Good but how good? That remains to be seen as No. 5 Hawaii embarks on its final campaign in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball.
But if Mark Presho’s perception that “WarriorBall” is back on the rise proves out, good could become really good this season.
“From what I’ve seen when (UC Irvine) was here in the preseason and Friday (against Grand Canyon), this team can contend for the national title,” the former UH All-America hitter said when he received the program’s Pae Makaukau Alumni Recognition Award at Sunday’s scholarship benefit at the Stan Sheriff Center. “Hawaii needs to be relevant in our sport for the good of our sport. Hawaii volleyball is continuing to be relevant and that’s really important to the survival of men’s volleyball.
“There are other places that support their teams but aren’t necessarily knowledgable fans. UH fans cheer for their team, but they cheer for good volleyball — they appreciate it and understand the game like nowhere else.”
Presho, in his 14th year as a UC Irvine assistant, will see first-hand how the Rainbow Warriors handle being somewhere else on their first road trip of the year. After Hawaii (5-0, 0-0) meets No. 4 Long Beach State (4-1, 1-1) on Wednesday and Friday, the Warriors travel down the I-405 for a single match against the Anteaters at the Bren Events Center on Saturday.
That is one of the changes in the final year of the MPSF as fans know it. The 12 current teams have two matches against seven of the other members and single matches against the remaining four.
The exceptions are Hawaii and BYU, where travel costs have led to the schools alternating two home and two away matches instead of true home-and-away every season.The Warriors’ solo matches are at UC Irvine on Saturday, at UC San Diego on Feb. 10 and at Cal Baptist on Feb. 11, with Hawaii hosting USC for two, but only the March 2 contest will count for MPSF play. Likewise, BYU has a solo match at USC and hosts Cal Baptist for one, with the first of the two matches at home against UC Irvine and UC San Diego counting in the MPSF standings.
One thing that hasn’t changed in the decades of the league — whether it was the California Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association or the MPSF — it has always been considered the toughest conference of any NCAA-sanctioned sport:
This year is no exception, as nine of the AVCA’s Top 15 are MPSF members, including Nos. 2-7, and two of the three others are receiving votes.
No. 2 UCLA (4-1, 2-0)
The Bruins’ lone loss came in four at defending national champion Ohio State in the second match of the season. The Bruins have six starters back from their NCAA semifinal squad, including All-Americans Mitch Stahl at middle, Jake Arnitz on the outside and Punahou graduate Micah Ma’a again playing both setter and hitter.
No. 3 BYU (4-1, 0-0)
The Cougars, preseason No. 1 in the MPSF coaches poll, also have six starters returning from their MPSF championship team that lost to the Buckeyes in the national final. Back are All-Americans Ben Patch at opposite, hitters Brenden Sander and Jake Langlois, and setter Leo Durkin. BYU’s lone loss came in four at Loyola-Chicago on Jan. 7.
No. 4 Long Beach St. (4-1, 1-1)
Besides setter Josh Tuaniga and hitter TJ DeFalco, the 49ers return All-American libero Andrew Sato from their NCAA semifinalist team. All-MPSF middle opposite Kyle Ensing had a career-high seven block assists in the 3-1 win at Cal Baptist as The Beach rebounded from being upset at USC earlier in the week.
No. 5 Hawaii (5-0, 0-0)
The Rainbow Warriors, off to their best start since 1996, return three starters in senior setter Jennings Franciskovic, senior middle Hendrik Mol and all-conference sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg, the latter who became the first player to repeat as Outrigger Most Outstanding Player. Of the newcomers, making the biggest impact are USC transfer Larry “Tui” Tuileta, a sophomore libero who was the national high school player of the year as a senior at Punahou (2015); freshman middle Patrick Gasman and freshman hitter Austin Matautia (Moanalua).
No. 6 UC Irvine (5-1, 2-1)
The Anteaters appear to be healthy after an injury-plagued 2016. UCI returns All-Americans Tamier Hershko at hitter and Michael Saeta, a setter-opposite who had 36 assists with 11 kills and no errors in last week’s five-set victory at UC Santa Barbara. UCI also was swept at UCLA last week.
No. 7 Pepperdine (2-1, 0-0)
The Waves, with all-league hitter David Wieczorek back, survived in five against McKendree in their home opener, then split on the road in Illinois. Michael Wexter had a career-high 22 kills in the 3-2 win over Loyola-Chicago, but Wieczorek’s career-high 26 kills were not enough in a loss to Lewis in four. Redshirting for the Waves is freshman middle Sam Bradley (Punahou).
No. 10 Stanford (3-2, 0-0)
The Cardinal is regrouping after the loss of senior All-America setter James Shaw, the MPSF player of the year. Stanford, opening 3-0 at the UCSB Invitational, was swept twice last week at home by top-ranked Ohio State. Returning are All-America libero Evan Enriques (Kamehameha-Hawaii) and opposite Gabriel Vega (‘Iolani).
No. 12 UCSB (4-1, 1-1)
The Gauchos feature three Boehle brothers in senior libero Parker, junior hitter Hayden and redshirting freshman setter-libero Davis. UCSB, with all 19 roster players from California, also went 3-0 its opening invitational then split its conference matches last week, losing in five to UCI and sweeping UCSD. All-conference sophomore middle Henri Cherry leads the MPSF in hitting .640.
No. 14 Cal State Northridge (6-1, 1-1)
The only blemish on the Matadors’ record is last week’s surprising five-set loss at struggling Cal Baptist. CSUN rebounded with a road sweep at USC, where the Matadors hit .557 and Dimitar Kalchev had four aces, giving him an MPSF-best 20.
USC (2-3, 1-1)
The unranked Trojans came up big at home, upsetting the 49ers in four as senior Lucas Yoder had 28 kills and hit .404 en route to being named the MPSF player of the week. Yoder had 19 kills but not much help in the loss to CSUN.
Cal Baptist (2-3, 1-1)
Just like Hawaii, the Lancers play their first road match this week, traveling to No. 2 UCLA. Last week, CBU upset CSUN by rallying to win the last two sets, but then lost in four to the 49ers.
UC San Diego (0-4, 0-3)
Not much is expected from the Tritons, the only MPSF team not receiving votes in the national poll. But things likely change when UCSD upgrades its program to become an associate member of the Big West next season.
The top eight teams this season advance to the MPSF tournament, with the top four seeds hosting quarterfinals on April 15. The top remaining seed will host the April 20 semifinals and April 22 final.
After a double round-robin of 10 matches — with 18 out-of-conference playing dates — all six teams will advance to the Big West’s inaugural tournament next year, hosted by Long Beach State. Hawaii will host in 2019.
