Posted on: Saturday, May 8, 2004

Familiar foes in final

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

It should be no surprise top-ranked Brigham Young and No. 2 Long Beach State would end up in the last NCAA men's volleyball match of the year.

BYU and Long Beach State have been the sport's Rachel and Ross, chasing each other through the regular season, meeting in last week's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title match, and reuniting for today's NCAA championship in the Stan Sheriff Center.

"It's turned into something unique, where players know each other fairly well," BYU coach Tom Peterson said.

Long Beach middle blocker David Lee said: "We've got a great feel for their team. We've played them three times. There's nothing new. We've seen everything they've happened to bring at us."

The Cougars won the three matches, but the MPSF title match was played at high altitude, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. The 49ers admittedly served with caution in that match, wary of using the full force of jump serves in conditions in which the ball sails.

"In Provo," said opposite hitter Scott Touzinsky, the 49ers' most powerful jump server, "it seems the court is so much smaller than when you're at sea level. ... It's kind of like you should take a tape measure out there."

At Honolulu's sea level, the 49ers believe they can swing away on jump serves. "Definitely," said Touzinsky, who has sizzled 37 aces this season.

In Thursday's semifinal victory over Penn State, the 49ers' three float servers — setter Tyler Hildebrand and middle blockers Lee and Duncan Budinger — placed serves to the shoulders, making it difficult for the passers to find the setter near the net.

Lee said the Spalding ball required for this tournament — replacing the bouncier Molten ball used during the regular season — benefits float servers. Because the Spalding has a "dead" feel on contact, the harder it is struck, the more it will act like a sinkerball, dropping in front of passers.

Long Beach coach Alan Knipe said the intent of mixing jump serves and floaters is "to disrupt the rhythm of the (BYU) passers, and have Carlos (Moreno) set the ball beyond the 3-meter line. We think we have the servers to do that."

If the Cougars' offense hiccups, the 49ers will have an easier time planting their block, as they did against Penn State.

"That caused a lot of problems," Knipe said. "When that happens, it allows our block and defense to score points for us."

BYU libero Shawn Olmstead, who received 21 serves without an error against Lewis in the semifinals, acknowledged the 49ers will bring more heat to their serves.

"They're obviously used to sea level," Olmstead said. "That equals the playing field a little bit."

Even if the Cougars have difficulty passing the 49ers' serves, it might not matter. BYU's Moreno, the national Player of the Year, is a wondrous steersman who can parlay shanked passes into hittable sets. "When we do pass to Carlos," Peterson said, "we set a good offense."

Moreno, who slept with a volleyball in his crib as an infant, has a large menu of options. With his quick hands, it is difficult to decipher whether Moreno will set outside hitter Jonathan Alleman near the left pin or Hillman in the back row.

In slow motion, Moreno can be seen curling his hands over his head on sets to the back row, and keeping his hands slightly in front of his head when he pushes the volleyball to the corner hitters. But in real time, Moreno's hands are a blur.

Still, the 49ers' Lee said, "I try to watch his hands, because that's where you can see the release."

From that snippet of information, Lee or the other middle blocker, Budinger, must decide whether to cover the quick set to the middle, or slide to the corner to double team the outside attacker.

"It's a very quick read," Lee said. "It's a split-second decision."

Long Beach's Knipe said his players need to read-block as well as they did against Penn State.

"When you get to the national championship (match), the bells-and-whistles blocking schemes aren't going to be able to win games for you," Knipe said. "If you can't man up against your opponent and read block and try to contain them, then you're going to have trouble winning the big match."

• Boo-YU: Although Cougar middle blocker Victor Batista and Hillman, the opposite hitter, were cleared in questions over their eligibility, they still are the target of hecklers. Batista, in particular, has riled fans with his arm-waving motions and his celebratory "grenade throw" when he serves an ace.

"My whole life playing volleyball you've always heard people heckle people," Hillman said. "You're either the heckler or you're getting heckled. You get used to it."

Before yesterday's practice, BYU fans jokingly booed Batista to make him feel comfortable.

Hillman said he is teased by teammates. "I had a skin mole on my back," he recalled. "They started calling (the mole) 'Matilda,' as if it were a separate person. In practice, they're always yelling, 'Matilda."

• Health report: Long Beach's Budinger has played the past nine matches with a torn ligament in his left thumb.

BYU middle blocker Michael Burke said he has recovered from torn shoulder ligaments suffered when he attempted to bench press 365 pounds early in the season. He successfully lifted 329 pounds the previous week, prompting him to go for the heavier weight.

"The voice in my head told me it was stupid before I did it," he said. "I tried it, and it turned out disastrous. I haven't done it since then."

• What's at stake: When asked about the difference between winning and losing a title match, Long Beach's Knipe said the victor gets "a big gold ring you can show to everyone. The other team gets a watch."

Knipe, who won a title as a 49er player 13 years ago, added: "In reality, why I want them to experience this title so much is there's an unspoken bond they'll have as a team the rest of their lives. That, as a group, they went out and reached their goals ... and did something everybody set out to do and only they accomplished. ... This is an incredibly close group of players on this team. This will be a feather in their cap and their legacy at Long Beach State."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.