The storied rivalry between Hawaii and UCLA adds another chapter today with the 90th meeting between the two volleyball teams in survive-and-advance mode.
Perhaps having the most unique perspective heading into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal is Bruins coach John Speraw. As a junior in 1994, he played for UCLA against Hawaii in the final two matches held in Klum Gym. He was a senior when the Bruins won the inaugural Outrigger Hotels Invitational, the first men’s matches in the Stan Sheriff Center.
“I remember the amazing matches in Klum that year,” Speraw said of the epic final battles in Hawaii’s former gym, including the last that went five sets and lasted nearly three hours. “And then playing really well in the Outrigger and having Kevin Wong and Stein Metzger (both Punahou graduates) named to the all-tournament team. I remember thinking, ‘Man, I just got homered by my own teammates.’
“My senior year also was the beginning of the Yuval Katz phenomena. I had the opportunity to be on the court and witness that and the expanded capacity (of the Sheriff Center) allowing for even greater interest and growth in the sport. Those are special memories from that time.”
Speraw’s trip down memory lane aside — the Bruins were 8-0 against the Warriors in his four years — the only road he is focused on leads to Thursday’s MPSF semifinals. The wild MPSF regular season came down to the final night , with seven of the eight seeds decided on April 9, with UCLA’s victory over Pepperdine and UC Santa Barbara’s upset of Stanford helping send Hawaii to Pauley Pavilion as the seventh seed against the second-seeded Bruins.
“There’s potential upsets in every match (today),” Speraw said. “And certainly we’re in one of those matches.”
“I expect it to be a very good volleyball match, hard-fought, emotional as all first-round matches go. I think we’re better than when we played Hawaii (in February) and Hawaii is better now, too. They’re one of the teams that beat us this year and I expect another tough match.”
The teams split in Honolulu, the Warriors (16-11) winning in four the first night, the Bruins (23-5) in five the second. UCLA’s victory was a coming-out party for freshman setter/hitter Micah Ma’a, a Punahou graduate who had 23 assists and a team-high 18 kills.
Ma’a finished second to Long Beach State’s TJ DeFalco for MPSF freshman of the year and the two were the only frosh named to the first team.
“Micah is the most unique freshman I’ve ever coached,” said Speraw, who won three NCAA titles in 10 years at UC Irvine and is in his fourth year at UCLA. “He certainly has the capability of taking over a match … he definitely did at Hawaii.
“But it’s not just from a skill-set perspective but from a maturity and leadership perspective. He gives our team a lot in those categories. We’re a much better team than we were last year and he’s a big part of it.”
Ma’a leads the MPSF with 54 aces, including a league-high seven against Cal State Northridge, and has at least one ace in 12 of the last 13 matches. He also had a triple-double (10 kills, 24 assists, 14 digs) in a four-set loss to No. 1 BYU two weeks ago.
“I think the key for tomorrow is serve and pass — not to be cliche, but that’s the key for every match,” said Ma’a, the son of former Hawaii volleyball players Pono Ma’a and Lisa Strand-Ma’a. “I’m excited for tomorrow, super stoked to see my friends (on Hawaii). We’ll play the game and see what happens.
“It’s a pleasure and a privilege to make it out of league and into playoffs. The MPSF is such a crazy league, 1 through 8 (seeds) are unreal, and no one will be surprised if anyone gets knocked off.”
Saturday’s other quarterfinals have eighth-seeded UC Irvine (10-19) at top-seeded Brigham Young (23-3), No. 6 seed Pepperdine (13-10) at No. 3 seed Long Beach State (23-6), and fifth seed UC Santa Barbara (19-9) at fourth seed Stanford (19-5).
The MPSF semifinals Thursday and final on April 23 will be hosted by the highest remaining seed after today’s contests.
