Warriors sweep on Senior Night

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

For "Senior Night," University of Hawai'i volleyball players Torry Tukuafu and Brenton Davis received:

• The gift of peace from the UH faculty union, which decided, as a goodwill gesture, not to set up pickets outside the Stan Sheriff Center last night. Instead, a few protesters distributed informational sheets while allowing the traffic to flow smoothly into the Lower Campus.
• The gift of music from Tukuafu's wife, Andrea Gomez Tukuafu, who sang the national anthem and "Hawai'i Pono'i" before the match. "I was really glad I could sing at his last (in-season home) match," she said. "That was something I wanted to do for him."
• The gift of victory — 33-31, 34-32, 30-25 over Alberta — from their UH teammates, who promised that the biggest present is yet to come.

UH's Torry Tukuafu, left, and Brenton Davis celebrated Senior Night with a sweep of Alberta at the Stan Sheriff Center. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Davis, draped with lei and emotion, said, "This is a special occasion, but we definitely want a national title. That's what we worked for since Day One. Anything less will be a failure, in my mind."

For the top-ranked Warriors, the journey begins with two matches against No. 2 Brigham Young this coming weekend in Provo, Utah.

If the Warriors sweep, they will earn the homecourt advantage throughout the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs and, most likely, a guaranteed berth in the NCAA final four. Both teams have 12-3 league records, but BYU has the tie-breaker edge, meaning even a split will give the Cougars the advantage in the playoffs.

The Warriors already will play host to a quarterfinal MPSF playoff match on April 21.

"From now on, everything is important," UH middle blocker Dejan Miladinovic said.

Perhaps that was why last night's exhibition was a festive, one-last-hurrah exhibition. The match did not count in the overall standings, but it served as a good tuneup.

"It was a lot of fun," said Tukuafu, who admitted the most chicken-skin moment came when his wife sang. "I thought she did a great job. She's a really good singer. It was great for her to come out and sing. And we won in three, so it was a good night."

Two of UH's best players, outside hitters Costas Theocharidis (tendinitis in his left knee) and Eyal Zimet (stress fracture in his left shin), did not play, although they said they will be ready for the BYU series.

That opened the way for Ching, who started in place of Zimet, and freshman Maulia LaBarre, who opened at middle blocker.

Ching hammered a match-high 20 kills (in 29 swings) and hit .621. He also had nine digs and assisted on four of the Warriors' 12 blocks. He said he is fully recovered from a deep gash suffered in a mo-ped accident last month.

"Tony did a great job," said Miladinovic, who moved to opposite hitter last night. "There's always someone who's going to stand up and deliver, and Tony stood up and delivered."

LaBarre, who is 6-feet-8 and 197 pounds, played well for the second match in a row, amassing five blocks and altering several Golden Bear shots. He also did not have a service error, a flaw he corrected from the previous night.

Tukuafu, who played in Theocharidis' outside position, had 13 kills and no hitting errors. He hit .591.

The Warriors rallied from four-point deficits to win the first two games, then coasted in the third.

"It was nice the team decided to play when it was needed," UH coach Mike Wilton said.

After the match, Davis and Tukuafu were presented plaques from Wilton, then were featured in a five-minute video shown on the scoreboard screen.

Soon after, they signed autographs, posed for pictures and exchanged hugs with the fans.

"It really was a special night, a night I won't forget," Davis said. "But, like I said, there's more work to be done. We won't be happy until we win a national title."