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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, March 31, 2006

Warriors win 600th for coach Wilton

Advertiser Staff

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Another match, another dominant performance for the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team.

The Warriors won their 15th in a row last night, this time overpowering host Stanford, 30-16, 30-24, 30-22, before 267 witnesses in the Burnham Pavilion.

The Warriors, who improved to 19-4 overall and 15-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, presented Mike Wilton his 600th career coaching victory.

"It was all for coach Wilton," libero Alfee Reft said. "It's a great accomplishment for him, and a testament to the wonderful job he's done. We're very happy for him. He deserves two thumbs up."

Wilton's record is 600-268, including 279-118 in 14 seasons at UH. He previously coached the men's and women's teams at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

"Well, it just means I've been doing it for a long time," Wilton said. "It's been a pretty good ride."

Last night's match was the fourth — and final — one of a six-day road trip in which the Warriors did not lose a game. During the 15-match winning streak, the Warriors have won 45 of 51 games, including 10 three-game sweeps.

"We're trying not to focus on those things," Reft said. "Really, we're only taking it game by game. We don't think about the consecutive wins, or anything besides playing hard. When you play hard, good things come."

The reward, at least for the UH reserves, is playing time. Wilton had scripted a plan in which he would begin substituting at the start of the second game. "Those kinds of plans are subject to situations," Wilton said.

The lineup UH has used since early February overwhelmed the Cardinal with blistering serves, accurate passes and a too-fast-to-stop, low-set offense.

"The group that started Game 1 really did a nice job," Wilton said.

In that game, UH hit a season-high .760 (19 kills and no errors in 25 swings).

The Warriors opened Game 2 with Matt Bender at left-side attacker, Jake Schkud in the middle, and setter Sean Carney at the controls. In the middle of the game, Eric Kalima replaced outside hitter Matt Carere. In Game 3, Kalima moved to libero.

"Sean did a nice job," Wilton said. "He had a slightly different personnel each time. But in practice, we mix and match a lot — they play with each other an equal amount of time — and that made it easier."

The key throughout the match — and, even, this series — was the Warriors' serving. They slammed eight aces, increasing their total to 19 in two matches against Stanford.

The Warriors also scored 41 points in the 89 plays initiated by their serves. The Cardinal's serves produced 14 points, including two points in Game 1.

Lauri Hakala led the Warriors with 11 kills. Carere added nine kills (no errors) in 10 swings.