Hawaii vs. UCLA - round 2

[Rocky]

UCLA won the first game 30 -15.
Hawaii wins the second game 30-21.

Interesting match!
Hawaii hit in the negative in the first game (10 errors in the game) and over .500 in the second game (only one error in the game).
Hawaii got their first block of the match at about point 25 in the second game.

Third game goes to UCLA 30-27.
UCLA wins game four 30-23.

Over 8,000 fans in attendance.

[USAFAN]

Ay, 30-15 is a beating.

[dreamteam]

Its ova.

UCLA in 4

[roy]

Not the greatest volleyball match ever played. You could say that either team could have swept the other. Neither team played particularly at their best.

I think UCLA won this match because they wanted it more. They were scrappy, which kept them in the game. Balls were flying all of the place and they returned a lot of balls in surprising fashion. Also, they did a better job on defense. Their blocking was there, and their libero was awesome. He was digging up some great balls. Klosterman also had a nice night. He played much better than he did on Thursday. UCLA also served better and passed better. UCLA can be very well balanced and I think these matches gave the other hitters some confidence. In previous matches, it seemed (and I could be mistaken) that the Bruins relied on Klosterman to win the match. This series showed that they could be well balanced.

Hawaii, on the other hand, didn't play as well as they did last night. The Hawaii hitters were not making smart decisions. Credit UCLA for bothering the outsides and keeping them in check, but Hawaii wasn't helping themselves. There were times when they could have taken another shot and didn't. The middles were more active, giving Hawaii some much needed balance. Hawaii also kept their serves in, but for some reason, kept serving Schard and he kept passing nails. As a scouting report, I would say avoid him if possible and serve the other players. They were also passing decently, but they can be shaken. If you serve them enough, you can really weaken the UCLA passing. It was nice to see the Hawaii reserves in action, especially Woodward. I think he got his first career kill tonight. He was really thrilled by it. Unfortunately, he also gave the match to UCLA on a service error. Acceptable for a bench player, I can't criticize that. Especially with Hawaii being down 29-23. I doubt Hawaii could have mounted a comeback from that.

All in all, both teams showed a lot of potential weaknesses. The coaches both have to get there players back in the gym for reps to clean up their game.

[Bookumdanoaloha]

I concur with Roy on the importance of the Big Serve and Pass. I saw UCLA whip Pepperdine this year with their Big Serve. they are deadly with everybody jump serving except Gonzales (he has a wicked floater). My Boy Adam Shrader, proved why he's an All American.

Floor leadership is Key in tight matches, and another of Bookum's Tough Guy Middles - Chris Pena showed why he is on My List. I've watched this Kid for four years, and he's pumped on every play. Likes to talk trash, but can back it up on and off the court.

Hawaii needs that type of guy. I don't care for Quiet Assassins (Sorry VB Crusin). Hawaii needs a Brenton Davis, a Dijan Milodivoic (sp), a Costas, or a Tony Ching. Azenha and Delgado are active, but too inconsistent and too moody. They get pulled from the court, and they pout, instead of picking up their teammates. Look at Pena, Scates pulls him and he's yelling and screaming at his teammates.

Got some tough games ahead: Two of my favorite Tough Guys are coming into town David (Sara Lee) Lee, from Long Beach State and Burke from BYU. Couple of "Mean Hombres".

Forget about UCLA, I'm worried about BYU that team is peaking. Bookumdanoaloha.

[warriordudette88]

the passing really killed us last night. brian was running all over the place. it led to off balance shots for delano...never seen him fall down so many times. they overall seemed like they ran out of gas. the crowd seemed to keep them sort of in it...it was the largest crowd of the season, and a lot of them were younger teens. don't really understand why they were booing pena... it was like they decided to focus on one person. it worked a few times. it was loud in there. alan hackbarth was also pumping people up with his dancing. did anyone see the twist he was doing? hilarious. woodward got in and made a kill...was happy for him.

[gloryB]

hey Bookumdanoaloha, how have u watched pena for 4 years?! i thought he's only been on the roster for 3 years ... four years ago it was naeve/morrow/connors in the middle ... O WELL . but ya ... pena is a solid player.
& as for last night ... UH's offense was WAY too predictable. UCLA's blockers were camping out

[gloryB]

ah yes ... warriordudette88, i am a bruin fan ... so i was cheering for them. but i know y they were booing pena. it's cuz he has a bad attitude on the court. like when UCLA played down here two years ago, pena would get really angry and he kicked the ball towards the ball girl. but yes ... i wanted everyone to stop booing him bC it's not sportsmanlike. i don't think hawaii can consider itself to have the best fans. that was just too dirty. n they didn't have to boo beau either just bC he came in for pena.

delano & jose r WEAK and inconsistent passers

[gloryB]

ok one more thing about beckwith ... he doesn't sprint to the ball so he doesn't square up to his target, which makes his sets messy and somewhat predictable

[roy]

gloryB said:

ah yes ... warriordudette88, i am a bruin fan ... so i was cheering for them. but i know y they were booing pena. it's cuz he has a bad attitude on the court. like when UCLA played down here two years ago, pena would get really angry and he kicked the ball towards the ball girl. but yes ... i wanted everyone to stop booing him bC it's not sportsmanlike. i don't think hawaii can consider itself to have the best fans. that was just too dirty. n they didn't have to boo beau either just bC he came in for pena.

delano & jose r WEAK and inconsistent passers

From what I understand, the fans were booing Pena because he flicked off the crowd on Thursday. My friend was at the match on Thursday and said that after the match, he was pissed that they lost and flicked off the crowd. I don't know how true it is or not, so please take it with a grain of salt.

