Hawaii inches to No. 2, still trying to catch UCI

One down, one to go.

Hawaii moved up a spot to No. 2 yesterday in two volleyball polls. Only UC Irvine (25-3, 18-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) stands between the Warriors (21-4, 17-3) and, not only a No. 1 ranking, but also first place in the MPSF.

After losing twice to Long Beach State last week, Brigham Young (18-6, 14-6) dropped two places to No. 4 in the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Top 15 and one notch to No. 3 in the Molten/Volleyball magazine Top 10.

Riding a 17-match winning streak, the Warriors (17-3 MPSF) finish their regular season with matches against the Cougars on Friday and Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Hawaii can win the MPSF outright with a sweep of BYU and if the Anteaters lose at least one of their final two matches. Hawaii holds the tie-breaker.

The Warriors have already clinched at least the No. 2 seed in the MPSF tournament, April 22-29. In the CSTV/AVCA poll, UC Irvine received 15 first-place votes and 239 points, and Hawaii -- as it has the past four weeks -- received the only other first-place vote and 225 points.