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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, March 26, 2006

Slow start can't stop Warriors in sweep

Advertiser Staff

After an extended warmup period, the University of Hawai'i volleyball team sizzled to a 30-27, 30-19, 30-23 victory over Pacific last night in the Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif.

José José Delgado and Dio Dante each had 10 kills, and Alfee Reft set the school's career record for digs to boost the Warriors to their 12th consecutive victory.

The Warriors improved to 16-4 overall and 12-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. If the Warriors win one game in tomorrow's rematch against Pacific (7-14, 5-10), they will clinch a berth in the MPSF playoffs by virtue of a complicated tie-breaking formula. There are three weeks remaining in the regular season.

"Even if we wanted to follow those things, we couldn't," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "The Internet service is down in our hotel. We're like mushrooms. We're being kept in the dark."

Last night's match was in a reputedly cool place nicknamed the "Ice Dome" because of Spanos' concrete walls. "It was pretty cold," Delgado said.

A greater concern was the Warriors' early difficulty in passing accurately. They fell behind 15-11 and 16-12 in Game 1.

"I thought we would run the rubber right off of Brian's shoes," Wilton said of setter Brian Beckwith's scrambling for erratic passes. "It was a good thing we have a nice sponsor who supplies us with a lot of shoes."

But then Dio Dante, Matt Carere and Beckwith tripled up to block outside hitter Pekka Seppanen's spike, and Dante served four consecutive points to give the Warriors a 17-16 lead. By then the UH's passers had found their aim. Once in system, the Warriors dominated. They did not trail in the final two games.

The Warriors entered bruised and short-handed at middle blocker. Kyle Klinger did not make the trip because of a broken toe. Jake Schkud remained at the hotel because of food poisoning or a virus. Dante played despite a ligament injury in the right pinkie of his hitting hand.

"He's a big ol' guy," Wilton said of Dante. "He's got a little nick in his hoof, but he can still block. He's a warrior."

Dante contributed to seven of the Warriors' 11.5 blocks.

Reft, meanwhile, produced four digs, boosting his career total to 741, surpassing previous leader Allen Allen's 739.

"He's the man," Delgado said of Reft. "I'm really proud of him. I'm so lucky to have him on my side. He's one the best liberos I've ever seen."

While praising Reft, Wilton noted that Allen, as an outside hitter, played only half the time in the back row. The libero was added to the NCAA men's game in 2000. "Alfee holds the record for liberos, that's how I look at it," Wilton said. "Allen has the record for outside hitters."

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