Thomas is a weak passer. That is why Hawaii tries to hide him. He can pass ok, but if possible, they try to take him out of the passing. Delgado is a streaky passer. Sometimes he can pass on the money, and sometimes he is a bit shakey.

Beckwith is young, so I give him a bit more credit. I think in the past, he hasn't had to try as hard. Being a 6'6 setter and moving to the college ranks is hard. He has a lot to learn, so I give him a lot more slack than I would another setter. But he does need to move to be ball a bit faster.

[gloryB]

i was at the game on thursday but did not stay after . but it does sound like something pena would do ...

[My2Sense]

Just got home from Hawaii. Was a great experience to see how the UH fans come out to support their team. Very gratious fans too. Everyone I met was cordial. Great fans of the game.

Just some quick comments on the matches and on some of these posts:

Thursday's match was a real roller coaster. Both teams were up, then down, then up, then down. A real emotional drain. Bad weather (to understate it) kept the crowd down to "only" 4,300 fans. UH prevailed. Either team could have taken it. Neither team dominated.

Saturday was all Bruins, except for game 2. UCLA blocked well in the first game and UH hitters just couldn't get on track. 30-15, the worst single game loss for UH since rally scoring was instituted says it all. Give them credit for regrouping and coming back in game 2. At that point it was looking like a twin of Thrusday's match. But UCLA came out strong in games 3 and 4. They looked strong and dominant in them. Sure they were competitive, but the Bruins were on a mission. I'm not here to give a game account. You can read the newspaper accounts for that. In fact, here's one:

starbulletin.com/2004/02/29/sports/index1.html

8,000 fans says it all. It was like going to a Laker game, but instead of Laker girls there are warrior cheer leaders. And the little kid warriors are a kick... great dancers. Great drums.

Both coaches used a lot of players in both games.

As far as the comments on Pena... my assessment is that in Saturday's match the UH fans wanted to cheer or jeer about something. Little was going right for them, and, wanting to be an effective 7th man, they boo'd him everytime he went back to serve. There was a lot made of it in the local papers. Even the TV announcers made note of it. Pena comes to play. He is an emotional player and is always talking and cheering. Nowhere did I ever see or hear about him making any gestures to warrant it. It seemed to me they just wanted to try to upset his game. It only resulted in him serving two key aces that were shown on the sport highlights later in the news shows. I took it as a sign of respect (in a weird way) to Pena. I'd bet he'd say the same. They think enough of him to know they have to upset his game. It didn't work. GloryB, I know Pena well enough to know he would not flick off anyone. Your comment "sounds like something..." is just plain wrong. What the heck compels you to say something so disingenous on a board like this when you have no reason nor proof to put that out there. Please post responsibly.

I posted the other day before the matches that UCLA has a lot of guys who can hit. Keying on one player is a mistake.

Kraushaur was just an awesome server on Saturday. When he's on his serve it's very tough on the opponent. PJ Johnson served great too. UCLA had 9 aces in the second match, and caused many more bad service passes. (By the way, that's a stat I wish they'd have on the stat sheets.)

It's late, so I'm outahere. But again, thanks for the hospitality UH fans. You sure know how to put on a show.

Note to Long Beach State fans: If you can make it to UH next week you'll be glad you did! And I'm sure your weather would be better than what we had.

[gloryB]

hey ok my2sense . i shouldnt be saying that kinda stuff . i should be supporting my team all the way, right? . so i apologize for that comment. every single player on the ucla team is a great guy.

[CrushTheCoconut]

Chris Pena is definitely one of those players that you'd love to have on your team, but if he is on the other team you love to jeer him.

I will clear one thing up, though. Pena did indeed flick off the crowd on Thursday. It was right after he hit his serve into the net late in a very tight game 4. He did the right arm up and under the left arm while spinning in a 360 motion while mouthing the "f" word. I think it was more a sign of frustion. I'll give him the benefit of doubt. However, the Hawaii fans picked on it immediately and that is why he was booed everytime he went back to serve.

I personally am one that feels thats just part of the emotion of the game. I dont judge, but I did want to clear that up.

[volleymom]

I saw Pena's service error from up close at the match and then again later that night on TV. I thought his expression of frustration was directed at himself, not at Hawaii. I didn't see a hand gesture or lips forming the "F" word. Maybe I missed it (twice), but knowing Chris I think he's just such a perfectionist and wants to play his best. He's emotional and cares about winning. I don't see that as reason for the whole stadium booing him. I agree with My2Sense that the fans were probably trying to make him miss his serve, but it didn't work. I asked Pena's dad if he knew why they were booing and he just shrugged his shoulders.

Other than the booing of Chris, I thought there was a lot of Aloha spirit. I thought both matches were so entertaining, mostly because of the great volleyball, but also because there was so much to see and do. The great food & beer, the Burger King blimp, the dancing fireman, the drum boys and their dad, the year's free pizza, the leis & airplanes, and all the other fun things made everyone laugh and eased some of the stress of a tight match-up. Everyone I met in Hawaii was very welcoming and complimentary both nights. Even our male flight attendant on the way home wanted to talk about the match when he overheard us talking about it. We had a great, great time. Can't wait to go back in May.....hopefully!!!