Warriors break Bruins

UCLA isn't up to the task of hanging with No. 4 Hawaii in the latest clash of MPSF rivals

Wasn't that fun?

You won't have to ask the Hawaii volleyball team twice. It's not so much that UCLA is the team to hate as much as the team to beat.

HAWAII   UCLA 3 1 Next Up vs. UCLA, tonight

Even if the ninth-ranked Bruins are having what they consider an "off" season -- struggling to reach .500 in league -- it still doesn't diminish what the No. 4 Warriors were able to accomplish last night at the Stan Sheriff Center. And given that UCLA pulled out a five-set win here seven weeks ago makes last night pretty sweet.

All 2 hours and 26 minutes of it.

Hawaii's quick, balanced attack and sizzling serves added up to a 30-25, 30-19, 28-30, 30-24 victory, the Warriors' eighth straight. Lauri Hakala and Jose Delgado each had 18 kills, and Matt Carere added 14, as Hawaii improved to 12-4 overall, 10-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

UCLA, getting 14 kills from Nick Scheftic and 13 from Steve Klosterman, fell to 12-10 and 5-8. The Warriors outhit the Bruins .313 to .178.

The teams meet again at 7 tonight. UCLA still has a commanding 45-17 lead in the series.

"It was a lot of fun," said Delgado, teaming with Mauli'a La Barre to block Jamie Diefenbach to end it. "It was a battle.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy.

"UCLA is a great team with tradition, no matter what the record, and they always play well here. It gets really emotional and there's been a rivalry for a long time. We expect another great game tomorrow."

Hawaii outblocked UCLA 13-6.5, with Dio Dante in on seven. Dante and La Barre added to the Warriors' offensive balance, combining for 17 kills.

It wasn't anything that took UCLA coach Al Scates by surprise. He had been concerned with the Warriors' multi-faceted attack coming into the match.

"Hawaii's a better team than we are," Scates said. "We're going to have to have a good performance out of several people to beat them tomorrow. They have three small, quick outside hitters and it's very difficult to get two (blockers) up on them. Our blockers weren't good enough to beat them one-on-one.

"Their offense to the outside is quicker than anyone's."

The Bruins didn't start slowing Hawaii down until Game 3, when the Warriors missed out on what would have been only its fourth sweep of UCLA in 17 victories. Hawaii broke a 25-25 tie with three unanswered points to take a seemingly safe lead at 28-25.

The Bruins answered with a 5-0 run, sparked by senior setter Dennis Gonzalez's joust for a point, a kill by Damien Scott, a block of Hakala and kills by Scheftic and Klosterman.

Game 4 had several anxious moments on both sides. The Bruins had to carry Gonzalez off the court after the setter crumpled under the net with an apparent ankle injury with the Warriors leading 17-12. Gonzalez was replaced by freshman Matt Wade, the son of former Rainbow Wahine All-American Rocky Elias, a member of UH's 1979 AIAW national championship team.

The turnstile crowd of 3,192 got a little restless when UCLA rallied late in Game 4. Hawaii had pulled away to a 23-17 lead only to have UCLA pull to 25-23.

Unlike Game 3 -- as well as Game 5 back on Jan. 20 -- the Warriors withstood the challenge. Carere's 14th kill jump-started a 5-1 run that ended with Delgado and La Barre's stuff of Diefenbach.

"I think we didn't let our mistakes build up," UH setter Brian Beckwith said. "UCLA knows and loves this arena, they play up to their potential every time. We weren't going to lose this one."

Note: UH sophomore middle Jake Schkud shaved the middle of his head so as to resemble UCLA coach Scates. On Thursday Schkud said, since he was on the scout team and wanted to play the part of a Bruin ... he chose Scates.

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