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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 11, 2015 14:39:55 GMT -5
No.1 Warriors sweep StanfordBy Stephen Tsai, Honolulu Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 11, 2015 LAST UPDATED: 02:53 a.m. HST, Apr 11, 2015 JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM Hawaii’s Jennings Franciskovic went up to block Stanford’s Daniel Tublin, left, and Conrad Kaminski during the first set on Friday.The Stan Sheriff Center rocked, then the Hawaii volleyball team rolled to its 15th consecutive victory — 25-17, 25-22, 26-24 — over Stanford. A crowd of more than 5,000, the largest since 2010, watched the Warriors chisel the Cardinal's defense for two sets, then score the match's final four points for the sweep. The top-ranked Warriors are 17-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, .028 ahead of 18-3 UC Irvine, which defeated UCLA in four sets on Friday night. "We don't watch what Irvine does," said outside hitter Siki Zarkovic, who led the Warriors with 12 kills. "We watch what we do." UH coach Charlie Wade said he does not bother to monitor the Internet for Irvine updates. "No need," Wade said. "We know we control our own destiny. We have to do our own thing." Irvine has one regular-season match remaining. The Warriors have three left, including Saturday's "senior night" rematch against the Cardinal. After the match, UH middle Taylor Averill acknowledged: "There's a little salt in the mouth. All of us could have played a little better. That's OK. We got the win. (Saturday) is our next focus. We have to come out and play well (Saturday)." UH setter Jennings Franciskovic had a wide menu of options in the first two sets. Averill and Davis Holt, despite playing with a swollen right hand, were crushing quick sets. That opened the way for Zarkovic and opposite Brook Sedore, who launched spikes from the pins and behind the 3-meter line. The Warriors also were able to block (15.5 rejections) or tip the Cardinal's best shots. Libero Kolby Kanetake, sporting a faux-hawk, produced 17 digs. "I have to give a lot of credit to my blockers," Kanetake said. "They make it so much easier to read where the ball's going." This season, Kanetake has experienced aches in his limbs and back. "It's kind of up and down a little bit," Kanetake said. "I have to give it my best effort every night. It doesn't matter how I'm feeling." Sedore said he knew UH's defense would be fine after Kanetake made two sprawling digs early in the first set. "When I saw that, I said, ‘I'm not worried about Kolby,' " Sedore said. "That guy is going to be doing his job all night. He was in the zone all night." Without injured 6-foot-8 setter James Shaw, Stanford tried several tactics. They adjusted their personnel and rotation when 5-9 setter Kyle Dagostino was in the front row. In the first two sets, 6-7 setter Sean Kemper entered in the third rotation. The pin hitters also tried to attack wide, which limited their line attempts but helped tool blocks. In the third set, Stanford rallied from a five-point deficit to take a 24-22 lead. Wade then summoned backup setter Alex Jones. "When I saw (Jones) coming out, I was less worried," Sedore said. "That guy comes in and does wonders for us." Stanford's Daniel Tublin hit long on a pipe set, then Zarkovic stuffed an over-pass to tie it at 24. Franciskovich then replaced Jones. "Alex comes in and gives everybody and the crowd a little boost," Wade said. "He got everybody kind of pumped up. I don't even want to think about what our season would be like without that guy." At deuce, Stanford's plan was to feed ‘Iolani graduate Gabriel Vega on the right side. Franciskovic, Averill and Zarkovic collaborated to block Vega twice to end the match. "End of the set, they wanted to go to the guy who was hot," Averill said. "(Vega) was playing well. He played well." Vega finished with a match-high 14 kills. "What a night," Averill said. "I think we can play at a lot higher level. We hold ourselves to a higher standard." 3 HAWAII
0 STANFORDKEYS: UH hits .330 and outblocks Stanford 14 1⁄2-5 1⁄2 NEXT: Stanford at Hawaii, 7 p.m. Saturday, OC Sports Full Photo Gallery here. Photos by JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 12, 2015 15:47:56 GMT -5
