Nation's best play in MPSF
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Only in the dessert-before-salad world of NCAA men's volleyball does a qualifying tournament offer a better menu of competition than the national tournament.
Advertiser library photo • March 22, 2003
The nation's four best teams — Pepperdine, Hawai'i, Brigham Young and Stanford — will play in the eight-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, but only two will join tournament champions from the Midwest and East in advancing to next month's NCAA final four.
Hawai'i's Delano Thomas, right, vowed to be ready to play against Pacific despite suffering from back spasms.
"When you're in our league," BYU coach Tom Petersen said, "you're playing a top-10 team every week."
It has long been established that the West is where the sun sets and the volleyball shines. In the 33 years of the NCAA final four, only one non-West team — Penn State, in 1994 — has won a national title. Petersen was the head coach of that team.
UC San Diego, which has won more than one MPSF match in a season only once, defeated No. 14 Ohio State twice this season.
"Every team in our league is good and every match is a challenge," Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy said.
Petersen said the teams that advance from the MPSF Tournament will be sufficiently battle-tested. Champions from the East and Midwest "play against half of the teams you wonder where they're located," Petersen said. In the MPSF, "we're playing tough teams."
• WHAT: First-round MPSF tournament match • WHEN: 7 p.m. tomorrow • WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center • TV: Live on K5 • TICKETS: $12 for lower level, $9 for upper, $8 for senior upper (65-older), $5 for ages 4-18 and UH students with ID. Available at Stan Sheriff Center or TicketMaster at (808) 526-4400, TicketMaster outlets, and at www.ticketmaster.com
Here's a look at the MPSF Tournament teams, in order of seeding:
• WHO: Hawai'i vs. Pacific
1. Pepperdine
Records: 22-4, 19-3 MPSF.
Opener: Long Beach State.
Head coach: Marv Dunphy.
Quick set: The Waves replaced four departing starters from last year's tournament championship team. While outside hitter Fred Winters continues to improve, the development of setter John Mayer has had the biggest impact. "He's still a green pea," Dunphy said, "but he's been pretty steady. When we started in January, we weren't meeting a lot of the standards we're used to meeting. He's improved, and that's helped us."
2. Brigham Young
Records: 19-6, 17-5 MPSF.
Opener: Cal State Northridge.
Head coach: Tom Petersen.
Quick sets: Despite finishing in a second-place tie, the Cougars have been inconsistent, the likely result of playing on back-to-back nights 13 times this season. "We're an emotional team with emotional players, and if we're on, that's great, but it's hard to always be on two nights in a row," Petersen said. Setter Carlos Moreno has skillfully distributed the offense, but he has missed three practices this week with a sprained ankle. Middle blocker Chris Gorny is questionable because of an elbow injury.
3. Hawai'i
Records: 23-5, 17-5 MPSF.
Opener: Pacific.
Head coach: Mike Wilton.
Quick sets: The Warriors have won 13 in a row, but eight came against three teams that didn't qualify for the playoffs and one from the Midwest. Middle blocker Delano Thomas, who has worn a special vest to alleviate back spasms, vowed to be ready. Libero Jake Muise has played most of the season with a badly sprained left wrist that requires a hard cast when he is not playing.
4. Stanford
Records: 17-11, 14-8 MPSF.
Opener: UC Irvine.
Head coach: Don Shaw.
Quick sets: The Cardinal's best hitter, Curt Toppel, missed nearly two months because of a fractured left thumb and strained abdominal muscle. Toppel is back, and taking more than 50 percent of the Cardinal's swings, and his supporting cast has improved. "Hopefully," Shaw said of Toppel's hiatus, "it was a blessing in disguise. It was a tribute to the guys that they could lose one of the best players in the country and still hang in there."
5. UC Irvine
Records: 19-10, 12-10 MPSF.
Opener: Stanford.
Head coach: John Speraw.
Quick sets: Is it a coincidence that Speraw, who was Al Scates' right-hand man at UCLA, takes three months to transform the Anteaters into a playoff team for the third time in the program's history? Or that UCLA missed the postseason for the first time? Although the Anteaters struggled after earning the No. 1 ranking in January, they have played well in recent matches. Also, outside hitter Jimmy Pelzel has rebounded. "He was in a little bit of a slump," Speraw said. Middle blocker Kyle Weichert (sprained ankle) and setter David Kniffin (sore back) are healthy.
6. Pacific
Records: 18-13, 12-10 MPSF.
Opener: Hawai'i.
Head coach: Joe Wortmann.
Quick sets: In the first of two matches against UH last month, opposite hitter Nils Dauburs was benched after committing errors on seven of his first 10 swings. The next night, Dauburs started at middle blocker and Saint Louis School graduate Brian Zodrow opened at outside hitter. The moves quickened the Tigers' middle attack. Wortmann has stuck with the lineup ever since.
7. Cal State Northridge
Records: 18-11, 12-10 MPSF.
Opener: Brigham Young.
Head coach: Jeff Campbell.
Quick sets: This is the Matadors' second consecutive postseason appearance after being left out from 1997 to 2001. While Ty Tramblie tries to evenly distribute the offense, the Matadors are at their best when Joe Nargi is receiving most of the sets.
8. Long Beach State
Records: 17-12, 11-11 MPSF.
Opener: Pepperdine.
Head coach: Alan Knipe.
Quick sets: With five returning starters, the 49ers, who will host the NCAA final four, had hoped to do better than squeak into the postseason. Freshmen setter Tyler Hildebrand and middle blocker Duncan Budinger have been the steadiest players in recent matches.
