosting at Pauley, a record of 9-0. Only three times when being the host school has UCLA not made the final four.
UC Santa Barbara (15-13) at Brigham Young (20-9)
Both the sixth-seeded Gauchos and third-seeded Cougars have had up-and-down seasons, with big wins and unexplainable losses. BYU, the defending national champion, has the slight edge tomorrow when playing at home.UCSB will live or die on the arm of Evan Patak, the 6-foot-8 sophomore opposite who leads the country with 5.65 kills per game and is second in aces (0.55). Patak had 32 kills and five aces when the Gauchos defeated the Cougars in the MPSF opener for both teams this year.
"He'll be a top nominee for player of the year," BYU coach Tom Peterson said of Patak. "When he gets on a roll, they're a tough team to stop. We have to slow him down and not let anyone else have a great match."
Conversely, UCSB will have to slow down BYU's Victor Batista, who had a career-high 23 kills when the Cougars earned a split of the series in January.
If the Gauchos can take an early lead and have the Cougars questioning themselves, they have a good chance to pull off the upset. However, BYU, second in attendance nationally (3,406) has recent history on its side; the Cougars have defeated the Gauchos the last eight times the teams have met in Provo.
Pepperdine (21-2)
The top-ranked Waves await the lowest remaining seed on Thursday when hosting next week's semifinals. Pepperdine will not have played since a 3-1 victory at Cal State Northridge last Friday."There could be some rust there," Bender said. "I would rather be playing than take the time off."
UH's ticket prices are
highest in playoffs
Hawaii has sold about 2,600 tickets for tomorrow's match. The athletic department is charging the most for first-round tickets out of the three quarterfinals and more than Pepperdine is charging for next week's semifinals and final.Prices at Hawaii are $5-14, all reserved seating. The high end is $14 for the lower level, $11 for adults in the upper level.
The top price at UCLA and BYU is $10 for general admission, while Pepperdine is charging $12 for general admission for both the MPSF semifinals and final.
Tickets for the NCAA tournament at UCLA are currently being sold as two-day packages, ranging from $75 premium, which includes parking and a pre-match reception, to $18 for students.
At full strength: Hawaii was back at full strength for yesterday's practice. Junior middle Mauli'a LaBarre missed Wednesday with a stomach ailment.
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