For the University of Hawai'i, the magic number is seven.

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation yesterday recognized all seven UH starters.

Setter Brian Beckwith and opposite attacker Lauri Hakala were named to the MPSF men's volleyball all-star first team; outside hitter Matt Carere and libero Alfee Reft were selected to the second team; middle blocker Dio Dante and outside hitter José José Delgado were on the third team, and middle blocker Mauli'a LaBarre received honorable mention.

"It's great that all seven of us got recognized because I think we're a special team," said Beckwith, a native of Pacific Palisades, Calif. "We really played well together."

Hakala, who was raised in Finland, was pleased with the first-team honor, but said the focus is on the Warriors' bid for an at-large berth in the NCAA Championships.

"It's nice," he said of the MPSF award, "but it doesn't warm my heart very much right now. It's cool to get the certificate. I'll send it to my parents at home. I'm sure they'll be proud of me.

"We're part of a team," Hakala added. "You don't get any individual recognition if you don't have a good guy setting the ball, if you don't have the thousands and thousands of reps with your teammates. The fact that our entire team made all-conference is very great. It's a good testament to the coaches, too, and to ourselves, and to how hard we worked."

Beckwith's setting helped the Warriors lead the nation in hitting percentage (.342). Hakala was an effective attacker from the front right and back row.

Reft led the MPSF in digs with 3.14 per game. Carere excelled as a left-side hitter and primary passer.

The Warriors were admittedly surprised that Delgado, who led the team with 4.23 kills per game, and Dante, who was the league's top blocker (1.69 per game), were designated to the third team. Delgado averaged more kills than Long Beach State's Duncan Budinger, who was named to the second team despite splitting time between opposite hitter and middle blocker.

"I think Dio Dante not being on the first team is the biggest injustice in NCAA volleyball this year," Hakala said. "Dio is the best middle in the nation. There again, you see how much it is politics, how one gets recognized and one doesn't. It's always someone else's opinion."

UH coach Mike Wilton said Dante "blocked a lot of balls. To me, that's the most important function of a middle blocker. That's why we call them middle blockers."

The Warriors also were surprised to learn they dropped two places, to No. 4, in this week's CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Coaches' Top-15 Poll. Although they lost to UCLA in Saturday's quarterfinals of the MPSF tournament, they believe they should have been ranked higher than No. 2 Long Beach State and No. 3 Pepperdine.

UH finished the regular season with four more MPSF victories than third-place Pepperdine and five more wins than Long Beach State. UH swept the two-match series against Long Beach State, and holds the tie-breaker advantage over Pepperdine.

"That's just poor," Wilton said of the poll results. "But whatever. You can't control that."

The Warriors insist they deserve the at-large berth in the NCAA final four if top-ranked UC Irvine wins the MPSF tournament. The MPSF winner earns the league's automatic berth in the final four.

"If Irvine wins (the MPSF), we go to the big dance," Carere said. "No doubt."

"That's the way I'm going to think and that's the way my teammates are going to think," Beckwith said.

Wilton said UCLA finished second in the MPSF regular season last year, lost in the quarterfinals and earned the at-large berth. "I came up with five or six more cases of that," Wilton said. "We need to pay attention to history. All of the data is there."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.