By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Brushing off disappointing pre-match news, the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team swept Southern California, 30-27, 30-23, 30-21, last night in the Stan Sheriff Center.
It was announced that second-place Brigham Young (17-4 in league play) upset No. 1 Pepperdine (18-3) in five games, ensuring that the Warriors (16-5) — even if they finished tied for second with BYU — would earn the third seed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, which begins next week. BYU can earn the top seed if it defeats Pepperdine in tonight's rematch.
The Warriors, who had hoped to enhance their chances of qualifying for the NCAA final four by overtaking BYU, dismissed yesterday's turn of events.
"Whatever," UH setter Kimo Tuyay said. "It's their business. We have to focus on ourselves."
UH coach Mike Wilton said: "Sure, we hoped for certain things to happen, but we have nothing to do with controlling that type of stuff. All we can control is our attitude. I don't care where we're seeded. I don't care if we play in a parking lot as long as we get to keep playing."
UH can earn an automatic berth in the final four if it wins the eight-team, three-round MPSF Tournament.
"That's what we're thinking about," UH opposite hitter Costas Theocharidis said. "We don't care about the at-large stuff."
The Warriors overcame other obstacles. Middle blocker Delano Thomas was suffering from back spasms, an ailment that was not reported to Wilton.
"I was wondering why he was struggling out there," Wilton said. "I didn't know what the problem was, but I didn't like the facial expressions he was making."
With the Warriors leading 23-19 in Game 3, Wilton pulled Thomas. His replacement, Joshua Stanhiser, accounted for five of the Warriors' final seven points, with three kills and two blocks, including a solo rejection of Phil Small's attack.
Theocharidis, who entered as the nation's kill leader with 5.49 per game, struggled against USC's specially designed defense. USC set up a double block to protect against line shots and placed a passer kitty-corner from Theocharidis to receive angle shots. Theocharidis, who had two kills in Game 1 — the same amount as USC setter Miles McGann — finished with a season-low seven kills.
But that opened the way for outside hitters Eyal Zimet (match-high 14 kills and 11 digs) and Tony Ching (13 kills).
"We trained almost exclusively to stop Costas," USC coach Turhan Douglas said. "I think we did a great job, but we couldn't contain Ching and Zimet. We're going to be looking closely at some video of those guys and figure out how to contain them."
Douglas said it was a matter of choosing a poison. "We wanted to focus on stopping their strongest weapons," Douglas said. "But they have a lot of weapons."
Ching, who had two of the Warriors' seven aces, said, "That's the beauty of our team. We have players who can step up. We don't have to ride Costas all of the time. When we struggle like this, it's nice to know we can still pull through with some wins."
In Game 1, Ching and Zimet led the way. In the second game, after the Trojans closed to 20-18, Thomas hammered a kill off a step-out move, 6-foot-2 Tuyay soared for a solo block, and Ching sizzled an ace. Stanhiser, who has played sparingly since UH went to a set lineup Feb. 21, dominated the end of the final game.
"Josh did a great job," Wilton said. "We were struggling. We were up and down, up and down."
Theocharidis said: "I still had fun. This is one of my last nights to play here. All I care about is winning. We won, so I had fun."
The Warriors' four seniors — Theocharidis, Ching, Zimet and middle blocker Brian Nordberg — will play their final regular-season match tonight. They will be honored in a post-match ceremony during which several UH football players, led by defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga, will perform a haka.
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