UH bids for 2003 final four
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
| • | ESPN to rebroadcast match
Advertiser Staff The Hawai'i-Pepperdine NCAA men's volleyball championship match will be replayed 8 a.m. May 21 on ESPN, according to Oceanic Cable. ESPN will block out two hours, but the telecast is subject to change without notice, depending on breaking sports news. UH won its first men's NCAA championship with a four-game volleyball victory over Pepperdine Saturday at University Park, Pa. |
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The University of Hawai'i is one of three schools bidding for the right to serve as host to next year's final four.
"It should be here," UH coach Mike Wilton said.
Next month, a three-member NCAA volleyball committee will choose the site. UH, UCLA and Long Beach State have submitted bids.
But Long Beach State served as host in 2001, and it is believed the decision will come down to UH and UCLA.
Wilton said Hawai'i should have the edge over Los Angeles. "More people would rather come to Hawai'i than L.A.," he said.
Wilton added that volleyball's popularity in Hawai'i would be a promotional boost for the sport.
UCLA was the final four host in 1996 and 1999. Hawai'i served as host in 1998, and drew nearly capacity crowds at the Stan Sheriff Center, even though the Warriors did not participate.
The NCAA has decided to alternate regions, using this sequence: West, East, West, Midwest. If UH does not get to be host for next year's tournament, it has been encouraged to bid for 2004 even though the current format calls for the next West site to be in 2005.
In UH's original bid for the 2003 tournament, it guaranteed selling 3,000 tournament packages. That figure was based on the number of season-ticket holders this year.
When told the guarantee appeared to be low, Wilton told NCAA officials the school sold more than 6,000 tickets for a first-round match in this year's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. At last weekend's final four in University Park, Pa., several coaches spoke of the popularity of volleyball in Hawai'i.
NCAA officials then agreed UH would be a candidate to serve as host.
