Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - In the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, second-seeded Brigham Young eliminated the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team, 30-28, 37-35, 30-26, Thursday night, at the Firestone Fieldhouse. The defending national champion Warriors conclude its season at 24-6.

The Warriors could not find an answer for BYU's middle attack, as Michael Burke and Chris Gorny combined for 23 kills, hitting .618. They also couldn't get two crucial controversial calls go their way. With the Cougars leading 28-27 in Game 1, referee Marvin Hall overruled another official's call, which resulted in game point for BYU. In Game 2, with the Warriors leading 31-30, Delano Thomas was ruled to have crossed the net interfering with the BYU set, which should have ended the game and tied the match a 1-1.

MPSF Player of the Year Costas Theocharidis ended his illustrious UH career with 13 kills but was limited to just .143 hitting. Tony Ching led the Warriors with 16 kills while Eyal Zimet added 11 and 10 digs.

The Warriors played catch-up in Game 1. UH fell behind early 5-1 and never caught the Cougars the rest of the way. BYU led by as much as four (22-18) before the Warriors closed to within one, after a Theocharidis kill and ace narrowed the deficit to 25-24. Moments later, the controversial call should have tied the game at 28, but Hall overruled his down official who signaled a BYU player under the net. After a BYU service error, UH's Kimo Tuyay served in the net to end the game.

It was more of the same in Game 2 as the Cougars opened up a large lead. With the BYU surging to a 14-9 advantage, UH head coach Mike Wilton changed setters, inserting Daniel Rasay for Tuyay. After a Theocharidis kill attempt sailed long, the Warriors saw themselves down 17-10 with no timeouts remaining. The Cougars took a 22-14 lead before the Warriors rallied.

With Nordberg back to serve, Hawai'i reeled off five straight points to close to within 22-19. The Warriors eventually tied the match at 28 and had game point at 30-29. Rafael Paal tied the game at 30 and Zimet gave the Warriors its second game point at 31-30. On the next play, Thomas blocked a Cougar overpass but Hall ruled Thomas interfered with BYU setter Carlos Moreno. The Cougars finished off the game on consecutive kills by Jaime Mayol, Paal, and Burke.

In Game 3 the teams battled back and forth until the Cougars took a 20-17 advantage. The Warriors tied it at 21 on a Rasay ace and took the lead after Theocharidis and Thomas teamed up for a block. After a Paal service error tied the game at 24, the Cougars scored four straight to take a 28-23 lead. BYU sided-out until Mayol ended the match with his 11th kill.

The Cougars hit .393 in the match compared to UH's .264. BYU advances to the championship match, where they meet host and top-seed Pepperdine, who was a 3-0 winner over UC Irvine in the day's first semifinal.

The Warriors return to Honolulu on Friday on a flight to be determined.


-uh-