Sweet night for Hawaii's seniorsBy Stephen Tsai, Honolulu Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 12, 2015 LAST UPDATED: 02:43 a.m. HST, Apr 12, 2015 JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM Keola Kahaulelio embraced senior Brook Sedore after accepting a marriage proposal on the volleyball court during senior night.On Hawaii volleyball's senior night, it was set, match and love. After the top-ranked Warriors swept Stanford 25-16, 25-12, 25-17 and the seven seniors were celebrated, opposite attacker Brook Sedore, covered in lei and emotion, took the microphone and then a knee. Before about 7,000 of his closest friends and fans, Sedore proposed to his girlfriend, Keola Kahaulelio. "She said … Yes!" the Stan Sheriff Center scoreboard proclaimed. "Words can't explain how much I love him," said Kahaulelio, a former UH water polo player. Sedore, with moistened eyes, said: "She's the love of my life. I've been planning this since the day I met her my freshman year. It's amazing. I couldn't have planned it any better." Teammates also were lost in emotion. "This was a good night of volleyball, but (the proposal) was even more incredible," setter Jennings Franciskovic said. "I have chills." There were a few reasons to celebrate. The Warriors completed their regular-season home schedule with their 16th consecutive victory. They boosted their lead a skosh in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. They are 18-2 in the MPSF with two road matches against Brigham Young remaining. UC Irvine is second at 18-3 with one match left. The largest crowd since Feb. 28, 2004 saw the Warriors dominate every phase. The Warriors hit .408, and did not commit an error until late in the second set, on their 37th swing. "That was Alex (Jones) running a zinger (set) to Ryan (Leung), which he wasn't ready for," UH coach Charlie Wade said, smiling. Jones and Leung, both senior reserves, were summoned after the Warriors ruled the net (13.0 blocks to Stanford's 2.0), service line (eight aces) and serve-receive (94.3 passing accuracy). "Jennings (Franciskovic) set a nice match," Wade said. "The hitters were impressive. The blocking was good. The serving was good. This was a nice performance." Stanford was playing without injured 6-foot-8 setter James Shaw. Kyle Dagostino is a crafty coach's son, but he also is only 5-9. Even when accompanied by 7-foot middle Kevin Rakestraw in the front row, the Warriors were able to slide a double team on the pin hitter and pipe attacker. UH middle Davis Holt was particularly disruptive. He had six blocks through the middle of the second set and finished with eight. It took a year for Holt's block-read awareness to match his 6-foot-9 frame. As a fifth-year senior, he is a complement to Taylor Averill, regarded as the nation's best middle. "I'm so proud of Davis," Wade said. "He's come a long way." Wade, who had numbness in the meaty part of his right hand on Friday night, appeared to be pain-free in Saturday's rematch. Holt also had four kills without an error and hit .500. Averill's line was 9-0-11. Sedore contributed nine kills without an error, earning four points on launches from behind the 3-meter line. All seven seniors played. Stanford also went deep, but for a different reason. Stanford also was without middle Spencer Haly, who suffered an injury in Friday's match. But the way the Warriors' blistering serves were forcing Stanford out of rhythm, the quick-middle attack was rarely an option. The Warriors scored 37 natural points. Stanford scored seven points on plays initiated by its serves. Averill said the Warriors were fueled when they noticed the seats filling during warmups. "How could we not be pumped up?" Averill said. "We had a core of us who played together for so long. We knew what this night meant. We knew the crowd we had. We had to put on a show." 3 HAWAII 0 STANFORDKEY: Hawaii hit .408, led by Taylor Averill’s nine kills in 11 error-free swings NEXT: UH at BYU, 3 p.m. Friday Full Photo Gallery here. Photos by JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 15, 2015 14:47:07 GMT -5
UH volleyball team departs for must-win tripBy Stephen Tsai POSTED: 06:38 a.m. HST, Apr 15, 2015 LAST UPDATED: 06:42 a.m. HST, Apr 15, 2015 STAR-ADVERTISER / JAN. 11 Hawaii's Brook Sedore watches his ball go between UC Irvine's Kyle Russell and Jason Agopian in the first set of the UC Irvine vs. Hawaii volleyball match at Stan Sheriff Center in January.The top-ranked University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team was scheduled to depart Wednesday morning for a must-win road trip against Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The Warriors are 18-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, a half-match ahead of second-place UC Irvine (18-3). With UCI heavily favored to win its regular-season finale against winless UC San Diego, the Warriors would need to both matches against BYU on Friday and Saturday to win the MPSF title and earn the No. 1 seed throughout the league’s playoffs. UCI holds the tie-breaker advantage over the Warriors. UH already has sold most of the tickets in the Stan Sheriff Center’s lower bowl for the April 25 MPSF quarterfinals. Donna Kanetake, whose son is UH’s starting libero, bought 84 tickets at $16 apiece. UH volleyball player Taylor Averill on BYU tripPosted by Stephen Tsai Published on Apr 15, 2015 UH middle blocker Taylor Averill discusses the Warriors' upcoming road matches against BYU.
