Volleyball Warriors refuse to lose faith
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Until further notice, the University of Hawai'i volleyball team will conduct business as usual.
"It would be stupid not to do that," said UH coach Mike Wilton, whose team will meet today and resume practicing Wednesday.
The Warriors, who were seeded No. 2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation postseason tournament, do not believe their season should end with Saturday's four-game loss to No. 7 UCLA in the quarterfinals.
The Warriors insist they should receive the at-large berth in the NCAA final four if top-seeded UC Irvine wins the MPSF tournament. The MPSF playoff winner earns the league's automatic berth in the NCAA final four on the Penn State campus. As the strongest of the nation's three conferences, the MPSF has supplied the at-large team in 23 of the past 24 years.
If another team wins the MPSF tournament, then UC Irvine will receive the at-large berth, Wilton said. If Irvine wins, Wilton said, "we deserve" the at-large berth.
UH's competition should come from the tournament's three other semifinalists — Pepperdine, UCLA and Long Beach State, which meets Irvine on Thursday. The Warriors believe they have the edge over each of those three, based on the criteria listed in the NCAA championship handbook:
The Warriors finished the MPSF regular season 19-3, behind Irvine's 20-2. Pepperdine was 15-7, Long Beach State 14-8, UCLA 12-10. If Long Beach State beats Irvine, then Irvine is the at-large team and UH is out. If Pepperdine or UCLA reach the tournament finals, each would have fewer victories than UH.
UH and Pepperdine split a two-match series, but the Warriors hold the tie-breaker advantage based on winning percentage of games. The Warriors won both regular-season matches against UCLA, but lost to the Bruins in a non-conference match and in the playoffs. UH swept Long Beach State in two regular-season matches.
UH is 10-2, UCLA 7-6, Pepperdine 6-5 and Long Beach State 6-6.
UH, Pepperdine, Long Beach State and UCLA are not missing any starters because of injuries or eligibility concerns.
Wilton said precedence was set last year when UCLA, which finished second during the regular season, lost in the MPSF quarterfinals but still received the at-large berth over Long Beach State, which reached the MPSF title match.
Wilton also said he did not think UH would be excluded because of the great distance between here and Pennsylvania. The NCAA picks up the travel costs.
"That would be shameful if that happened," Wilton said. "If the NCAA was concerned about distance, they would invite South Hampton College (of New York)."
Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.
