"We weren't worried about that," said left-side hitter Pedro Azenha, who led the Warriors with 16 kills. "We knew we would be in the playoffs. We want to make sure we get a good seed so we can play the first round here and then move on."

The MPSF's regular-season champion earns a bye until the semifinals. The Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds host opening-round matches.

"Everybody realizes the playoffs are coming up," said UH middle blocker Kyle Klinger, who put down 13 kills in 18 swings and contributed to eight of the Warriors' 14.5 blocks. "We've had a few tough losses, but we put them behind us. We know we're a very good volleyball team, and it showed tonight."

The surprising Gauchos entered the match in a third-place tie with the Warriors. The secret to the Gauchos' success is 6-foot-8, 260-pound opposite hitter Evan Patak, who leads the nation with 5.71 kills per game.

"He's huge, isn't he?" Klinger said.

With a full swing, Patak can launch a ball that exceeds the H-3's speed limit of 65 mph. Patak hits what is known in volleyball parlance as a "heavy ball" — a shot without the usual top spin that is a sensitive blocker's nightmare.

"It's like a knuckleball with a lot of heat on it," UH coach Mike Wilton said.

Klinger said: "He hit me under my armpit (with a shot), and it almost knocked me over. He hits a really heavy ball. He hit a couple at me, and I was like, 'Whoa.' "

Patak relishes his reputation, saying, "I really want that ball to find the court at a high rate. I just swing high and hard and just whale on the ball."

The thing is, Patak's imposing skills make it difficult for the Gauchos to explore other options. Last night, Patak received 46 percent of the sets — 63 swings — and slammed 25 kills. In contrast, Azenha attempted a team-high 36 swings for UH.

"If a blind man were playing middle and he just went where Patak was, he would be right half the time," Wilton said. "It took us a while to figure that out, even though we knew he was like that. They set him even more than they usually do, and he was a handful."

The Warriors' strategy was to construct double and triple blocks, hoping they would get deflections without suffering sprained fingers, and that the back row would make digs.

But not all of the Warriors' problems were on the other side of the net. Outside hitter Matt Bender, who still does not appear to have fully recovered from flu-like symptoms, was lifted in Game 2 after losing control of his accuracy.

Outside hitter José José Delgado also was pulled because of erratic play.

That led to the constant shuffling that ended when Lauri Hakala and Jacob Schkud were able to stabilize the defense.

"The lightbulbs were going on and off for us," Wilton said. "Schkud was nails for us. We put him in during crunch time, and he delivered. He's starting to come into his own."

Schkud, who had five kills in seven swings, found motivation in playing against his former teammates. Asked why he transferred from UC Santa Barbara last year, Schkud said, "No comment."

But he admitted to being "pretty fired up this whole week about it. It was the first time to show I can actually play. I was very happy with the outcome."