In falling to 11-4 and 9-3 in the MPSF, the Warriors could not contain the frustration of squandering significant leads in Games 2 and 3 nor the anger over perceived uneven officiating.

The Warriors complained about line calls, missed points and, in Game 2, an error that gave the Waves a six-contact possession.

Alfred Reft, UH's soft-spoken libero, was assessed a yellow card — resulting in a Wave point — for protesting one of referee Ernie Ho's decisions.

"It's notorious we have bad officiating out here," UH setter Brian Beckwith said. "Everyone knows that. We get it every match. We have to work past it."

Pepperdine's Andy Hein (3) and John Mayer (11) attempt to block Hawai'i's José José Delgado during the first game. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The net could not mask the Warriors' frustration.

"You could totally tell," Pepperdine setter Jonathan Winder said. "They were complaining the whole time about the refereeing. We could have, too, but our coaches kept us in check. They told us, 'Don't even complain. The only guy who can complain is (floor captain Sean) Rooney.' "

Rooney, who hammered 15 kills, said: "Some things went our way, but it's not all because of the officiating. We did some good things. It was a great day for us."

Despite erratic serving — they had 11 service errors in Game 3 — the Waves received scoring from all points, used their towering block (their average hitter is 6 feet 7) to amass 13.5 rejections, and refused to pump their brakes, even trailing 27-22 in Game 2.

Mayer said: "If we drop our heads, we lose in three," Mayer said. "We wanted this match. We kept our heads up."

At 6 feet 8, Winder is the nation's tallest setter. He is skilled in parlaying high passes into high sets, giving 6-foot-9 Rooney, 6-7 John Parfitt and, even, 5-11 Mayer opportunities to ricochet shots off the top of the UH block. Mayer is the Waves' best jumper, Winder said, "so he's hitting like he's 6-6."

"All of the big guys don't have to jump as much," said Mayer, whose quick left-handed swing is difficult to block. "I guess I have to jump high to play with these big boys."

Concerned about the Waves' imposing block, UH coach Mike Wilton juggled the rotation, switching outside hitters Matt Bender and José José Delgado. Bender, who usually follows Azenha, moved to the rotation spot behind Beckwith. Instead of pairing the best attackers — Azenha and Bender — the move was made to balance the offense.

Delgado, who has struggled offensively this season, had eight kills and hit .429 through the middle of Game 3. But Wilton noticed Delgado did not play as well early in Game 3, and based on past trends, decided to make a switch, bringing in Matt Carere.

"There's been a tendency to start like a lion and go out like a lamb," Wilton said of Delgado. "We needed to change that. I felt we needed to do that (move). But, for sure, he had good numbers hitting-wise (to that point)."

But Carere, who entered with no kill attempts, appeared to be rusty.

Lauri Hakala replaced Carere for the start of Game 4.

Later, Delgado replaced Hakala.

"We didn't do a very good job in the composure department," Wilton said. "It was a combination of things. To be sure, the referees were testing our patience. But that's for us to deal with in a positive way, and we didn't do a very good job of that."