By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

It has become the nature of this enduring series that every time the University of Hawai'i and UCLA meet in men's volleyball it seems like a big deal.

A national championship, playoff berth, conference title and plain old rivalry, the history behind the matchup and the electricity that surrounds it suggest it often is.

Still, tomorrow and Saturday nights at the Stan Sheriff Center will be bigger than most. For, taken together, it is something of a milestone in the lengthening series. The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches mark the first time UH and UCLA have met as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the national poll since their memorable 1996 NCAA Championship showdown, a match that has helped define the Warriors' marquee rivalry.

Back then, UCLA was No. 1. This week, UH has the top spot.

In the 3-hour, 11-minute drama at Pauley Pavilion in 1996 — for this was still the days of side-out scoring — they engaged in college volleyball at its best. And, ultimately for the Warriors and the thousands of UH partisans on hand, also its most painful.

After the 15-13, 12-15, 9-15, 17-15, 15-12 marathon concluded, UCLA hoisted its 16th men's volleyball national championship. Try as they might — and Yuval Katz had 47 kills in 94 swings that night — emotionally drained UH coach Mike Wilton said in a raspy whisper, "I feel like I've got a knife in my belly right now."

"It was pretty painful," Wilton recalled of a memory he professes not to flash back on, instead focusing on the new skirmishes that take the rivalry forward. It has become the measure of this series, even when it is mid-season with no title at stake, that nobody lets down or looks past the other, whatever the records and rankings.

When Wilton took over the Warriors in 1993, UCLA, the sport's most accomplished program, was the yardstick for where he wanted to someday take UH. From humble beginnings — "I remember a lot of three-and-outs back then," Wilton said — the Warriors have become a force in the sport in their own right, one of the handful of teams to pencil in as contenders.

Along the way, in more recent times, the Bruins have had some of those rare seasons that qualify as a drought at UCLA. Not that it has lessened at all the intensity of the series or the interest with which UH fans look forward to resuming it. For, as always, the shadow of UCLA remains and history hovers over this series.

Now it is significant that UH and UCLA are back in the top two spots in the national poll again when they stare across the net this week to write new chapters.

A warmup, we can only hope, for May 8 when the NCAA national championship is decided at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.