Warriors swept by BYU

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i players, from left, Matt Bender, Kimo Tuyay, Joshua Stanheiser and Pedro Azenha react after the Warriors lost a point to Brigham Young during the second game of their semifinal match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. Associated Press

Outside hitter Tony Ching, one of four UH seniors, collapsed into the arms of his father, Billy Ching.

UH coach Mike Wilton approached senior outside hitter Eyal Zimet, the two hugged, and Wilton whispered, "I'm proud of you. I'm proud of all of you."

For the 2002 national champions, it wasn't supposed to end on a cool California night, in a cold-hearted 30-28, 37-35, 30-26 loss to Brigham Young in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.

"I don't think we deserved to go out this way," Ching said. "Things happen for a reason. I'm sure one day we'll find out what that reason is."

BYU (21-6) advances to tomorrow night's title match against No. 1 seed and host Pepperdine.

The Warriors (24-6) return to the Islands today as the third-best team in a league that will send only two to next week's NCAA final four in Long Beach.

The Warriors' first loss in two months came against the first opponent in their 14-match winning streak.

"We didn't find the answer this time," Zimet said, "and now we're out of time."

The Warriors could not serve effectively, pass accurately or beg a break.

In Game 1, the Warriors appeared to tie it at 28 when BYU's Jonathan Alleman trespassed on a kill attack. Umpire John Martin initially ruled the swing was clean, but referee Marvin Hall overruled that call, awarding the point to UH. But a line judge raced over in protest, and Hall reversed the call again, giving BYU the point and a 29-27 lead. Television replays showed Alleman had indeed stepped across to UH's side.

"We don't have instant replay, so it's irrelevant," Wilton said.

Middle blocker Brian Nordberg, who had a front-row view of the play, said: "You've got to try and forget about things you can't control. Every call the referee makes you can't control, so you have to put it out of your mind. There were some calls that were heartbreaking, for both teams, but you have to play through them."

In Game 2, the Warriors rallied from a 22-14 deficit, tying it four times, and then serving with a 31-30 lead. When Delano Thomas blocked a shot, apparently for game point, the Warriors began to celebrate. But Hall ruled that Thomas had brushed against the net on the block attempt.

Later, UH's Costas Theocharidis sizzled a serve that ricocheted off BYU libero Fernando Pessoa, sailed back to UH's side and landed barely in fair territory.

"You've got to have luck on your side," Nordberg said. "That's not taking anything away from BYU, but luck wasn't on our side."

Perhaps a bigger factor was that setter Carlos Moreno was on the Cougars' side. To the Warriors, Moreno appeared to be a magician juggling three volleyballs in the air. He evenly distributed the offense — five Cougars had double-digit kills, each hitting at least .320 — and exploited the Warriors' defense.

Play after play, BYU perimeter hitters Alleman, Rafael Paal and Jaime Mayol faced single blocks or, quite often, none at all.

"It's been that way all year," Alleman said. "We had no guys on the (MPSF) first team because Carlos spreads the offense so well. Carlos can set anybody he wants at any time. Sometimes he even tricks me. If I don't know when he's going to set me, how can the other team know?"

Moreno credited his father, Antonio, the captain of four of Brazil's Olympic teams.

"My father was an awesome player," Moreno said. "It helps a lot to have someone like him living in my house. He taught me so much. I think he used to put a volleyball in my crib when I was a baby."

UH libero Jake Muise, who scrambled to pass untouched shots, marveled at Moreno's craftiness.

"He's the best setter in the league, by far," Muise said. "He's a treat to watch."

The Warriors believed the best way to contain Moreno would be with tough serves. Even though Moreno has mastered the art of quick sets to the outside hitters, all setters are supposed to be vulnerable when erratic passes force them away from net — or so the Warriors believed.

"Carlos can turn a bad pass into something special," BYU's Pessoa said.

"He's good," UH's Theocharidis said, "but we made him better because we didn't serve aggressively. They passed well. They ran their offense really well. We didn't serve well and we didn't pass well. When you don't serve well and don't pass well, you can't expect to win."

With a safecracker's frenziness, Wilton scrambled for the right combination. In the middle of Game 2, he replaced setter Kimo Tuyay with Daniel Rasay. It was a move Wilton made several times during the championship season, but never during the Warriors' winning streak this season.

"I wanted Kimo to come out and watch and see what we were doing with Daniel," Wilton said. "Daniel has a real history of lighting things up for us, and he did. I thought he set well enough for us to win. But we couldn't get the job done. We struggled a bit. We all struggled."

Pepperdine 3, UC Irvine 0: The top-ranked Waves celebrated the final day of their spring semester with a rousing 30-26, 30-20, 30-27 victory in the other semifinal.

The Anteaters scored four of the match's first five points, but that was the end of the drama.

"We came out a little slow," Wave setter John Mayer said. "I guess we needed a little time to warm up."

Indeed. After that, the Waves began launching heated serves, and the Anteaters could not respond.

Sean Rooney, playing with a stress injury in his left leg, led the Waves with 21 kills.