JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii libero Alfred Reft broke the program's single- season and career digs marks this year.

Seniors leave Hawaii set up for another run

Together, they set a school record for consecutive victories with 19.

Together, they saw a remarkable season end two weeks too soon.

Hawaii's dream of an at-large berth in next week's NCAA men's volleyball final four evaporated Thursday when top-ranked UC Irvine was upset by No. 2 Long Beach State in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal at UCI's Bren Center.

The Warriors, with the second-best record in the country at 23-5, had continued to prepare for a trip to State College, Pa., hoping the Anteaters would help punch their ticket. Now, Hawaii will cancel the reservations made on Monday.

"We deserve to go, but so does Irvine," UH associate coach Tino Reyes said. "One of us has to stay home. That's the way sports is. You have to play your best when it counts."

The Warriors know they didn't when falling to UCLA last Saturday. Still ...

"I think it's real important to focus on the big picture," Warriors coach Mike Wilton said. "What this team did over the course of the season was pretty special. They had the ability to play together, share a common vision, had good personal agendas ... and that's very special.

"Our best 'team' team? I could never make that assessment. I've had many teams that were special for various reasons, and this certainly was one of them."

The Warriors were predicted to finish fifth in the league in the MPSF preseason coaches poll. The Warriors took second at 19-3, a game behind champion UCI, and tying the 19-0 1996 team for the most conference wins in school history.

Among the other highlights for the 23-5 season were:

» Senior libero Alfred Reft breaking one of the longest-standing all-time records in the UH book. Reft finished his career with 815 digs, surpassing Allen Allen's mark of 739 (1986-89).

» Reft also broke his own single-season dig mark with 305, 33 more than he had last season. He now holds the top single-season mark for dig average at 3.14 dpg, passing Naveh Milo's 3.09 set in 1998.

» Hawaii also swept the league series from BYU for the first time since 1996, and from UCLA for the first time since 2003.

» And, for the first time, all of the Warriors starters earned All-MPSF honors, led by junior setter Brian Beckwith and junior opposite Lauri Hakala on the first team.

"That in itself says a lot about this team," said Reft, one of five Warrior seniors. "That is a statement."

Reft, and hitters Matt Carere, Matt Bender and Jose Delgado expect to receive their diplomas next month. Senior middle Mauli'a La Barre is close to graduation.

Of the five seniors, Reft's career is the most likely to continue. The libero will report to the U.S. national team's training center in Anaheim, Calif., next month.

As for next fall, Hawaii returns a solid nucleus to start work during the preseason, led by Beckwith and Hakala. The Warriors also have two middles returning in Jake Schkud, who will be a junior, and Kyle Klinger, who will be a sophomore.

Also back will be senior middle Dio Dante, who led the conference in blocks; senior Eric Kalima, who will challenge for the open spot at libero as well as at outside hitter; sophomore setter Sean Carney; and sophomore hitter Jim Clar, who saw action in only five games.

There are also a number of redshirts who will try to fill in the holes left by the departed seniors after a year of seasoning in the practice gym. The Warriors will have height in 6-foot-8 freshman middle Matt Rawson, 6-7 freshman middle Steven Grgas, 6-5 freshman hitter Bryce Easter, 6-5 sophomore hitter Chad Miller and 6-3 sophomore hitter Jamie Sawicki.

Other freshman redshirts expected to return are 6-4 hitter Ernie Vidinha, 6-2 hitter Matt Vanzant, 6-1 setter Brandon Ricard, 6-foot hitter Mark Ribeiro and 5-8 libero Cory Enriques.

The biggest battle likely will be at libero. Besides Kalima and Enriques, Hawaii has an oral commitment from an incoming freshman who will challenge for the spot.

"I can't say anything about our recruiting class until they sign," Wilton said. "But we do have a number of (oral) commitments and I think we'll again have a good group of walk-ons, which more and more has become the lifeblood of this program."

Wilton said he expects more than two dozen players in fall camp. He's also expecting former Brigham Young coach Carl McGown to return as technical advisor. McGown was credited with a number of improvements in Hawaii's overall game.

"We are going to be losing a lot of talent," said Hakala, who led the team in kills with 381. "But talent can be replaced. It's the maturity that will be gone, which we'll miss from the seniors. And there was such cohesiveness that you never know if you'll have or not on a team.

"But we've got a returning middle (Dante), setter (Beckwith) and opposite (himself) and that is a good start for the team. You never know what will happen, but we could be just as good or better next year."

"It's hard to think about next year right now," Beckwith said. "Our seniors were such a big backbone of this team, not only on the court in skill and ability, but they were really good leaders. They kept us a close, tight-knit group. The big part of our success was how well we played together and how well the seniors kept us together.

"We do have a good group of young (redshirt) guys who have been training all year and are very anxious to contribute. It's going to be exciting."

The five seniors all agreed the season had been unique in terms of the togetherness and team concept. The regret is there will be no championship banner to mark it.

"What do we leave for the guys who come back?" Carere, the co-captain with Reft, asked. "I hope they'll remember the seniors leading by example, on and off the court.

"It's hard to regret the season we've had. We worked so hard every day, all the hours we spent with guys who really became brothers. We couldn't have done any more. Yes, we lost a match to end the season. But we won a lot, too."