UH prepares for battle against BYU

LONG BEACH, Calif. >> As it has been in the regular season, the unpredictability of the outcomes of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball matches continues through the postseason tournament. Although all four of the top seeds advanced to Thursday’s semifinals at the Walter Pyramid, few would have bet the gym on it happening.

The same goes for this week’s matches, with the consensus being that any of the four — top-seeded Long Beach State, No. 2 Brigham Young, No. 3 Hawaii or No. 4 UC Irvine — could win it all, earning the automatic berth into the upcoming NCAA championship tournament hosted by defending champion Ohio State.

The postseason uncertainty extends into next week as well. As the NCAA looks to expand the men’s field to eight from the current six, the committee is testing a future format … sort of. It won’t announce until Sunday (ncaa.com at 7 a.m.) whether the two play-in matches will be in Columbus, Ohio, on May 2, or if the two contests between the Nos. 3-6 and Nos. 4-5 seeds will be at campus sites on April 29.

Both Hawaii and Long Beach State officials have confirmed putting in a bid to host a play-in on the 29th. Based on the Ratings Percentage Index, the Rainbow Warriors and 49ers are in a good position to receive an at-large bid if neither wins the MPSF title, with Long Beach State at 3 and Hawaii at 4, the two behind BYU (1) and Ohio State (2).

Most feel that the Warriors are a lock for an at-large bid even if they lose Thursday’s semifinal, as happened in 2015. But other scenarios out of their control could lead to a different outcome, including if UC Irvine (RPI 5) were to upset the 49ers and reach Saturday’s championship or if Ohio State doesn’t win the MIVA tournament title; the Buckeyes would receive an at-large.

At least one of the top five RPI will be left out since the six-team field includes the automatic berths awarded the champions of the EIVA and Conference Carolinas tournaments. Warriors coach Charlie Wade has a simple solution for his team to avoid the drama and trauma.

“Just keep winning,” he said. “If we keep winning, it will take care of itself.

The guaranteed way in (the NCAA field) is to win our tournament. It’s one step at a time. We need to win Thursday, then go from there.”

Both Wade and his counterpart at Long Beach State agree that any of the four teams could end up as MPSF tournament champion.

“I think all four teams enter the tournament playing at a real high level,” 49ers coach Alan Knipe said. “I think the UH-BYU match has the makings of a tight 4- or 5-set battle.”

As for the play-in matches, “I hope the committee continues with their ‘all matches at the championship site’ model.”

Knipe will see if that happens in 2019. Long Beach State is hosting the NCAA championship tournament then, coinciding with the senior year of hitter TJ DeFalco, named last week as MPSF player of the year.

A look at Thursday’s semifinals:

>> No. 2 Brigham Young (24-3) vs. No. 3 Hawaii (25-4): A season-high 6,301 saw the Warriors improve to 18-0 at home this season by sweeping Pepperdine, advancing to the MPSF semifinals for the second time in three years. Senior hitter Kupono Fey and sophomore opposite Stijn van Tilburg each had 14 kills and van Tilburg added a career-high 10 digs for his first double-double, hitting .619 with five blocks and two aces. Fey also had two aces and was in on a career-high six blocks.

The Warriors, who lead the country in blocks, had a season-high 17.5 against the Waves, led by freshman Patrick Gasman’s career-high eight. Hawaii hit .344 to Pepperdine’s .095.

Hawaii’s four losses have all come on the road to the teams that finished ahead of it in the MPSF standings: two each at Long Beach State (3-2 and 3-0) and Brigham Young (both 3-0).

“We’re pretty excited to have another opportunity to play BYU,” said Warriors libero Tui Tuileta, who transferred after playing at USC in 2015. “The guys wanted a chance to get back at them. But the focus is on us playing well.

“For me, it’s like being a little kid again. The goal when I was little was to play in college and make it to the national champions. It’s amazing right now and I’m having fun.”

Tuileta was one of seven Warriors named to the various All-MPSF teams last week, the most awards for any team in the league. Senior setter Jennings Franciskovic and van Tilburg were on the first team, senior middle Hendrik Mol and Tuileta on the second team, Fey honorable mention, and Gasman and opposite Rado Parapunov all-freshman.

BYU had five selections, led by first-teamer Jake Langlois. The senior hitter had a combined 25 kills last month as the Cougars swept the Warriors twice at Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU advanced with Saturday’s sweep of Stanford, in which the Cougars had seven aces, including three by Brenden Sander, and outblocked the Cardinal 8.5-2.

Injuries have slowed BYU a bit, with freshman setter Wil Stanley (Punahou) and All-America junior opposite Ben Patch (team-leading 4.50 kps) among those sidelined at various times this season.

The Cougars’ losses came at Loyola-Chicago, 3-1 in the second match of the season, and twice at home, once against UC Irvine 3-2 and a 3-0 sweep on senior night by Long Beach State that gave the 49ers the tiebreaker and top seed. It was the first time BYU had been swept at home since losing to Stanford 3-0 in 2012.

>> No. 1 Long Beach State vs. No. 4 UC Irvine (20-6): As good as Hawaii was at home (18-0), the 49ers are close at 14-0. The Beach had eight aces to tie a program record in eliminating USC in four last week.

DeFalco had four aces to go with his 26th double-figure kill match (12) and sophomore hitter Kyle Ensing also had 12 kills. Sophomore setter Josh Tuaniga came up one dig short of a double-double (43 assists-9 digs) and senior libero Andrew Sato had 15 digs for his 44th career double-figure dig match, a program record.

The 49ers’ losses all have been on the road: At USC 3-1 in the MPSF season opener on Jan. 11, at Ohio State 3-1 on Jan. 28, and at BYU 3-2 on March 24. The Beach won both meetings with UCI, sweeping the Anteaters in Irvine and taking a 3-1 victory at the Pyramid.

UC Irvine won its ninth straight when it ousted UCLA in four at the Bren Events Center. Junior hitter Aaron Koubi put down 19 kills, hitting .625, and senior opposite Tamir Hersko had 12 kills.

Middle Scott Stadick, the MPSF freshman of the year, had six blocks, including a solo that tied him with Aaron Harrell for the single-season solo block record (23). He also hit .700 with seven kills on 10 swings without an error.

The Anteaters are 11-3 on the road with losses to Long Beach State (3-1), UCLA (3-0) and BYU (3-0), the latter coming the night after UCI defeated the Cougars 3-2 at Smith Fieldhouse.