Hawaii loss tightens race further
POSTED: Saturday, April 17, 2010
All or nothing.
It's how UC Santa Barbara was promoting its two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball matches with Hawaii this week.
It's what both teams are thinking heading into tonight's rematch at Robertson Gym in Santa Barbara, Calif.
|
MPSF STANDINGS
x-clinched playoff berth y-clinched quarterfinal home court Yesterday UC Santa Barbara def. Hawaii 30-27, 30-25, 30-28 BYU def. Cal State Northridge 31-29, 30-19, 30-25 UCLA def. Stanford 30-24, 23-30, 21-30, 30-26, 15-7 UC Irvine def. Pacific 30-17, 30-25 USC def. UC San Diego 26-30, 30-21, 30-23, 26-30, 18-16 Today Hawaii at UC Santa Barbara, 4 p.m. HST CSU Northridge at BYU Pacific at UCLA USC at Long Beach State Stanford at UC Irvine Pepperdine at UC San Diego END REGULAR SEASON |
Much is riding on the final night of the regular season. No. 5 Hawaii needs to win if it has any hopes of earning a top-four finish and hosting duties for next Saturday's MPSF tournament first round. No. 9 UC Santa Barbara needs to win to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.
But both the Warriors (17-9, 13-8 MPSF) and the Gauchos (13-15, 9-12) need some help to get what they want. For Hawaii, it's a loss by either Cal State Northridge or Pepperdine, two teams the Warriors have the tiebreaker on. For UCSB, it's a loss by UC Irvine, the team it has the tiebreaker on.
“;I think there's a sense of urgency on both sides, a lot on the line,”; said Hawaii coach Charlie Wade after the Warriors complicated the playoff picture by being swept by the Gauchos last night 30-27, 30-25, 30-28. “;We know we've got to pass better, can't hit that many balls out, and slow down their middles.
“;We want to be home next week.”;
It likely will take more than one Warrior finishing in double-figure kills to get it done. Only freshman opposite Jonas Umlauft managed that for Hawaii last night, putting down a match-high 21.
The bright side for the Warriors? They've been in this position three times before this year, dropping the first match of a series only to win the second night.
Hawaii can only hope it makes the right adjustments, particularly when it comes to freshman middle Dylan Davis (10 kills, no errors, .709). Junior hitter Jeff Menzel, the MPSF kill leader, had the night most expected with 16 kills.
“;We didn't play very well and we were still in it,”; Wade said. “;It was a handful of things that we did that we normally don't do ... letting balls drop ... hitting balls out of bounds. We had 22 hitting errors, and 16 of those were unforced on our part.
“;We know we've got to be better tomorrow because they're pretty darn good. But that's the league.”;
Indeed, the entire seeding for the tournament is undecided going into tonight's matches. Hawaii can finish as high as third or as low as fifth.
Last night, the Warriors never found a rhythm. They trailed early in the first two sets and never caught up, while in Set 3 they jumped out early (5-1) but couldn't maintain momentum.
UC SANTA BARBARA DEF. HAWAII 30-27, 30-25, 30-28
RAINBOW WARRIORS
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts | |
| Rawson | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11 | .091 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Grgas | 3 | 8 | 1 | 11 | .636 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8.5 |
| Vindinha | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | .222 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Walker | 3 | 9 | 6 | 23 | .130 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Umlauft | 3 | 21 | 9 | 48 | .250 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 25 |
| Zemljak | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hunt | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -.250 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Tuaniga | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .333 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cervantes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dyer | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 3 | 48 | 22 | 112 | .232 | 33 | 4 | 5 | 58.5 |
GAUCHOS
| s | k | e | att | pct | d | bs | ba | pts | |
| Menzel | 3 | 16 | 4 | 34 | .353 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Devany | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1.000 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 2.5 |
| Travis | 3 | 14 | 6 | 36 | .222 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 16.5 |
| Davis | 3 | 10 | 0 | 13 | .769 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Slaughter | 3 | 5 | 0 | 9 | .556 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.5 |
| Nielsen | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | .143 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6.5 |
| Moisenco | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| McGuire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 3 | 50 | 14 | 107 | .336 | 35 | 3 | 6 | 63 |
Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces)
Aces —Hawaii (4):Walker 2, Taniga, Zemljak. UC Santa Barbara (7): Slaughter 3, Devany 2, Menzel, Nielsen. Service Errors — Hawaii (11): Walker 3, Tuaniga 2, Umlauft 2, Vidinha 2, Grgas, Rawson. UC Santa Barbara (14): Menzel 6, Nielsen, Slaughter 2, Travis 2, Devany. Assists — Hawaii (43): Zemljak 40, Rawson, Umlauft, Vidinha. UC Santa Barbara (49): Devany 46, McGuire 2, Slaughter. T — 1:40. Officials — Rick Olmstead, Brig Beattie. A — 757.