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Post by kahusancali on Apr 15, 2015 18:54:45 GMT -5
UH already has sold most of the tickets in the Stan Sheriff Center’s lower bowl for the April 25 MPSF quarterfinals. Donna Kanetake, whose son is UH’s starting libero, bought 84 tickets at $16 apiece.
Most of lower level tickets already sold so we're looking at numbers between 4 to 5k? I think the capacity of the arena is just over 10k.
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Post by brooselee on Apr 15, 2015 19:13:07 GMT -5
Nah...I think we could have a crowd between 8-9 thousand. Many fans will wait until last minute to buy tickets and some will jump aboard after we sweep BYU. The game is still 10 days away so there is plenty of time.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 15, 2015 20:10:31 GMT -5
it was such a great atmosphere at the stanley on saturday for senior night. it's been a while since men's volleyball matches have consistently been that "crowded" ... it took nearly the entire season (lol), but it's nice to see the hawaii fans come around and warm up again to the warriors. i hope the momentum of fans streaming back to the arena continues into next season, even as the team takes some of its eventual lumps, as they rebuild/reload a little after the loss of this year's seniors. still a great core will be back next season to make a run, with some players waiting in the wings to take over spots. perhaps it'll be more 'reload' than 'rebuild.' but for now, it's been a great ride in a season of redemption for this core group of players who have struggled to make the playoffs the past couple of years, and have seen some of the lowest lows this program has ever seen. here's hoping they bring it at byu this week ... so that they can come back home -- and stay home! -- for the entirety of the conference playoffs!!
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Post by kahusancali on Apr 15, 2015 23:12:07 GMT -5
This program was being considered as one of the programs being eliminated. I guess the university is having 2nd thoughts now? And the players don't even get full sholarships? Some just on partial scholarships?
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 16, 2015 14:37:00 GMT -5
Dual wins against BYU will secure 'Bows home courtBy Stephen Tsai, Honolulu Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 16, 2015 JAMM AQUINO / APR. 10 Hawaii's Kolby Kanetake soared to keep the ball in play against Stanford on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center.If the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team wishes to win the regular-season title, it will need to succeed at the next level. The Warriors departed on Wednesday ahead of road matches against Brigham Young on Friday and Saturday nights. Smith Fieldhouse is 4,549 feet above sea level. UH coach Charlie Wade downplayed the purported effects of high altitude's thin air, such as dry skin and volleyballs that sail. "The net's the same height, the court's the same size," Wade said. Wade's focus is on winning both matches to close the regular season. The Warriors are 18-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, a half-match ahead of second-place UC Irvine (18-3). With Irvine an overwhelming favorite against UC San Diego on Saturday, the Warriors will need to beat BYU twice to win the regular-season title and earn the home-court advantage through the MPSF playoffs. Irvine holds the tie-breaker advantage over UH. The Warriors already have clinched at least second place. They hold the tie-breaker over third-place Pepperdine (17-4). "We still control our own destiny," UH libero Kolby Kanetake said. "That's really important. We don't have to worry about anybody else. We know whatever we do is going to put us where we go." Two years ago, BYU defeated UH in the MPSF quarterfinals at Smith, an outcome spiced with controversy. "We kind of owe them," UH outside hitter Siki Zarkovic said. "Two years ago, we lost in five. We feel an urgency to win." The Cougars are issuing an average 3,322 tickets per home match. The are 10-2 in Smith this season. A large turnout is expected for Saturday's senior night. "Sure, they'll have a nice crowd," Wade said. "But we've played in front of some decent-sized crowds. That's kind of fun. That's part of being an athlete, playing in big matches in front of good crowds. There's nothing wrong with that." The Warriors will be without reserve outside hitter Hendrik Mol, who missed two matches the past weekend because of an eye infection. Mol is the serving specialist. Against Stanford last week, Scott Hartley was used as the serving specialist. When left-side hitter Kupono Fey struggled in the third set, Hartley, who already served in place of a middle, was not available to replace Fey. Wade said opposite Ryan Leung and Brandon Hiehle can be used as serving specialists. "We'd love to have Hendrik available, but that's not the case this week," Wade said.
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Post by soljah808 on Apr 16, 2015 17:30:44 GMT -5
UH already has sold most of the tickets in the Stan Sheriff Center’s lower bowl for the April 25 MPSF quarterfinals. Donna Kanetake, whose son is UH’s starting libero, bought 84 tickets at $16 apiece. Most of lower level tickets already sold so we're looking at numbers between 4 to 5k? I think the capacity of the arena is just over 10k. Expect way more than that. Between 7-9k as well. Hawaii has a high number of walk up ticket sales during important games. With 10 days till that game....I'd expect a hefty and boisterous crowd that night!
