Posted on: Sunday, April 25, 2004
Hawai'i's volleyball season ends at UCLA
| • | Game statistics |
By Diamond Leung
Special to The Advertiser
LOS ANGELES — The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team didn't pass well. It didn't set well, either.
So, it made perfect sense that the sixth-seeded Warriors got crushed, their season ended by third-seeded UCLA last night, 30-24, 30-24, 30-28, in the first round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament at Pauley Pavilion.
The explanation for this lopsided result was simple.
"Serving and passing," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "That's the game right there. We knew they would (serve well), but we didn't handle it well."
UCLA, featuring five jump servers, put the heat on UH (17-12) throughout the match. Libero Alfred Reft did well in actually taking the majority of the serves, but for outside hitters Pedro Azenha and Delano Thomas, there was nowhere to hide.
In a match that was close at the midway point of each game, the difference was UH lobbing overpass after overpass at critical junctures.
"We had a good gameplan," UCLA coach Al Scates said. "We served Thomas so much that we threw his rhythm off."
Thomas shanked a service reception that allowed UCLA (24-5) to take game point in Game 2, and his night wasn't much better on the offensive end.
He had 10 kills, but only hit .120. His seven hitting errors included a tip shot that frustratingly went wide on match point.
The Warriors hit a combined .123 for the Games 1 and 2 and .185 overall. Matt Bender recorded 10 kills and Azenha had nine, but they hit .120 and .160, respectively.
It was senior setter Kimo Tuyay who became the fall guy. Tuyay, who last week became UH's career assists leader, finished his career on the bench as Wilton pulled him for good in favor of freshman Brian Beckwith at the start of Game 3.
"I've been used to it," Tuyay said. "It's nothing to be upset about.
"They were the better team tonight. You have to accept it, but we tried our best. We made some mistakes, and that's how it goes."
Even with Beckwith setting well, the Warriors shot themselves in the foot — literally.
Middle blocker Dio Dante, who replaced Mauli'a LaBarre early on, followed up a Game 3 kill with a costly foot fault on his serve that gave UCLA a 29-27 lead.
UCLA (24-5) advances to the semifinals to face No. 2-seeded Long Beach State in Provo, Utah, in its quest for its 19th NCAA championship.
UH ends its season at 17-12.
