"That's the way it turned out," UH coach Mike Wilton said after last night's 105-minute practice in Smith Fieldhouse.

Wilton said José José Delgado has regained the starting job at second left-side hitter, a position requiring equal skills in passing and attacking. Delgado started UH's first 10 matches before ceding the job because of inconsistent hitting. But in last week's four-game victory over Ball State, Delgado came in to slam 10 kills in 17 swings.

As a reserve player, "I got a lot of reps against the first team," Delgado said. "It helped my confidence. I feel so comfortable hitting right now."

Delgado said he has solved his problem of "over-swinging." Now, he relies on an easy motion to ricochet shots off the block or into the seams.

"I'm visualizing what I want to do, and that's helping me," he said.

Wilton said Dionisio Dante, who played in place of ailing Kyle Klinger last week, will remain as a starting middle blocker. Klinger, who aggravated a sore left foot, is practicing without pain. But Wilton said Dante "has been on the job" while Klinger said he is trying to "get the rust off."

BYU also has tweaked its lineup since defeating UH in four games in the final match of the Outrigger Invitational in January.

Victor Batista, BYU's most animated player, moved from outside hitter back to the middle, where he played last season. The switch was necessitated when Russell Holmes was weakened by a staph-like infection.

A lineup featuring three demonstrative players — Batista, outside hitter Ivan Perez and opposite hitter Casey Patterson — has led to uneven performances.

With his players relying too often on their emotions, BYU coach Tom Peterson said, "we have a hard time playing very focused for very long periods of time. ... When you have great emotion, things are nice, but when you don't, then you have to be steady. We're trying to even out, and maybe that will help us play better for longer periods."

The Warriors also have struggled with their emotions, to the point of distraction, and now are working on playing with what libero Alfred Reft describes as "controlled energy."

"Emotion is always good," Reft added, "and sometimes we feed off of it. But sometimes it hurts us. We have to harness our energy into positive energy. I think we have to stay fired up but stay composed, as well."