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 17, 2015 15:13:44 GMT -5
Volleyball 'Bows a hit at the box officeBy Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Star-AdvertiserPOSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 17, 2015 JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM Siki Zarkovic and the Rainbow Warriors are drawing their biggest crowds in nine years.Briefly listed among "options for program reduction," the men's volleyball team has proven to be one of the University of Hawaii's biggest winners on — and off — the court this year. In addition to a 23-3 record and No. 1 American Volleyball Coaches Association ranking entering Friday's series at Brigham Young, the Rainbow Warriors have reached a nine-year high in ticket revenue and tickets distributed. For the 16-match regular-season home schedule, the 'Bows took in $308,653 in ticket revenue, according to unaudited UH figures. That's the most since 2006 and nearly a 40 percent jump from 2014 despite one fewer home match. "The results have been earned," said Carl Clapp, UH associate athletic director. "We see the (upturn) in these numbers, but we're also aware of the time that (coach) Charlie (Wade), his staff and the players have spent interacting with the fans and the community. It is great stuff and we've had a terrific atmosphere for home matches." In going 14-2 at the Stan Sheriff Center, the 'Bows have averaged 2,554 fans through the turnstiles and issued an average of 3,535 tickets per match. That's up from 1,836 and 2,871 last season. The leap has allowed UH to out-pace revenue projections by nearly $60,000, among the best returns of any sport for the fiscal year that closes June 30. The direct costs for men's volleyball run nearly $650,000. In a February report — the "Financial State of Hawaii Athletics: Version 2.0 — Revising The Game Plan" — commissioned by a Board of Regents committee, men's volleyball was identified among six programs in possible "options for program reduction." After the release of the 93-page report, the regents said "none of these options seem to be very feasible or desireable." UH is scheduled to host a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal match April 25. HOT TICKETMen’s volleyball tickets issued Year Tickets 2015 3,535 2014 2,871 2013 2,735 2012 2,902 2011 3,462 2010 3,415 2009 2,560 2008 2,760 2007 3,340 2006 4,231 Source: UH
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 17, 2015 15:32:29 GMT -5
This program was being considered as one of the programs being eliminated. I guess the university is having 2nd thoughts now? And the players don't even get full sholarships? Some just on partial scholarships? this was never gonna happen. but still though, just the mere mention of it as a possibility... no doubt, this played into the minds of the players and coaches, and provided a little extra motivation this season. in a little bit of irony/hypocrisy ... during the senior night festivities, out-going AD Ben Jay was among the athletic officials, not just in attendance, but out on the court, hugging the seniors as they were each called up. it was jay's report (presented to the board of regents) that raised the possibility of dropping certain sports, including men's volleyball, as a way to fix the budget woes. i understand those are tough calls to make, and the push behind the report was more politically-motivated than an actual call to drop those sports ... still though, how awkward must that have been as a player, to be getting congratulations from an AD who contemplated dropping your sport? when sedore grabbed the mic to address the crowd during senior night, i actually thought for a moment that he was gonna say something about keeping the program alive (with jay standing right there!) ... but, of course, that speech went in a very different direction, haha...
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Post by kahusancali on Apr 17, 2015 17:41:17 GMT -5
This program was being considered as one of the programs being eliminated. I guess the university is having 2nd thoughts now? And the players don't even get full sholarships? Some just on partial scholarships? this was never gonna happen. but still though, just the mere mention of it as a possibility... no doubt, this played into the minds of the players and coaches, and provided a little extra motivation this season. in a little bit of irony/hypocrisy ... during the senior night festivities, out-going AD Ben Jay was among the athletic officials, not just in attendance, but out on the court, hugging the seniors as they were each called up. it was jay's report (presented to the board of regents) that raised the possibility of dropping certain sports, including men's volleyball, as a way to fix the budget woes. i understand those are tough calls to make, and the push behind the report was more politically-motivated than an actual call to drop those sports ... still though, how awkward must that have been as a player, to be getting congratulations from an AD who contemplated dropping your sport? when sedore grabbed the mic to address the crowd during senior night, i actually thought for a moment that he was gonna say something about keeping the program alive (with jay standing right there!) ... but, of course, that speech went in a very different direction, haha... is the women's basketball program profitable there? does UH softball charge admission?
