Wilton looking forward

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii coach Mike Wilton says he's already excited about next season.

The Taraflex court had barely been dismantled Saturday night before Mike Wilton was ready to roll it out again.

"I'm already getting excited about next year," the Hawaii Warriors volleyball coach said.

For Wilton, that year would begin June 1. That's a day after his current contract expires.

Wilton, who just completed his 13th season, said he had not begun talks with the UH athletic administration. Associate athletic director Tom Sadler said last week that the administration would finalize the new contract for men's basketball coach Riley Wallace before working on Wilton's.

On April 12, Wallace agreed to a two-year extension. His three-year contract was set to expire April 30.

The last time Wilton was up for contract renewal -- in 2002 -- he worked for nearly eight months before a deal was approved by the UH Board of Regents. The 60-year-old Wilton has twice been named the National Coach of the Year (1995 and 2002).

His record is 260-114 (19-9 this year) after last Saturday's loss to Long Beach State in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament quarterfinal.

"I would like to keep coaching here for as long as possible," Wilton said. "Of course, I would have liked to have played a couple more matches this season. The MPSF title is up for grabs, it's going to be anybody's match."

Thursday's semifinals at Pepperdine pit the host Waves against Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State vs. Santa Barbara. Saturday's winner earns the automatic berth into next week's NCAA tournament.

Although traditionally the MPSF has been awarded the at-large berth, there is no guarantee that it would go to the MPSF Tournament runner-up.

"It's all going to depend on who's in the final," Wilton said. "I think if Pepperdine wins the whole thing and Long Beach loses in the semifinals, then UCLA has a shot (at the at-large)."

The selection committee would likely take into account UCLA's record (18-5), the Bruins' being ranked No. 1 for a substantial part of the season as well as the financial advantage of having the final four host -- UCLA -- in the field.

"I think that if Pepperdine loses on Thursday or Saturday, they will be the at-large team," UC Santa Barbara coach Ken Preston said. "It could become interesting if Pepperdine wins Saturday, beating Long Beach or us. I think UCLA is out, but it is at their house. They have been very good but they did falter down the stretch a bit (losing to play-in winner Cal State Northridge Saturday).

"The Beach has been hot at the end and they deserve an at-large. The Gauchos have been inconsistent lately but have very good wins late."

UCSB went 3-4 in April, but did pick up road wins at Hawaii and Brigham Young.

"In a fair world, if Pepperdine wins Saturday, the loser should be the at-large team," Preston said. "But we all know that the athletic field is not always fair."

In 1996, top-ranked Hawaii was upset by UC Santa Barbara in the tournament semifinal. The Gauchos then lost to UCLA in the championship match. The Warriors were awarded the at-large berth.

Azenha, Reft honored: Wilton said he was pleased for the All-MPSF first-team recognition given senior hitter Pedro Azenha and junior libero Alfred Reft yesterday. Azenha, who led the league in aces this season (52) was a second-team choice last year. It was the first league honor for Reft.

Junior middle Mauli'a LaBarre was named to the third team and junior hitter Matt Bender was an honorable mention. Absent from the postseason honors was sophomore setter Brian Beckwith, seventh in the country in assists.

"I thought Beckwith was better than last year," Wilton said. "Who knows how people vote. There were a number of good setters this year."

Two setters made the first team, Long Beach State's Tyler Hildebrand and Stanford's Kevin Hansen. Freshman of the Year Jonathan Winder, Pepperdine's setter, was on the third team with BYU setter Rob Nielsen an honorable mention.

Wilton said he agreed with Pepperdine's Sean Rooney as player of the year but not with Winder's selection. He voted for BYU hitter Ivan Perez, who was named to the second team.

Clarification: Warriors assistant Aaron Wilton said yesterday that he had not yet decided on leaving the program for graduate school and that, if he remained in the sport while in grad school, it would be as a volunteer.

Yesterday's story mentioned that Saturday was apparently Wilton's last match with the team.