‘Bows fall to Pepperdine, miss playoffs

The University of Hawaii volleyball team’s good season was not good enough to extend into the postseason.

The Rainbow Warriors lost in four sets to Pepperdine — 19-25, 28-26, 25-18, 26-24 — to finish ninth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The top eight teams qualify for the MPSF playoffs.

The Warriors actually were eliminated 19 minutes before their final play of the season when UCLA defeated Brigham Young in four sets. A combination of a UH victory and a UCLA loss would have given the Warriors’ the tie-breaking advantage for the eighth berth.

Instead, the Warriors finish 15-12 overall and 13-11 in the MPSF.

"We won 13, and 13 has never not made the playoffs," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "Last year, we would have been the (No.) 5 seed (with 13 victories). That needs to be noted. Last year, at 13-11 with the same teams, that was the 5 seed."

After sweeping BYU a week ago, the Warriors became one of five teams fighting for the final four playoff berths. The Warriors got no help from BYU, which finished the regular season with four consecutive losses. Still, the Cougars, who tied with Pepperdine at 18-6, will have the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

The Warriors were seeking to rebound after losing in three sets to Pepperdine on Friday. In that match, outside hitter Siki Zarkovic was held to four kills on 22 swings.

On Saturday, Zarkovic blasted a team-high 18 kills on .448 hitting. Or did he? Zarkovic wore outside hitter Kupono Fey’s No. 21 jersey. Fey suffered an ankle injury during warmups, thinning the Warriors’ reserve pool.

Still, the Warriors hit .328 against one of the nation’s best blocking teams, served well enough at times, and were active on defense.

But the Warriors couldn’t close out the second set after Zarkovic’s ace gave them the lead at 26-25.

With the score tied at 24 in the fourth set, Zarkovic sizzled a serve that was returned high and long. Opposite Brook Sedore hammered the overpass for an apparent kill. But Sedore was called for the over-reach, the Waves were awarded the point, and the Warriors’ momentum was siphoned.

"I was really proud of our guys," Wade said. "They competed. They stuck together. They were positive. They were looking at each other in the eye. They were looking at me in the eye. They were absolutely engaged all the way to the end."

Punahou graduate Josh Taylor led the Waves with 18 kills.

J.J. Mosolf, who redshirted at UH before transferring to Pepperdine, made his fifth consecutive start and finished with 12 kills on .333 hitting.

"The guys are disappointed," Wade said. "The seniors were like, ‘This is the most fun we’ve had.’ We were good, but we weren’t good often enough."

MPSF VOLLEYBALL

x-clinched MPSF quarterfinal home court
y-clinched MPSF tournament bid
z-clinched MPSF tournament No. 1 seed

Saturday
Pepperdine def. Hawaii 19-25, 28-26, 25-18, 26-24
Long Beach State def. CS Northridge 25-18, 25-17, 25-17
UC Irvine def. Pacific 25-21, 25-18, 25-18
UCLA def. BYU 25-23, 23-25, 25-13, 25-20
Stanford def. UC San Diego 25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23
End of regular season

MPSF Quarterfinals
Saturday
USC at BYU (1), 1 p.m.
UCLA (5) at UC Santa Barbara (4), 1 p.m.
UC Irvine (6) at Stanford (3), 1 p.m.
Long Beach State (7) at Pepperdine (2), 1 p.m.

NO. 2 PEPPERDINE DEF. NO. 9 HAWAII 19-25, 28-26, 25-18, 26-24
RAINBOW WARRIORS (15-12, 13-11 MPSF)

WAVES (18-6, 18-6 MPSF)

Service Aces — Hawaii 6 (Sedore 2, Averill 2, Zarkovic, Olsen). Pepperdine 5 (Tarantino 2, Taylor 2, Antonijevic). Service errors — Hawaii 15 (Sedore 4, Olsen 3, West 3, Zarkovic 2, Timmer 2, Averill). Pepperdine 14 (Taylor 6, West 2, Antonijevic 2, Tarantino, Rhein). Assists — Hawaii 55 (Ramos 52, West, Kanetake). Pepperdine 53 (West 47, Anderson 3, Mosolf, Tarantino, Taylor). T — 2:10. Officials — Larry Schwartz, Robert Okamura, Harris/Perry-Scott. A — 1,011.