MPSF's tournament better than final four
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
It has been said playing the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament before the NCAA final four is comparable to Mike Tyson fighting in a preliminary bout.
The MPSF tournament "is always better," said UCLA coach Al Scates, who has won 18 NCAA titles.
In this week's USA Today/AVCA poll, the top four teams — including No. 2 Hawai'i, which plays host to Long Beach State tomorrow — and six of the top seven are MPSF members. Ten of the 12 MPSF teams are ranked in the top-15 poll.
Consider the road to the final four for Stanford, which meets fourth-ranked Brigham Young in the opening round of the MPSF playoffs.
"We have to beat BYU at BYU," Stanford coach Don Shaw said. "If we do that, we draw (top-ranked) Pepperdine at Pepperdine. If we somehow manage to win those two matches, we'll probably have to beat UCLA or Hawai'i to win the tournament and get (the MPSF's automatic berth in) the final four. If we're the top seed in the final four, we won't open against a tougher opponent than the one we would play in the (MPSF) semifinals."
Here's a look at the opening-round matches of the MPSF tournament:
No. 8 seed Cal State-Northridge at No. 1 Pepperdine
Here's a Fear Factor challenge for Northridge: Pepperdine is healthy and on a roll, having won 13 in a row.
The Waves' success is traced to setter Beau Daniels, an improvement over Keith Barnett last year. "Barnett was inconsistent," Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy said. "He wouldn't run what I thought was the right set or the right play, and he wasn't as instinctive as Beau."
Daniels has benefitted from the development of outside hitter Fred Winters, who had become a functional passer, and middle blocker Brad Keenan's leadership.
Keenan relies on the slide step, in which he moves laterally to launch kill attempts. Dunphy implemented the technique into his offense after watching a former high-jumper use the move successfully at Glendale College several years ago. Dunphy said the move is perfect for a hitter with a smooth cross-body swing.
"Brad has the range and the arm length to run that effectively," Dunphy said.
Northridge, which qualified on the last day of the regular season, is led by Eckhard Walter, who averages 5.11 kills per game and is the nation's most efficient server (.580).
No. 6 UC Santa Barbara at No. 3 UCLA
Scates said while the Bruins have practiced with a full roster, they are not back to full strength. Outside hitter Jonathan Acosta, who has recovered from a torn abdominal muscle, and quick hitter Scott Morrow, who had a torn quadriceps, will "be able to have some limited action," Scates said. "But they're not 100 percent."
Freshman middle hitter Paul Johnson has played well in Morrow's absence, but the Bruins are scrambling for a Plan B if Acosta is ineffective.
The Gauchos, who qualified for the playoffs for the first time in three years, have missed outside hitter Dave Kohl, who won't play because of a chipped bone in his knee. Jan Carlo Zegarra, a powerful outside hitter, is nursing a stress fracture in his lower leg. But Zegarra will play, as will ailing opposite hitter Ben Koski and outside hitter Alex Lienert.
"Both teams are banged up," Gaucho coach Ken Preston said. "This will be the Band-Aid Bowl."
No. 5 Stanford at No. 4 Brigham Young
Stanford's already fragile middle block has been further eroded by illness. Craig Buell lost 30 pounds since suffering a viral infection March 25. Patrick Bomhack, a backup setter who also serves as a middle blocker, is suffering from a similar ailment.
"We rotated five guys there, now we're down to three," Cardinal coach Don Shaw said.
As usual, the Cardinal will turn to outside hitter Curt Toppel, who averages 5.44 kills per game. On some rotations, Toppel will receive 80 percent of the sets.
"He's a stud," Shaw said. "He jumps higher and hits harder when it really matters."
The Cougars secured a home berth after defeating UH last Saturday. "It would have been very difficult to play at Stanford," said BYU coach Carl McGown, noting this is final exam week. "It would have been very difficult to get back on an airplane."
Smith Field House is supposed to be tough on visitors, but the Cardinal won a four-game match there earlier in the year. This time, freshman setter Carlos Moreno, who enrolled at BYU in December, has a better understanding of the offense.