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 17, 2015 19:34:58 GMT -5
this was never gonna happen. but still though, just the mere mention of it as a possibility... no doubt, this played into the minds of the players and coaches, and provided a little extra motivation this season. in a little bit of irony/hypocrisy ... during the senior night festivities, out-going AD Ben Jay was among the athletic officials, not just in attendance, but out on the court, hugging the seniors as they were each called up. it was jay's report (presented to the board of regents) that raised the possibility of dropping certain sports, including men's volleyball, as a way to fix the budget woes. i understand those are tough calls to make, and the push behind the report was more politically-motivated than an actual call to drop those sports ... still though, how awkward must that have been as a player, to be getting congratulations from an AD who contemplated dropping your sport? when sedore grabbed the mic to address the crowd during senior night, i actually thought for a moment that he was gonna say something about keeping the program alive (with jay standing right there!) ... but, of course, that speech went in a very different direction, haha... is the women's basketball program profitable there? does UH softball charge admission? neither are profitable. i do not know if softball charges admissions.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 17, 2015 19:39:32 GMT -5
Stephen Tsai's breakdown of the matches against BYU on his Star-Advertiser blog: Match day: BYU (Friday edition)by STEPHEN TSAI on APRIL 17, 2015 "> What’s happening: UH and BYU play volleyball matches tonight and tomorrow night in Provo. > What’s at stake: Because UC Irvine has zero chance of losing to UC San Diego, the volleyball Warriors need to beat BYU in both matches to win the regular-season title. (Irvine owns the tie-breaker advantage over UH.)" Full blog post here: hawaiiwarriorworld.com/warrior-beat/match-day-byu-friday-edition/
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Apr 18, 2015 15:04:12 GMT -5
BYU snaps Warriors' 16-match winning streak
By Star-Advertiser staff
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 18, 2015
At 4,500 feet above sea level, the University of Hawaii volleyball team's winning streak disappeared into thin air.
Brigham Young had all the answers in a 27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-17 victory in the Smith Fieldhouse.
The top-ranked Rainbow Warriors had won 16 in a row and had not lost in 70 days. The outcome dropped the Warriors, who are 18-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, into a first-place tie with UC Irvine entering Saturday's final night of the regular season. Irvine is an overwhelming favorite against UC San Diego.
The Warriors would need to beat BYU in Saturday's rematch to salvage a share of the MPSF regular-season title. Irvine has the tiebreaker advantage over UH, and would earn the No. 1 seed in the MPSF playoffs if the teams finish tied.
The MPSF tournament winner earns the league's automatic berth in the six-team NCAA tournament. But the Warriors could enhance their at-large chances with a share of the regular-season title.
"Everyone was disappointed," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "We're always disappointed when we don't play well. This is a good team, and we still can be regular-season co-champs. I think we'll play a lot better (Saturday)."
The Warriors appeared to be out of rhythm early. During the winning streak, the Warriors were able to disrupt opponents with powerful serves. On Friday night, the servers appeared to be indecisive.
"They kind of three-quartered it," Wade said. "If you're going to go back and bang it, go back and bang it. If you want to float it, float it. It's the in-between ones that we had trouble with. It seemed we had a handful of those."
The Warriors gave away 45 points on errors — 26 on attacks, 13 on serves, three on aces and three on net violations.
Asked if the high altitude was a factor, Wade said: "Not when you roll it into the net. I don't think that's elevation."
The Cougars passed well, opening the quick sets for middles Price Jarman and Michael Hatch. Jarman had nine kills against one error and hit .533. Hatch had seven kills and hit .600.
When the Warriors bunched the middle, Brenden Sander (14 kills) and Matt Underwood blasted spikes from the pins and behind the 3-meter line.
"Brenden Sander played great," Wade acknowledged. "He had his best match as a college player."
BYU was without injured outside hitter Josue Rivera. Jake Langlois, who averages a team-high 3.31 kills per set, did not play.
The Warriors pulled opposite Brook Sedore, their leading attacker, after he struggled with his aim in the first two sets. Sedore returned, but finished with 10 kills and seven errors.
The Warriors, who did not lead in the first two sets, rallied in the third. Kupono Fey, who plays the ball-handling position on the outside, pounded a career-high 19 kills and hit .438.
But that was not enough on a night when the Warriors hit .244 overall, including minus-.030 in the fourth set. The Cougars had 14.5 blocks to the Warriors' 5.5.
"They passed well, but we didn't defend the middle very well, either," Wade said. "We just want to get back and prove we're a good team, and go out and play better (Saturday)."
Wade added: "We didn't play our best, and in our league, if you don't play your best, most nights you're going to lose. … After not losing for two months, it's hard to get too upset about losing a match in our league, where it's very competitive."
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